The Rancho cats have had their lives turned upside down in a matter of weeks. Eleven years they had followed the same routine and had been around the same people. Now they have had their home invaded, all hours of the day, by strange people with traps that are out to get them and take them to the animal shelter where 100% of ferals are killed.
The shelter is no place for a feral cat as the only "service" they can provide them with is death. Read a first hand account of the horrific experience David and Linda endured when they went to pick-up several Rancho cats that had been trapped and taken to the LA County Downey Shelter.
On 10/31/2008 David and Linda East, with Fail-Safe 4 Felines, went to L.A. County Animal Control at 12585 Garfield, Downey, Ca to "bail out" 4 cats. 3 of these cats had been trapped by L.A. County Animal Control on 10/25/2008. The other one had been trapped by L.A. County Animal Control on 10/30/2008.
After paying the fees L. A. County Animal Control required to release the cats we were escorted to where the 3 cats were located. I waited by the back door, I was not allowed to go in. By the back door of this building, was a sally port. A sally port is a chain link fence attached to the building. There were 2 L.A. County Animal Control officers, a man and a woman, retrieving the cats and they handed the first 2 cats to me and I left them in the car with my husband. The woman went to get the 3rd cat, it got away from her and ran into the sally port. The orange cat, who is feral was totally terrified and scared. The cat climbed up to the top of the chain link fencing, hanging from the top. All this is happening in a matter of seconds. The lady officer went back into the room and got a net. The other officer had the carrier up, as to drop the cat in once they got it. The cat was so traumatized, he began to urinate while hanging on the fence. He urinated all over the carrier, inside and out. They finally netted him. I asked that they clean the inside of the carrier, before putting him in, they did not and just threw him in the urine filled carrier. The man brought the carrier with the cat outside to me and I took him to the car. During this ordeal with the 3rd cat the animal control officer could be heard saying, I thought I could handle the cat.
The story does not end here. The 4th cat was in the spay and neuter clinic, which was now closed. I was instructed to come back to the reception area and someone would get the cat. You guessed it, the same officer who let the orange boy escape. She took me down a hall inside where it looked as if only employees should be. The freshly spayed cat was on the top cage. This, by the way, is the lactating momma that LAACC REFUSED to let return back to Rancho to care for her kittens. The officer said "I can handle her." Gee where have I heard that? As soon as she opened the cage door, the cat bolted out and ran and hid behind some of the stainless steel cages. The officer kept trying to get her but was unable to. Another person, a woman came in. She keep telling a large dog in a cage named "Tanner" to be quiet. This woman was in street clothes. She climbed up on top of these cages to see where the cat was. The cat was back in the very corner, hiding. There was wooden pole, with some sharp things on one end. The women on top of the cages used the pole, I do not know which end she used, I could not see from where I was in the room. She put it in between the cages and the window to try and push the cat out. I keep saying, "please remember this cat just got spayed today". After what seemed like an eternity, the officers realized they could not get the cat out, that the cages needed to be moved. The cages are not on wheels. The woman in street clothes, got down, took the dog (Tanner) out of the cage to her car. The dog had continually barked during this whole time further terrifying the momma cat. Back up was called and another officer came to help. Once he saw me in the room, he told me to leave and wait outside by my car. I estimated this horrible ordeal went on for a least 15 - 20 minutes.
Approx. 5 - 10 minutes later the officer came out to our car with the newly spayed cat in the carrier. His clothes and body were covered in dirt. The cat was so scared and traumatized, she was shaking. We put the carrier in the car, and covered her with a towel. We drove straight to the vets office to have the 4 cats evaluated. The newly spayed feral cat is still currently at the vets to be monitored for internal damage or any other damage that could have easily occurred during this very traumatic and unnecessary ordeal the cat was put thru.
Their staff is clearly not trained to handle feral cats and they want to take on 100 ferals from Rancho? I hate to think of what else happened to the momma cat for those long 5-10 minutes that she was left alone in that room with the animal control officers...
