Amy Sumida's Blog - Posts Tagged "feral-cats"
Frustrating Felines
So awhile back we started feeding a stray cat that was coming around the house. He knew a good deal when he saw one and brought his girlfriend for a cheap dinner. Then in typical male fashion, he knocked her up and took off, leaving us to take care of his mess.
The mama cat gave birth to five adorable kittens but when I found her birthing nest, she took off with them and hid them until they were old enough to bring around to eat solid food. By this time they had turned feral and are too wary of humans to take in to the Human Society to be adopted. So now we are feeding six cats.
Luckily, the Humane Society has a wonderful catch and release program for feral cats in which you can bring a cat in to be neutered and microchipped and they will give you back the cat to release back into the wild. My cousin and I decided that we would get them all fixed before we had our own cat colony living under the house. So we went down to the Humane Society to get a trap which you can borrow from them for a deposit of $100.
I thought this was a bit steep, especially since you are expected to pay for every neuter and microchip in the amount of $25. But it needed to be done and the deposit was refundable when you returned the cage.
So we go down there and meet two of the most annoyingly stupid girls I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. First, after telling them the purpose for our visit, one of them immediately starts drawing up paperwork, even while I'm still asking questions.
Evidently the Humane Society doesn't want people to use their program because they seem to make it very hard for you to do the right thing. I told the girl we had a mama and five kittens but she said not only could we only bring in one cat per cage, we could only get one cage per household. I signed up separately from my cousin so we were able to get two cages at least, bringing our total trips to the Humane Society down to eight, one to pick up the cages, six to drop off and then pick up the cats, and one to return the cages.
When asked if I could give my receipt to my cousin so she could return my cage, I was told an emphatic no. Then, when I told her we weren't sure if the mama cat was pregnant again and would they be able to tell? And if so, they wouldn't fix her, right? The girl ignored my question completely and instead asked for my phone number. I repeated it, stating that she could just hold her horses on the paperwork until all of my questions were answered. Finally the other, less stupid girl, answered me, saying that no they would not operate on a pregnant cat but let's just say I wasn't convinced.
After all of this, the first stupid girl announces that there are no appointments until Thursday(it's Monday and the cage rental is only for a week). My cousin tells her that she spoke with someone on the phone who had assured her that there were appointments available for the very next day.
"No," says stupid girl, "that can't be right."
"Call Susan," says the less stupid girl.
So she gets on the phone and finds out that there are appointments available for both Tuesday and Thursday.
"But it's Tuesday, so you'll have to wait till Thursday, like I said," she says snarkilly.
"Actually, it's Monday," my cousin says.
The girl just looks at us blankly until the less stupid girl says, "Yeah, it's Monday."
"Okay, fine, I'll put you down for an appointment for Tuesday."
"So, tomorrow," my cousin says.
"Tuesday," says stupid girl.
"Which is tomorrow," my cousin persists.
"Yeah whatever," stupid girl says. "So you want one appointment?"
"We're getting two cages," I growled. "You just did our paperwork. How many appointments do you think we'll need?"
Another blank look.
"They need two appointments?" Less stupid girl says to her.
I'm told by my cousin that when she took the kittens in the very next day, which was a Tuesday by the way, the same stupid girl was working and her first question was:
"Do you have an appointment?"
"I have two," my cousin said.
Then the girl asks her what the cat's names were. They're feral, my cousin says, they don't have names. On top of all this, my cousin gets off work at 4pm but they won't let you pick up the animals until 6pm because they might be groggy. So basically, they feel that it's better for the cats to be groggy in an unknown terrifying place rather than at home where we could at least put them outside near their family.
I have never been so disappointed and angered by the Hawaiian Humane Society before.
To top it all off, we got all the kittens done but mama cat is just to willy to be caught. She looks at the cage and turns away, while those kittens get caught multiple times. Sigh, one little one was caught three times in one night, she wasn't even scared anymore, just sat in the cage and ate the food there. I guess she figured the worst had already been done.
The mama cat gave birth to five adorable kittens but when I found her birthing nest, she took off with them and hid them until they were old enough to bring around to eat solid food. By this time they had turned feral and are too wary of humans to take in to the Human Society to be adopted. So now we are feeding six cats.
Luckily, the Humane Society has a wonderful catch and release program for feral cats in which you can bring a cat in to be neutered and microchipped and they will give you back the cat to release back into the wild. My cousin and I decided that we would get them all fixed before we had our own cat colony living under the house. So we went down to the Humane Society to get a trap which you can borrow from them for a deposit of $100.
I thought this was a bit steep, especially since you are expected to pay for every neuter and microchip in the amount of $25. But it needed to be done and the deposit was refundable when you returned the cage.
So we go down there and meet two of the most annoyingly stupid girls I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. First, after telling them the purpose for our visit, one of them immediately starts drawing up paperwork, even while I'm still asking questions.
Evidently the Humane Society doesn't want people to use their program because they seem to make it very hard for you to do the right thing. I told the girl we had a mama and five kittens but she said not only could we only bring in one cat per cage, we could only get one cage per household. I signed up separately from my cousin so we were able to get two cages at least, bringing our total trips to the Humane Society down to eight, one to pick up the cages, six to drop off and then pick up the cats, and one to return the cages.
When asked if I could give my receipt to my cousin so she could return my cage, I was told an emphatic no. Then, when I told her we weren't sure if the mama cat was pregnant again and would they be able to tell? And if so, they wouldn't fix her, right? The girl ignored my question completely and instead asked for my phone number. I repeated it, stating that she could just hold her horses on the paperwork until all of my questions were answered. Finally the other, less stupid girl, answered me, saying that no they would not operate on a pregnant cat but let's just say I wasn't convinced.
After all of this, the first stupid girl announces that there are no appointments until Thursday(it's Monday and the cage rental is only for a week). My cousin tells her that she spoke with someone on the phone who had assured her that there were appointments available for the very next day.
"No," says stupid girl, "that can't be right."
"Call Susan," says the less stupid girl.
So she gets on the phone and finds out that there are appointments available for both Tuesday and Thursday.
"But it's Tuesday, so you'll have to wait till Thursday, like I said," she says snarkilly.
"Actually, it's Monday," my cousin says.
The girl just looks at us blankly until the less stupid girl says, "Yeah, it's Monday."
"Okay, fine, I'll put you down for an appointment for Tuesday."
"So, tomorrow," my cousin says.
"Tuesday," says stupid girl.
"Which is tomorrow," my cousin persists.
"Yeah whatever," stupid girl says. "So you want one appointment?"
"We're getting two cages," I growled. "You just did our paperwork. How many appointments do you think we'll need?"
Another blank look.
"They need two appointments?" Less stupid girl says to her.
I'm told by my cousin that when she took the kittens in the very next day, which was a Tuesday by the way, the same stupid girl was working and her first question was:
"Do you have an appointment?"
"I have two," my cousin said.
Then the girl asks her what the cat's names were. They're feral, my cousin says, they don't have names. On top of all this, my cousin gets off work at 4pm but they won't let you pick up the animals until 6pm because they might be groggy. So basically, they feel that it's better for the cats to be groggy in an unknown terrifying place rather than at home where we could at least put them outside near their family.
I have never been so disappointed and angered by the Hawaiian Humane Society before.
To top it all off, we got all the kittens done but mama cat is just to willy to be caught. She looks at the cage and turns away, while those kittens get caught multiple times. Sigh, one little one was caught three times in one night, she wasn't even scared anymore, just sat in the cage and ate the food there. I guess she figured the worst had already been done.
