8.27.2009

The Fayetteville Animal Shelter - a safety net for irresponsible pet owners

My mother recently passed away leaving three beautiful, well love cats behind. Her vet recommended some local rescue groups, all of which were unfortunately full. I knew I didn't want to list the cats in the paper or on Craigslist due to some of the scary situations I've read about in papers of people who treat their "free" pets very poorly. My next option was the Fayetteville Animal Shelter. Because they have a very active adoption program and were recommended to me by the local rescue groups and Humane Society, I thought they would be a good fit for my mom's kitties. Unfortuntely, the Fayetteville Animal Shelter told my brother over the phone that it does not take adult cats. They do take kittens, though, and judging by their website, they take lots and lots of kittens.

Is the Animal Shelter a Fayetteville funded safety net for irresponsible pet owners? Can I put off getting my pet fixed only to have litters and litters of kittens to drop off at the Animal Shelter? Can a responsible pet owner not pass away without having to worry about her beloved pets getting picked up out of the classifieds of the local paper? It seems as though the money I've been donating to the Shelter as well as the tax dollars that the City of Fayetteville direct to the shelter have been going to support the wrong kind of programs. For this reason, I will redirect my donations to other rescue groups that will help out those who actually need it instead of those who are just irresponsible

4 comments:

Bohoknitterchic said...

I'm so sorry about your situation! I can't imagine what you're going through.

My only suggestions with the cats is to list them on Craigslist, but ask a fee (say it's to cover expenses you've paid for the pets, because technically you can't "sell" animals on craigslist), and ask that the possible owner be willing to give references, or background check (to check for animal abuse charges). That will usually weed out the people who don't really care about animals.

Good luck!

idyll hands said...

Oh - the fee is a good idea. That would steer away the creepies. Thanks!

Heidi said...

this is really unfortunate :( I am sorry to hear you lost your mom.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear that the shelter isn't going to work out... but you might consider CraigsList again... my mom adopted her little guy from Craigslist and I was really impressed to see that the lady who was giving away her late MIL's dog, was screening those she meet to find the right new owner, my mom happened to be a perfect fit, so it was great.

I haven't done any other transactions via Craigslist yet, but it might be worth a try to set up a meeting with a few potential people and see how it goes. Not everyone out there is a bad guy, just the jerks that are giving the rest of us a bad name. ♥

good luck however you do it... I hope the kitties find loving homes.