Question:
Hey, some of you may know I plan on adopting a new kitty within the next few months. (If I'm going to deliberately plan it'll be around December when I have extra time off). Now, all the cats I've had have been strays or neglected outdoor cats that are allowed to produce litter after litter and so on. In my new neighborhood, everyone seems to love kitties so I'm unlikely to encounter a situation like that.
That said, unless someone alerts me to a cat in need, I will be adopting one from a shelter. I'm torn here. What is better? Adopting from a no-kill shelter because they need the funds? Or adopting from the local pound where I'll be getting a cat that might otherwise be euthanized? I don't want to support shelters that euthanize animals, but it feels to me as if those animals have a slightly more urgent need for adoption. What are your opinions?
Answer:
Many of us who have worked in shelters don't have quite such a rosy view of the "no-kill" concept. Really, "no-kill" shelters can only exist where there is another local shelter that *does* kill. That way the no-kill can take its pick of the *most adoptable* animals, and send the rest over to the other shelter, letting that one take the blame for a high kill rate.
San Francisco's no-kill SPCA is across the parking lot from the SF city shelter, so it's an easy thing to transfer unwanted animals back to the city. The former director of that SPCA is now at ASPCA in New York, planning exactly the same strategy there. The city animal control dept. will be the one who gets the fallout.
All that being said, animals at the no-kill are likely to be healthier and better socialized, because they do get to pick and choose, and are probably more strict with their assessments. But at the regular shelter, you truly would be saving a life.
Cheers,
Dr. Jean
Jean Hofve, DVM
www.littlebigcat.com
www.spiritessence.com
Boulder, Colorado
Answer:
Quote: But at the regular shelter, you truly would be saving a life.
That was totally my thought, too. I'd much rather take a cat who's in jeopardy. I've just heard a lot of people say no-kill shelters get a lot of their funding through adoptions and such. I guess either way you're adopting a cat who needs a home. But I've been to the regular pound and I always feel so bad knowing if no one takes these animals they are going to be euthanized. I would rather save one in that more immediate danger.
Quote: That way the no-kill can take its pick of the *most adoptable* animals, and send the rest over to the other shelter, letting that one take the blame for a high kill rate.
That's terrible. - Besides, when an animal is alone and abandoned and scared how can you really tell how adoptable it is? It's really sad, sometimes even less friendly cats will really come around in loving, steady home.
Answer:
Hard not to, but I agree with dr jean hehe.
A standard shelter will really be saving alife.

Answer:
I agree with drjean as well. Obviously, with such a large pet overpopulation crisis, how can a shelter be "no-kill"? Simple: they close their doors. Then shelters like the one where I volunteer, get to pick up the slack.
(thanks, ForJazz)
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Answer:
dr. jean, it's funny that you should mention the San Francisco SPCA. I remember going there to look for a kitten, and found myself in a great facility... where the kittens were stored in a cold room full of cages. The following week, I visited the Animal Care & Control Center across the street... and ended up adopting both my babies from there. It IS true... the SPCA goes over to the shelter to try to "rescue" those they deem most adoptable... the lady at the Animal Control mentioned that there was quite a back and forth btwn orgs, b/c of lost profits if the SPCA takes all the "adoptable" animals as well as the whole idea of it... so nowadays, it seems like the SPCA ends up with more animals that may not be adopted right away out of the Animal Control center (read: a lot of black cats with upper resp. probs). At least that's what I saw last December.
another great creation by ForJazz
Answer:
In San Diego, the no kill SPCA is right next door to a kill shelter. In the SPCA the animals are kept in rooms, not cages. Each room is furnished and completely decorated, so they look nicer than most rooms you'd find in someone's house. They keep 1 or 2 animals in each room.
Next door, inside of the kill shelter all the animals are packed into tiny cages, and there are hundreds of them. The dogs and cats get a space that is barely big enough to lay down in. It smells and looks just awful. I was really surprised to see such a contrast between them, being right next door and all. I didn't adopt my cat from this shelter, but I did get her from a kill shelter in a different part of San Diego.
Answer:
Exactly, the no-kill can afford to put cats in rooms, because they are so exclusive, and will turn away most cats. The kill shelters do the best they can for every animal they take in, which is a lot of animals. Do most get put down? Yes. But a humane death is better than being cramped in a cage, or worse, starving on the streets.
(thanks, ForJazz)
Support a college student and beautify your home! http://emchelle.etsy.com
Answer:
Just be really careful with your current cat(s) and so forth in terms of sickness, whereever you go.
We visited the kill shelter about a year ago and a lot of the cats were sneezing. Later that day, we visisted a woman who took in strays (where we got Justin from) and we ended up getting her cats sick because we hadn't changed clothes and didn't think about it (we did wash our hands well).
