We have a lot of cats that roam the neighborhood. Some are indoor-outdoor cats that live in the area, some are strays. There’s a white cat that was “adopted” several months ago by some people one street over. Apparently after they brought him home he kept escaping out their dog door. I “found” him one time after they had put up Missing Cat flyers, and returned him. Since then he has roamed the neighborhood, out at all hours and in all kinds of weather. He used to be beautiful, with a long white coat and blue eyes. Now his fur is tan with splotches of black from dirt and/or car grease.
To make a long story short, he is now in one of our bathrooms. I noticed that he has an open wound on his back leg, that has been there for a while (I noticed him limping last week). I’m going to call a rescue organization on Monday and have them come pick him up and see if they can get him adopted. It’s obvious his owners aren’t taking care of him. He has ear mites, the tips of his ears are chewed up, he has a wound on his back leg AND one on the base of his tail, a huge mat on one side of his body, and the fur is shorn away on the other side. He is VERY skinny and has gobbled his food every time I’ve fed him. And through all this, he has remained friendly and affectionate. He came right up to me and my husband on friday, wanting to be petted.
I would keep him if we could, but we already have 5 cats. I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to afford to get him any vet care, but I used to be a vet tech, so I’m going to try and clean him up as best I can. I’m hoping that we can at least donate some money to the organization that ends up taking him. He’ll make a great pet because he is so friendly, and he’s a good-looking cat (when he’s clean). Of course it remains to be seen if he has any of the viruses that cats can get living on the street (like Feline Leukemia), but there are tests for that.
The assholes that had him also have 2 or 3 large dogs. They live in a townhouse with a small backyard. I think they’re the people who keep their dogs out in the backyard until 11 or 12 at night, in all kinds of weather. The dogs cry and whine for hours to be let in. I’m going to take a walk through the neighborhood today or tommorrow and write down their address, and then monday morning I’m going to be on the phone with Animal Control to report them for animal neglect.
And here’s my rant to the lower-than-pond-scum:
I don’t care what your situation is, fuckos! If you don’t want your pet anymore, or you can’t take care of it anymore, TAKE IT TO A SHELTER! Don’t just let it go and hope it survives out in the neighborhood. I hope you both get painful, smelly skin rashes and crotch rot that causes you to be shunned by all your friends. I hope your dogs piss and shit all over the bed while you are in it, asleep. You fuckwads don’t deserve to be pet owners. I hope that Animal Control has gotten other complaints about you and that the one I make is the last straw and they take your dogs away or slap your sorry asses with a huge fine.
When I worked at the animal hospital, a client said she thought that owners who mistreated or neglected their animals came back in their next life as abused or neglected animals. I can only hope this happens to them.
I’m not normally this bitter and vengeful, but mistreatment of animals REALLY PISSES ME OFF! They depend on us for their care and well being and it’s up to us to make sure they are healthy and safe, and it is also our responsibility to give them up if we can’t give them the proper care any more.
I’ll get down off my soapbox now…