As you may know, I work for a no-kill animal shelter.
When I started (10 years ago!) as a caretaker in the adult cat area, it was the absolute norm for cats to be in the shelter for years, if not their whole lives. The longest resident at the time was 15 and had been in the shelter since she was about 9 months old. And she was nowhere near alone. When I started, my co-worker introduced me to all the cats and told me why each one was unadoptable or why nobody would ever want them. I disagreed with that philosophy and was determined to change that. My feeling is, I love these cats, quirks and all. And I’m not that special. So who am I to assume that nobody else will love them?
Cut to now- part of my job now is doing social media and marketing. I get to tell our animals’ stories to a larger audience. And the average length of stay (for everyone, but especially adult cats) is, overall, dramatically lower. For an adult or senior cat without serious challenges, it’s about a month once they’re ready to be made available for adoption.
But shy cats still struggle. It’s understandable- people don’t want a cat they can’t pet when they first meet. They don’t want a cat who doesn’t seem to like them right away. Why take a cat who needs patience when you could have a cat who doesn’t? So, as of last week, we did have several (mostly black) cats who had been passed by many times and were officially “long-term residents.” Jade, who was very shy and had been there three years. Lacey, who was interactive on her own terms, but not always up for performing for adopters. She had been there a year and a month. Then, a group of four who had come from a hoarding situation 8 months ago- Bismarck, Long John, Jelly, and Cruller. And one little shy singleton, Noelle, who had just hit the six month mark.
I put Lacey’s story on our socials last week and… I mean, they’re not all hits. But this one was. It got lots of attention and, miraculously, that attention translated to action.
Lacey was adopted within the first hour of the weekend. The second person to come and ask about her was disappointed that they’d missed her until we told them that she was actually only the second-longest resident and it would REALLY be something if Jade found someone. So, after three years, Jade found her home! And that’s how it went all day- people coming in and telling us they could deal with shy. They liked black. They understood that it would take time and patience. They just wanted to give someone a chance who otherwise might not have one. Lacey’s magic kept on spreading. Jelly got picked. Cruller and Long John went together. And today, both Bismarck’s and Noelle’s families found them.
That leaves us, for the first time in at least 23 years (since I started, plus 13 years before that, that I know of for sure) with ZERO cats in the adult section who have been there over a year. Not only that, but zero who have been there more than six months. No more little “long-term” icons by any of the names. Not one.
It’s easy to start to hate people or to feel like it’s you against the world when you work in that setting. People can really be heartless when it comes to animals and they’re not shy about showing it. But then, you get a weekend like this one, where you get to see the opposite- big hearts, compassion, a willingness to fight for the underdog (cat). It’s been a good weekend.