That said, I know I would have liked to adopt from the shelter, but since we already had Stormy, we were very concerned about getting a cat that would get along with her. The woman who took in cats could tell me all about her cats' personalities and so I knew I was getting a very laid back cat with Justin...something I couldn't have known for sure with a shelter cat (at our local shelter anyway).
Kitty art by ForJazz
--Shannon--
Answer:
Yes, I very much like the set-up of our local rescue, which is a "wall-less shelter", meaning they do it entirely through foster homes. So if someone were to come to my house to see the kittens, I would be able to tell them a lot more about their personalities, than what they would have been able to find out at a shelter.
And disease is the bane of all shelters. At ours, we have disinfectant dispensers everywhere, and visitors are not allowed to touch a cat unless they have cleaned their hands of the previous cat. Still, sickness spreads very easily, it's just something we have to fight hard against.
(thanks, ForJazz)
Support a college student and beautify your home! http://emchelle.etsy.com
Answer:
Quote: Just be really careful with your current cat(s) and so forth in terms of sickness, whereever you go
That's another thing I'm worried about. The local shelter here screens for feline leukemia, but that's all. Of course I would have a new cat quarantined and given a full health check by my vet ... but still ... I'm terriefied of bringing something into the home with Jinx.
Edit: This is why I'm planning several months ahead. Better safe and prepared than sorry.
Answer:
I'm glad that someone said what I would have. While I like the idea of "no-kill" shelters, and support a couple of local ones that I think do a good job, I think it's important to remember that they often do have the pick of the litter, so to speak. Pounds and the like are usually contractually obligated to take the strays for a given community or communities, and when you're overflowing, with more coming through the door every day, choices have to get made. I think it would be fabulous if there were more no-kill organizations to cater to various types of animals (I know of one small place that takes a lot of FIV+ cats, and another that tries to place endangered city ferals as rural barn cats), but there just aren't sufficient funds, resources, or volunteers to do it all.
My local shelter tries very hard to avoid euthanizing animals unless they're very sick or completely out of control and cannot be socialized. Right now, I can think of several cats coming up on their one-year shelter anniversary, and several more who would have been euthanized almost immediately in a traditional pound setting for various problems (two of my favorites fall in this category, one for illness and old age, and the other for very bad people skills).
You will probably need to be more careful in choosing a cat from a pound of high-kill shelter, and it will certainly be more emotionally challenging to pick one and leave all the others, but you'd be doing a good thing. And as someone who sees the kitties every week, I feel obligated to say don't discount the one-eyed cat, the elderly cat, the cat with special needs, if you can handle it financially...some of our unadoptables are the sweetest cats I know, and they never get a second look (ok, that was trite and gratuitous, but I watched my sweet, sick old lady get passed over three times today after I'd spent an hour cuddling, brushing, and singing to her, and I am very frustrated on that count)
Answer:
Quote: some of our unadoptables are the sweetest cats I know, and they never get a second look (ok, that was trite and gratuitous, but I watched my sweet, sick old lady get passed over three times today after I'd spent an hour cuddling, brushing, and singing to her, and I am very frustrated on that count)
No, it was not trite and gratuitous; it was full of genuine pathos. Bless her heart. I'm so glad she has you. This probably sounds really trite and gratuitous, but I'm going to pray that your "sweet and sick old lady" finds a loving home. God bless.
Jeanie
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
A dog, I have always said, is prose; a cat is a poem. ~Jean Burden
Answer:
Quote: don't discount the one-eyed cat, the elderly cat, the cat with special needs, if you can handle it financially
I have a weakness for those poor kitties. I've already said I don't think I'll get a kitten, as they're more likely to be adopted. My only concern with getting an elderly cat is if it will be okay with other cats. There's no use stressing my current cat and a new any more than necessary. But I guess I'm doing that no matter what I get (I just know some older cats have that tag ... single pet family.) But I'm kinda looking at the "mature" animal, and, yes even a disfigured one, as it's more likely to have it's personality more or less set and perhaps less likely to get adopted than a cute little kitten. Who knows though? Usually when I've been to the shelter looking at cats, I stiop at every cage and look for cats that approach me, or just look woeful. But in the end it has to be a good fit. I just promise not to rule anyone out until I've spent a little visit time with them.
Answer:
When I adopted my Mz Tess she was a year and half already. She had been fostered in a home with other foster kittes and a dog since she was 4 months old so she was well adjusted.
Maybe if you considered an older cat that had been fostered it might be a fit? Plus black kitties are harder to adopt. Keep us posted on what happens