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...
What measures? Should
we be reporting you to the humane society?
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".
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)
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.
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?
Well on the positive
side, they keep the rat population down....
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
Well we will just have to try again !
ReplyDeleteMaybe 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
:)
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.
ReplyDeleteJoel - thank you for staking out that spot, and even finding laughter in it!! You're a good friend to Janine. Nancy C.
ReplyDelete