The shelter is no place for a feral cat as the only "service" they can provide them with is death. Read a first hand account of the horrific experience David and Linda endured when they went to pick-up several Rancho cats that had been trapped and taken to the LA County Downey Shelter.
On 10/31/2008 David and Linda East, with Fail-Safe 4 Felines, went to L.A. County Animal Control at 12585 Garfield, Downey, Ca to "bail out" 4 cats. 3 of these cats had been trapped by L.A. County Animal Control on 10/25/2008. The other one had been trapped by L.A. County Animal Control on 10/30/2008.
After paying the fees L. A. County Animal Control required to release the cats we were escorted to where the 3 cats were located. I waited by the back door, I was not allowed to go in. By the back door of this building, was a sally port. A sally port is a chain link fence attached to the building. There were 2 L.A. County Animal Control officers, a man and a woman, retrieving the cats and they handed the first 2 cats to me and I left them in the car with my husband. The woman went to get the 3rd cat, it got away from her and ran into the sally port. The orange cat, who is feral was totally terrified and scared. The cat climbed up to the top of the chain link fencing, hanging from the top. All this is happening in a matter of seconds. The lady officer went back into the room and got a net. The other officer had the carrier up, as to drop the cat in once they got it. The cat was so traumatized, he began to urinate while hanging on the fence. He urinated all over the carrier, inside and out. They finally netted him. I asked that they clean the inside of the carrier, before putting him in, they did not and just threw him in the urine filled carrier. The man brought the carrier with the cat outside to me and I took him to the car. During this ordeal with the 3rd cat the animal control officer could be heard saying, I thought I could handle the cat.
The story does not end here. The 4th cat was in the spay and neuter clinic, which was now closed. I was instructed to come back to the reception area and someone would get the cat. You guessed it, the same officer who let the orange boy escape. She took me down a hall inside where it looked as if only employees should be. The freshly spayed cat was on the top cage. This, by the way, is the lactating momma that LAACC REFUSED to let return back to Rancho to care for her kittens. The officer said "I can handle her." Gee where have I heard that? As soon as she opened the cage door, the cat bolted out and ran and hid behind some of the stainless steel cages. The officer kept trying to get her but was unable to. Another person, a woman came in. She keep telling a large dog in a cage named "Tanner" to be quiet. This woman was in street clothes. She climbed up on top of these cages to see where the cat was. The cat was back in the very corner, hiding. There was wooden pole, with some sharp things on one end. The women on top of the cages used the pole, I do not know which end she used, I could not see from where I was in the room. She put it in between the cages and the window to try and push the cat out. I keep saying, "please remember this cat just got spayed today". After what seemed like an eternity, the officers realized they could not get the cat out, that the cages needed to be moved. The cages are not on wheels. The woman in street clothes, got down, took the dog (Tanner) out of the cage to her car. The dog had continually barked during this whole time further terrifying the momma cat. Back up was called and another officer came to help. Once he saw me in the room, he told me to leave and wait outside by my car. I estimated this horrible ordeal went on for a least 15 - 20 minutes.
Approx. 5 - 10 minutes later the officer came out to our car with the newly spayed cat in the carrier. His clothes and body were covered in dirt. The cat was so scared and traumatized, she was shaking. We put the carrier in the car, and covered her with a towel. We drove straight to the vets office to have the 4 cats evaluated. The newly spayed feral cat is still currently at the vets to be monitored for internal damage or any other damage that could have easily occurred during this very traumatic and unnecessary ordeal the cat was put thru.
Their staff is clearly not trained to handle feral cats and they want to take on 100 ferals from Rancho? I hate to think of what else happened to the momma cat for those long 5-10 minutes that she was left alone in that room with the animal control officers...
Pictured above is Orange Boy trying to recover from his long ordeal at a foster home.
2 comments:
That made me sick to my stomach. Those poor cats. And what would they have done if they did catch one of the ferals by hand? The cat would have attacked them and then what? Would they put it down due to their ignorance?
I'm sending them yet another email/fax and phone call. We will make them regret the day they decided to harm these innocent creatures!
anything new? I haven't recieved anything for about a week :(
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