Callista wrote:
Today I went to the shelter to see the cats and kittens. I asked about doing petfinder.com ads for the cats, and again they said the person I had to talk to wasn't in, even though it was the hours they told me he'd be in.
I have been going there two or three times weekly, for three hours or so at a time, to play with the cats, hold them, just generally spend time with them. I also brought a dangle toy and some treats.
I couldn't do any more because when I first came there, they said they had no volunteer program; but that the shelter was open to visitors. So I became a "visitor".
After I had spent a little time with the cats, one of the employees called me into the office and told me that a man wanted to speak to me. I don't remember either one of their names; maybe they were never said. The man had gray hair and it seemed like he might be in charge.
He told me that visitors were starting to think I might be an employee; and that anyone who spent this much time at the shelter would have to be either an employee or a volunteer. They were starting to think I worked there.
"But you don't have a volunteer program," I said. "No, we don't," he agreed. And they can't/won't hire me.
He was trying to be polite about it, I suppose; but what I heard was a lot of beating around the bush, to the effect that "We don't want you here."
So I said, "I'm leaving now," and left. He was still talking. I did this because otherwise I would have started crying and that is very impolite.
I did cry on the way home. I'm glad no one heard me, because I must have sounded more like a wolf howling than a human being. I suppose I had a grade-A meltdown...
I don't understand that they won't let me come anymore.
I'm not doing any harm to the cats. They like me, and I like them.
Maybe I'm not doing much good, either; but surely it must get lonely and boring living in a cage all day? At least I'm a diversion... at least they get petted (if they want it) or played with (if they're interested) or at the very least a kitty treat... I've never seen any of the shelter employees playing with or even touching a cat. All they ever do is change the litter and feed the cats.
They put cats to sleep because they have too many cats and not enough funds... and they won't let anyone help them with the cats, even though people like me would do it for free, and wouldn't get in anyone's way. So they go on putting cats to sleep...
I wonder whether there have been other offers of help, maybe even by people who were more experienced than me, and could have done more? I wonder how many cats have had to die because these people just want things the way they are, and want to run their shelter their way and not accept any help... Have these people desensitised themselves so completely that they no longer make any effort to make sure their cats leave the shelter in a carrier and not a garbage bag?
I understand some cats have to be put to sleep; if they're too wild or sick, they're completely unadoptable, it's not kind to make them live out their whole lives in cages. But some cats have a chance; and shouldn't they have every chance they can get? It's not their fault they weren't wanted.
I know I look a little weird. I have short hair and I'm fat and I'm socially and physically clumsy... Maybe I look ret*d or something, though I'm only Asperger's. But I like cats, and I know how to take care of them, and I'm not stupid or incompetent.
I'm crying again just typing this... I know the cats' lives will go on without me, of course; but is it so wrong to want to give them a little bit of attention, just so living in that kitten orphanage isn't so dull?
Callista, it probably isn't about YOU. Although I can relate to the experience of being tossed out of volunteer job because people think you are not fitting in. This happened to me once. But I think in this case, it might be a different issue entirely. I heard that certain shelters, the ones that put animals to sleep, get paid from government or city and other sources depending on how many animals they put down. I've heard this is the way that the SPCA works. The local SPCA where I live recently stopped their volunteer program because of some inexplicable reason. Well the reason is because kill shelters do not want volunteers cozying up to the animals they need to put down in order to get paid. This would create possible conflict between people who genuinely care about the animals, the outside community, and the actual job the shelter gets paid to do.
19 Sep 2006, 6:51 am
