What It's Like To Save A Cat Destined For Death Row
By Steven Wilson
Today's rescue story comes from musician Steven Wilson of Pasadena, CA, who along with his wife Shazia volunteer regularly to save felines from this sad fate. Read his incredibly heartwarming account about one rescue in particular — Cubby — and just try not to shed a tear.
My wife and I volunteer for a cat rescue group that focuses its efforts primarily on one "shelter" in the Inland Empire. This place has such a high rate of euthanization that it should be called an abattoir and not a shelter. Because we were part of this rescue group, I often had to look through the intake photos of hundreds of cats a week. An intake photo is a bit like a mugshot for cats. These pictures rarely depict animals at their best. Instead, the cats appear scared and confused, and the images are often blurry and out of focus. Even so, these are the photos that are placed on the shelter's website to entice the public to come out and adopt their new buddy. Needless to say, they aren't very successful.
I'm not exactly sure what it was about Cubby's picture that got under my skin, but I knew that he had to be rescued and failure was not an option.
[Details on contacting shelter snip]
I called the shelter and informed them that there was a rescue effort under way for Cubby and that a puller was en route. The woman's voice on the other end of the phone instantly lit up. Several of the shelter employees had taken a liking to Cubby and had been hoping for a rescue. She began to type on her computer while telling me how handsome and sweet this cat was and how he had become a favorite of so many employees. Suddenly her tone changed: "Oh no."
Even though Cubby was supposed to have some time left before the end of the day, he had already been taken to "the back room." The back room is where shelter animals go to die. They are given a lethal injection and then unceremoniously dumped in large, plastic trashcans. If you ever question whether or not you should spay or neuter your pet, do an internet search and find photos of overflowing trash barrels full of dead animals that have been euthanized at any shelter that doesn't have a "no kill" policy. If you have a heart, it will break. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by a large fist at the thought of Cubby meeting his fate somewhere amidst a pile of dead cats and dogs. I sat and waited on the phone for what seemed like an hour but was probably about two minutes. The shelter worker picked up the phone let out a huge sigh. "He's okay. He was next in line but I got him out. He's okay."
[Foster details then Cubby comes to live with the Wilsons forever snip]
There are times when Cub is snuggled up next to me on the couch, gently snoring and I think to myself: "he was next in line." How if I were to have called the shelter just a few minutes later this amazing little guy wouldn't have gotten out alive. How all of this happened because of something I saw in a bad photograph of a frightened and confused shelter cat.
https://www.cuteness.com/blog/content/what-its-like-to-save-a-cat-who-seemed-destined-for-death-row
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And an adorable kitty. Good for Mr. Wilson and the very sweet and lovable Cubby.
