Thursday, October 26, 2017

HOT TOPIC!



My mornings are pretty busy these days with kittens in the house - hence, I have little time to write.  BUT, I do continue to go out every morning in the Beechwood section of Rochester and feed over 100 (yes, I count) cats every morning beginning at 3:45 am. til 5:30 a.m. on a good day.  I try to shelter at all of the stops I make - 19?  Unfortunately, there are some nasty people and its nearly impossible at about 4 or 5 of those 19 stops where people either trash my stuff daily, or I am in fear of my shelters being taken and trashed.  At most of these stops I make, the cats hear the Jeep coming.  They run toward the Jeep when they can see the headlights.  Some cats keep their distance, others sidle around my feet. 

I pour out dry food (they love the Kit n Kaboodle) and wet food – about 3 dinner sized plates at each stop, some have four, of the dry food, and I plop a dollop of wet food on top of that.  That is their favorite.  They wait 24 hours for this treat.  Not even my own cats at home get this gourmet goody of wet food.  I pour a bowl of water, most times having to clean it out because raccoons or some other critter has come along and dirtied it.

I go through close to 40 pounds of dry food EVERY DAY, and at least 40 cans (regular size) EVERY DAY.  At two of my locations, at some point after I leave, someone comes along and pours it all out, leaving the cats to wait another 23-24 hours to wait until their next meal.  (At the location of where I wrote the man who I believe is doing it, I noticed this morning that one of the kittens there looks pregnant).  A friend, Joel – yes, Joel the writer! – offered to do a stake out for me yesterday morning. He drove in from Rush, NY and sat for two hours trying to catch who is throwing out my stuff at one location.  That person never showed.  Joel had to leave for work.  I am so grateful to Joel for doing this.  I still need to catch the person, even if it means someone sitting there for hours.  Any volunteers?


My heart bleeds for these animals – they are out there through no fault of their own.  This was the lot they were dealt by humans.  Not was, IS.  Its up to US to help them.  Please, there are so many kittens being born, and not enough homes.  Please continue to fight for them.  We are all they have.

I belong to a neighborhood website, where people air their grievances, and share information.  I came upon this, and I copy and paste a few comments (there were close to 50) that came along with it.  Animals are a hot topic.  I chimed in myself.  What do YOU think?

Martha , North Winton Village

PLEASE do NOT lert your cats run wild in the neighborhood....I have had 2 litters of kittens born UNDER my deck....I kept ONE kitten, and a neighbor kept 2, but the rest are just running wild...with the parents...There is a solid black adult female, a Huge gray, a Huge tiger and a black and white large cat....sex of those is unknown. They run back and forth across Blossom Road to the neighborhood over there. I will NOT put up with having any more stray cats on my deck, on my yard furniture or under my deck. Measures will be taken to get rid of them.....PLEASE...BE A RESPONSILE PET OWNER AND KEEP THEM INSIDE....DO NOT LET THEM RUN WILD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Thank you...
Juliana , Browncroft·1d ago
What measures? Should we be reporting you to the humane society?

Susan , Browncroft·1d ago
There are many stray cats born to strays- and the cycle goes on and on. There many Rescue Groups that do TNR . Why don't you start a Rescue as opposed threatening to "Taking Measures to get Rid of them".

Anthony , North Winton Village·1d ago
I'm in total and complete agreement with you Martha. They are a nuisance. And I'll add to your plea about not letting the cats run outside... if you see any cats outside, I beg you all not to feed them. Doing so just reinforces these cats to keep screwing each other, and making more kittens. I g I see any without tags, they will be handled as I see fit. (Farms, woods, lollipop farm)

Miriam , East Avenue·1d ago
No matter how good your intentions are, if you let your pet roam loose, even if collared or microchipped, and spayed/neutered, you are part of the problem and ensuring that it continues. If you are one of those people who insists that your cat cannot adapt to indoor life, please try a little harder. Consult your vet and other experts, and maybe have a little more patience because it might take a while. Consider something like a catio where they could enjoy the outdoors while staying safe. Or let them outdoors for brief periods under your supervision (cats can be trained with leashes or harnesses,) and then take them in again. My two cats have always been indoor pets (all my cats have, over the years,) and while they might like the freedom to roam around loose, I know that I am the one with the greater amount of common sense, so I know that it is my responsibility to keep them safe from the many dangers outdoor pets face, as well as the responsibility to my neighbors to not let the cats do any damage or injure other animals or people.

Rachel Boucher, East Avenue·1d ago
Well this is a ridiculous request considering the sheer amount of stray cats around. It’s not the fault of your neighbors 😂 Stray cats are and always will be around. Why not just do the humane thing and call animal control to take them to a shelter instead of a thinly veiled threat of animal cruelty?
  
Joanne , North Winton Village·1d ago
Well on the positive side, they keep the rat population down....

