| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 282.1 | Perhaps the vet would lend a hand | WOMBAT::TAMIR | | Mon Jul 14 1986 17:10 | 16 |
| If that were a kid, they'd be a child abuse social service you could
call, but I wonder if your local animal control officer would be
willing to investigate this case of what seems to be abuse. The
problem I have had with strays and wild cats and animal control
officers is that cats are considered to be natural preditors and
the animal control/protection laws do not cover cats. I know that
here in Nashua, the animal control officers refuse to intervene
in any way with the wild cat problem in our neighborhood (brought
to us by the local friendly egg farm and its barn cats). But that cat
sounds like it's being abused. It might be worth a call...
Then (after reading the previous note) I would have swatted the
woman across the forehead :^)!!
Mary
|
| 282.2 | If You Can Find An Animal Lover | INK::KALLIS | | Mon Jul 14 1986 17:17 | 13 |
| If there's an SPCA in the area, report her. If the opther cats
are in asboput the same shaope as the one you had nursed, there'll
be plenty of evidence!
If there _isn't_ an SPCA, try the local newspaper (if vthey have
a pet editor) -- as long as you don't say anything slanderous or
libelous. You could say something like: "There are some cats in
the neighborhood that _I_ think look a little mistreated. Why don't
you have a look and see what you think?" That leaves it a judgement
call to the reporter.
Streve Kallis, Jr.
|
| 282.3 | | STUBBI::REINKE | | Mon Jul 14 1986 17:21 | 9 |
| We get a fair number of both strays and "visiting" cats around
our place. If a strange cat shows up and seems to want to move in
with us, I call around the neighborhood first to see if anyone claims
it. In the one case where someone did we ended up with the cat anyway
because evertime they let him out he came right back to our house.
If you are willing to put up with the time it will take for you
female to get used to Houdini, you might ask the woman if you could
have him anyway. (Especially if he keeps coming back like ours did.)
|
| 282.4 | One MAD Persian owner... | KOALA::FAMULARO | Joe, ZK02-2/R94, DTN381-2565 | Tue Jul 15 1986 13:18 | 19 |
| I own two Persians that need to be groomed at least every other
day, if not daily. Anything less than that results in mats forming
which are at first a great source of discomfort for the cat, and
then in later stages very painful. The Persian you described sounded
like it was in extreme discomfort/pain not only with the matting
but also with the ear mites.
The woman who owns the cat does not seem to be "playing with a full
deck", if you know what I mean. She obviously knows little if nothing
about the proper care of long haired felines or she gets her kicks
from watching the animal(s) suffer.
I would encourage you to do what you can to aquire the Persian and give
it proper vet care and grooming, as well as take steps to correct
this woman's problem, even if you must go to the authorities.
Please keep us informed.
|
| 282.5 | Book her, Lucinda! | NACHO::DREW | | Tue Jul 15 1986 16:11 | 13 |
| Louise,
Since you took the cat to the vet...you do have documented evidence
that the cat was in severe difficulty. You also mentioned that this
person (I refuse to call her a 'lady') had about 15 other cats.
If you think its at all feasible, please call the Humane Society.
There may be something that they can do. (Its also possible that
there may be a legal limit to the number of cats one can keep in
a residential dwelling.) This person should not be allowed to
continue abusing animals!
-nn
|
| 282.6 | | VIRTUE::AITEL | Helllllllp Mr. Wizard! | Tue Jul 15 1986 18:13 | 28 |
| My only hesitation is that I don't trust this woman, and she
knows where I live and, more importantly, where *my* cats live.
She has lied to me and to Jim repeatedly, and almost got
hysterical when I suggested that perhaps Houdini had been in
pain from the matting. Really, she's not playing with a full
deck. I'm going back and forth between anguishing over the
poor cats that she has, and worrying about the damage this
kook could do if she's provoked. Hopefully, neither she nor
her kin work at Dec and read this file!
Unfortunately, taking Houdini in is out of the question due to
Koshka's reaction to even the smell of him on our clothes. She
doesn't normally come up, sniff me, growl, and lash out with her
claws! He was in our house for a week and, while Chorniy got
to the point of wanting to play with him, Koshka's behavior change
was painful for us, both emotionally and physically. Besides, the
woman is not likely to give him up.
By the way, I *did* call the Nashua Humane Society when I found
Houdini and thought he was a stray, and they mentioned that they'd
seen cats in that shape who had owners.
Mike, what does the Nashua Humane Society do in cases like this?
Are they empowered to make a visit to the house where the problem
is? Is there any way that I can make it an anonymous tip? (except
she'd be likely to know who complained.)
--Louise
|
| 282.7 | | STAR::WALKER | | Wed Jul 16 1986 00:00 | 11 |
| Please DO call your local Humane Society. One of the functions
of most shelters, and I believe the Nashua one, is to investigate
complaints. I used to work at the Animal Rescue League, and we
did investigations (but only could in our "territory").
Do keep us posted!!!
Lisa
P.S. If Houdini comes back, which I suspect he will, you might
want to call your shelter for advice at that point.
|
| 282.8 | | HOMBRE::DREW | | Wed Jul 16 1986 10:57 | 13 |
| If Houdini reappears...we could always arrange for him to disappear!
(I normally would be the last person to suggest such a thing...I
know well the anguish I would feel if one of my pets disappeared...
but this person is patently abusing her stewardship of these
animals...my heart goes out to Houdini and the other cats that
she is maltreating.)
Keep it in mind, Louise...Snuffs has settled in nicely....so Kismet
is free to 'train' another cat!
-nn
|
| 282.9 | DIFFICULT PROBLEM!!! | SOFCON::MCDONOUGH | | Thu Jul 17 1986 16:56 | 26 |
| It's really astounding that you hear of this kind of thing happening
so often in this so-called "civilization of ours!! Just a few weeks
ago the news in Worcester was full of a story about someone who
had over 40 cats confined inside her house...and the S.P.C.A. had
to have the majority of them put down due to disease, sores, etc..
The alleged 'humans' in this case were determined to be "rowing
with one oar out of the water"...
I'm in total agreement that people who neglect or abuse animals
to the degree described...and much *less* than the things described...
are not in control of their minds....
I realize that there are deep emotions around pet ownership and
each of the people who 'note' are caring individuals. But I don't
believe this is the case when matters like this come up. This poor
woman needs help!!! She would be the first one to say that I'm full
of baloney, because she probably doesn't recognize her own illness..
which I think is not unusual. She may not even realize that she's
harming the animals...no telling what goes on in the mind of one
not totally in control of their faculties.
You might do well to call the S.P.C.A. or the Nashua shelter to
get some ideas of how to proceed. I definitely understand your concern
about what this kook might do....maybe they'll put her in a cage...or
at least a place where she can't harm anything and she'd be safe
from herself...
Not an easy problem to solve...but good luck with it!!
JMCD
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