Friday, January 8, 2016

Cat warehousing?

I recently volunteered at a cat rescue shelter, and thought I'd offer my two cents on the issue of cat warehousing.

The shelter that I volunteered at houses close to 300 cats. That's a lot of cats, and it's not a very big place.

The place has been under investigation for possible hoarding of cats, and passive cruelty. There are people on both sides shouting their opinions, and there is a lot of anger.

I've done a lot of research on cat shelters, and I've read a lot of opinions on both sides of the debate, and I've volunteered at the shelter so I feel that I have a very valid opinion on the matter.

The place is run by volunteers - at least this is what we are told.  There are a LOT of volunteers, and everyone I met cared enormously about the cats. There were constantly people bringing in things for the cats. Things like bowls, blankets, beds, litter, paper towels. Basically any supplies that were needed - and supplies were always needed because there was very little money! At Christmas I believe they provided a dinner for the cats, and instead of presents the volunteers were told they should bring in supplies for the shelter instead. At all times you would see someone walking around carrying a cat, giving it love.

It's a no kill shelter, and this is where the main controversy comes in. The cats will not be euthanized, even if they are terminally ill. Now I believe that all cats deserve a chance. And this does include sick cats - up to a certain point. Just because a cat has FIV (feline HIV basically) or Feline Leukemia Virus DOES NOT mean that they should just be euthanized!!! These cats have a terminal auto immune disease which means that they are more susceptible to getting serious illnesses that could eventually kill them, but that if they are cared for properly, and given lots of love, with a bit of luck then they can live for several years without incidence. They deserve love just like any sick human does. We don't euthanize cancer or AIDS patients!

Animals can't decide to end their lives when they are sick, so we have to use our own judgment to determine whether an animal is enjoying any quality of life. In my opinion, if an animal is terminally ill and has been suffering for a long time with lots of sickness, and is clearly in pain, then it's important to make a decision based on what's best for the animal, not what is easiest for us.

I DID witness cats with terminal illnesses living their lives in a cage, and I can tell you, it broke my heart! They had zero quality of life.

The cats living at the shelter are all very well fed. There is no doubt about that. Their litter boxes are cleaned twice a day. They have plenty of places to climb, sleep or hide. They have toys. They have caring people coming in and giving them lot's of love.

When it comes to issues of animal cruelty, you look for things like abuse, lack of food and water, lack of comfort etc. It's hard to look at a place and find any evidence of cruelty when you don't see any of the above.

However, there is more to life than just having a litter box, some food and water, a scratching post and a bed. I have learned a lot about cats, by observing my own! They have a lot more subtle needs, crucial to their well being! They need to played with, talked to, have enrichment activities, toys, windows to look out of etc.

When you have a room full of 50 or 100 cats, they will survive - but they won't thrive.

I wish people would think about what is best for the cats instead of what is best for themselves. In a perfect world we could create animal sanctuaries out in the country where sick and elderly cats could live out their days in beautiful gardens. But in this society, we DON'T HAVE THE SPACE OR THE MONEY!

There are many kind, generous and loving people who are donating their time and money to help the shelter without realizing that a lot of the money is going towards paying the vet bills for sick and dying cats.

When you call yourself a no kill shelter, and you house about 300 cats, you end up at maximum capacity. You can no longer take in any new cats. This means that young and healthy, perfectly adoptable cats end up being sent to other shelters in the city. Shelters that DO euthanize. If an animal isn't adopted in a week or so at a shelter, they are euthanized. So in reality, you can call yourself a no kill shelter all you like, but you are still indirectly responsible for healthy cats being euthanized every week. It's a bit like buying products from the Body Shop. They claim that their products are not tested on animals. What they don't tell you is that many of the ingredients in their products have been tested on animals by other companies.

After spending six months volunteering at the shelter I felt a bit defensive and almost protective over the place. I am a huge animal lover, and every single person I met there was the same. It was only after being away from the place for a couple of years and reading all the stories about how this was a hoarding operation that my opinion finally began to change.

First of all, the purpose of an animal shelter is to safely keep animals off of the streets while working hard to find new homes for them. An animal hoarder can pose as a rescue operation and justify housing 300 cats in a small filthy facility under the premise that these cats were saved from a horrible life on the streets.

It is not actually very humane at all to keep 300 cats in a small facility where their quality of life is very low. While yes, they are less likely to die from being hit by a car, starvation, or the cold weather - they are however at risk from many many other dangers!!!

As the shelter was not funded by the government, it was relying on donations. There are a lot of costs involved in running a shelter. You have to pay rent, buy food, litter, cleaning supplies, pay for electricity, vet bills, etc. There is a very long list of expenses, and I can't pretend I even know about half of the things required to successively run a shelter.

As I mentioned, there were about 300 cats living at this shelter. Many of them had health problems, so a large amount of money went towards vet bills each month. That I know for certain. There was a lot of money coming into the shelter, from my understanding, but as there were 300 cats - there were big expenses.

Bottom line was, there was NEVER enough money. Never. Every single week we experienced shortages of things. There would be emergency e-mails begging people to bring in litter and cat food, or dish soap, or paper towels. It was never ending.

As there was just barely enough money to make sure that all of the cats received the proper vet treatment and were adequately nourished (they were really well fed, that was the first priority - above all else!!!) it meant that there wasn't enough money for other important things.