Susan , Browncroft·1d ago
I have taken in many strays over the 31 years I have lived in my home. They were all starving as well as sick. NOT FEEDING THEM Anthony Parker will not stop them from " screwing aroound" - I am quoting you by the way. Caring for animals should not just be left up to rescues, or the few caring individuals who see the plight of these poor animals. The community needs to step up - that includes every neighbor who has made nasty ,uncaring, this is not my problem COMMENT.

Nichole , Beechwood·19h ago
All that would need to happen is spaying or neutering cats. Otherwise what exactly is the problem? And why would you make illogical assumptions? Also, if you don't want to be bothered with strays ignore them, they're sentient beings and should be respected as such and not under your all powerful human ego. Unless your going to be helpful and compassionate it's none of your business. Who do you think you are to regulate another being not causing you any harm? Pathetic nonsense

Janine Wagner, Laurelton·18h ago
Boy tempers sure do flare when it comes to cats. This is a great topic and a chance for education for many. I’ve rescued 109 cats off the streets so far this year. I’ve adopted out all but 9. I’ve TNR’d (trap neuter return) over 70. I've had every one of them fixed all out of my own pocket (and I am more than broke). They are all from the Beechwood area starting at 2nd Street/Bay Street/Pennsylvania Avenue to Parsells/Grand/Melville and Culver Roads. Each year for the past 20 years I’ve averaged 50/50. If each individual took responsibility for one cat in their life time, have it spayed/neutered, given shots, provided shelter and food (even if outdoors), we wouldn’t have the situation with overpopulation of cats in Rochester as we do now. There are low cost clinics (not enough, for sure) that you can use – take advantage of them. PLEASE do your part to make this situation better! These animals suffer out there through no fault of their own and it’s up to us as decent human beings to help them. SPAY AND NEUTER! SHELTER AND FEED! PS, Cats should be kept inside for their own protection. They adapt. Just show them love and tenderness and give them a window to look out of.

Juliana , Browncroft·18h ago
Anthony, you are completely out of line. Why not be part of the solution instead of making veiled threats against animals. This is a people problem not a cat problem. Cats should be kept inside, owners should be vetting their cats, spaying and neutering, we know that does not always work so reach out to local rescues. Janine is awesome, and I love the work she does. There are other solutions that don't include endangering the cats by dropping them off where they may not survive.
  
Susan , Browncroft·17h agoNew
Darcy Hart- people do take care of their cats BUT there are other people who could care less and dump animals, don't spay, neuter etc. This results in the a huge feral and non- feral cat population . Our local resources have limited accessibility for low cost spaying and neutering . A lot of the problem arises due to the excessive costs of pet health care.

Carol , West Webster/Penfield·53m agoNew
Our dog was a stray & we had her for 19 years before she died of old age. When we purchased our home 9 years ago the women who owned the house asked if we would feed the stray cat that had been coming by for the past 3 years. She said it was timid and would just eat and run but the kids had it eating out of their hands. We had a place in the garage for her. She did not want to come inside the house even if was cold and snowy. She went ½ way down the driveway to see my son get on the bus every day. She had signs of arthritis so we did Reiki on her & gave her special food. She mostly stayed in the new bed we had for her in the garage. She did not have a collar but my son brushed her really nice the day she disappeared. Legally she was not our cat but is part of our family & well loved. We recently adopted a rescue puppy that need a home. I would not turn my back on a person or a stray animal in need of help. We are all God’s creatures. I feel we should treat everyone and every animal with kindness and there would be less problems in the world.

I obviously cut and pasted what I liked, most of the other stuff was bordering on ignorant, most, not all.  Bottom line:  Its up to US to care for these animals!  Please, help me to help them!


I have a much needed vacation day from work tomorrow.  WOO HOO!  Have a great day!

3 comments:

  1. Well we will just have to try again !
    Maybe next week ? I'll message you.

    Things to remember when on a stake-out :
    - Dont drink to much coffee. Having to pee ruins the stake-out
    - Make sure you run the defroster full blast before turning off the engine. Foggy windows makes it hard to see during the stake-out.
    - Lock your doors. Getting propositioned by a hooker is distracting during a stake-out.
    - take notes during the stake-out with good old fashioned pen and paper. Brightly lit cell-phone screens give you away during the stake-out.

    LOL
    :)

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  2. Wow. Incredible post today Janine. Amazing how much misinformation and apathy is out there. But just as amazing is how many good people there are too. I would like to chime in that animal control will NOT pick up cats and take them anywhere. That's part of the problem - this is literally NO ONE taking any responsibility for cats. Animal control will come and get a dog, a raccoon, a skunk, etc. But not a cat.

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  3. Joel - thank you for staking out that spot, and even finding laughter in it!! You're a good friend to Janine. Nancy C.

    ReplyDelete