Fire Hazards: I am not an electrician, and have no knowledge of how any of it works. However, I did not feel that the place was safe. In the kitchen there was a plug for the ceiling lights, it was scary looking, with lot's of electrical tape all over it. I wouldn't touch it, some one else had to turn the lights off - not me! There was no light switch, you had to unplug the lights.

We were not trained in fire safety or told where the fire exits were. The windows were barred, and there was only one door into the place (that I was shown anyway). Therefore, I am fairly sure that if there was a fire it would be very hard for anyone to get out!

Sanitation: The place was dirty. I feel bad saying that, I really do. We tried, everyone did their best. But the truth is, it is a big shelter, with not enough volunteers per shift to really be able to scrape the surface of the cleaning required in order for it to be a sanitary facility. The floors were mopped every day with a bleach solution. But as I mentioned, there were always shortages of everything, and I'm not convinced that each and every time the floors were mopped that the correct ratio of bleach to water was used.

Dish soap was constantly running out. How can dishes be adequately cleaned without the right amount of soap?

There wasn't enough time to get all the cleaning products out and wash walls and surfaces. Therefore, everywhere you looked there were filthy doors, windows, and walls.

The cement floors were not sealed, they were roughly painted and porous. Therefore, dirt, faeces, litter, fur etc. would be embedded in all the small holes, and cracks on the floor. The floors were never vacuumed, only swept, then mopped. Therefore, I do not think it's possible that the floors were clean.

The facility was an open air plan, meaning that not all of the rooms were sealed. Some rooms had chicken wire walls, meaning that air born illnesses could have been spread quite easily.

All of the above only scrapes the surface of what I'm trying to say, which is that it's not enough to just take a homeless cat off the streets and give them food and shelter.

You have to provide an environment where the cat can thrive, but always have the intention to get them adopted as quickly as possible!

You have to keep the cats safe! The place has to have measures in place to protect the animals from fire hazards and to promote an environment that is safe and healthy. I am sorry to say, but this place did not provide that.

When you have 300 cats living in a small space, it will automatically create some stress in the animal. Many of the animals looked fine, happy and healthy. But many many more were sick, scared, shy and miserable. The fact was (is?) that most of those cats were not going to ever get adopted.

That is the difference between an authentic cat shelter, and a hoarding operation posing as a cat rescue.

The number one sign it's a hoarding operation, is that the cats don't get adopted. Number two is that there is an air of secrecy surrounding the place. We were not allowed to disclose the location of the place, and when I was there I hardly ever saw cats get adopted. There were less than 10 a month, and as quickly as cats went out, more came in. There were cats that had been there for years. I had a friend try to adopt a cat from there, and she couldn't get in touch with anyone to help!!! So she went somewhere else! I could have found her a super awesome cat from there! I knew many many beautiful wonderful souls who would have been thrilled to finally leave! But they were denied that chance!

I really loved those cats! I looked forward to my weekly visits, there were so many awesome cats that I got to know and my heart absolutely bleeds for them, thinking that they are trapped in there and might never leave.

I really hope that one day our government will have stronger animal protection laws. A shelter should not be overcrowded, it should be safe, clean, regularly inspected and then have follow ups to ensure that the correct procedures are being adhered to. The cats should be adopted in a timely manner. The facility should be accessible for the public.

If no one knows where they are, how can cats get adopted? How can people donate money if they don't even know that the place exists?




































Learning German

I recently decided to try and learn German. I have always had an interest in the language, but only recently took action to actually try learning it!

I took a beginner Spanish course about 20 years ago, and really loved it. I found it to be a perfect combination of English and French, and ultimately a very easy and beautiful language to learn. Sadly, I never took any more courses and therefore I only have a very limited knowledge of the language.

I found a great website called Duolingo, and it has many languages that you can learn for free! It's super easy, and kind of fun! It it almost entirely sentence based, so you don't have actual lessons, really, you mostly just learn new words that are already in sentences. Regardless, it is definitely a good way to introduce yourself to a new language. I am at level 30 now (whatever that really means in the real world!) and know a lot of words! I would not be able to have a conversation with someone yet, but I would be able to throw a few sentences out there.

I have an easier time reading the language than listening to it, so it's hard to find other sources to diversify my learning experience.

One thing that learning German has taught me though, is how much there is to learn! If you imagine a long line of numbers, each number representing a stage of learning, then it really does take a heck of a long time to get to a hundred! I'm probably at 5. I also developed a whole new appreciation of my knowledge of French! I have had very low confidence in my French skills, mainly because I live in a city full of completely bilingual people (people who can actually switch back and forth between the two languages without even a pause). I realized that while I am not as bilingual as many people in this city, that I do in fact have quite an extensive knowledge of the language! I realized that I can easily have conversations that require practically no effort. Where as, in German I would struggle to say even simple things like to try and describe my self, or my interests. I can't really form sentences, and have a very limited vocabulary.

However, it's been fun trying something new! And now with my new found confidence in my French skills, I'm debating maybe actually taking some leisure courses that are only offered in French. See, by living in this city in only English, I end up cutting off about 70% of the opportunities for learning available. I might not be able to understand everything that a teacher will say, and will probably just hear noise if people start talking at the same time and using slang. But with any luck, I will learn a bit more French, and maybe have the chance to learn a new hobby that I would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn due to it not being offered in English. For example, I have researched cooking classes (I'm vegetarian) and there aren't any offered in English.

I do still need to learn Spanish though. I mean, realistically, there is much more of a chance of me being able to actually use it! Just taking a vacation to the Caribbean I could use Spanish. Where as, when would I ever be able to practice German?