Vets home puts kibosh on kitty - Kicks Binkey Out

[RamboLiberal]

Bureacratic Fools!

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=148143

A beloved furry feline named Binkey is getting the boot today from a Chelsea veterans home where she has lived for nearly a decade after management’s decision to put the kibosh on allowing pets to roam among their residents.

Officials at the state-run Soldiers’ Home decided to prohibit all pets from the facility after a new resident asked permission to keep a pooch she had adopted to help reduce her anxiety condition.

“The area is not conducive to pets,” said Dick Powers, home spokesman. “Sure, everyone will miss the cat, but we are in the process of finding a loving home for her.”

But some residents are not taking Binkey’s eviction lightly.

<snip>

“The cat shouldn’t have to suffer,” Schaffer said. “She’s well taken care of by residents and made a big difference in a lot of lives.”

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I believe studies have shown that pets

reduce blood pressure and other signs of stress in people. I know when I come home after a stressful day and my kitty, Lokshme, purrs on my lap, the tension melts away.

[Dr Fate]

6. It mimics the comforting, biological response a human baby gives us.

n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. Thank you

for that information! I learned something new, thanks to you! :hi:

[cspanlovr]

2. How sad.

[xchrom]

3. so stupid. animals are a terrific help to seniors

and others in need of rehabilitation.

[RamboLiberal]

16. I was reading a neat little story the other day

by a doctor in a little local community who was asked to be the resident physician at a nursing home. The story was from a number of years ago. When he went to the nursing home he found it such a sterile, depressing place where the residents where just living out their time. He suggested to the home they put in plants and bird cages in the rooms, and bring in resident animals. Of course they thought him nuts, but it turned out to be a great success and really made life more worth living and invigorated those in the home. And it help stem staff turnover as it became a much happier place to work for all. He ended up advising other homes how to make this kind of changeover.

[Dr Fate]

17. Pets make folks happy- these heartless bastards are making a mistake.

n/t

[bobbieinok]

4. isn't there much evidence that pets are therapeutic??

Couldn't they have said no to any new pets but grandfathered in existing ones??

Kicking a cat out after 10 years seems inhuman, inhumane, and just way beyond the pale bureaucratic.

[Warpy]

7. It was both rigidly bureaucratic and utterly stupid

Anyone who's ever been to Boston knows that cat was a working cat, not only providing companionsip to the residents but also keeping vermin down. Many stores have "store cats" safely tucked into the stock room during business hours and some stores let them roam free. Health inspectors know they'll reduce rodents and roaches and generally look the other way.

That facility is going to spend one hell of a lot more on d-con than they ever did on kitty food.

Shame on them. Shame.

[Dr Fate]

8. There was a "Naval" cat honored in WWII for that very reason...

I tried to find a link but could not- but he was made the mascott of a battleship.

Binkey is a regal looking fellow- it is sad that they will confuse him by removing him from his family of old-timers & vets. Just as sad for the old-timers who look forward to his visits for treats, etc.

Heartless bastards I say!!!

[Dr Fate]

21. Found it- see post #20 n/t

n/t

[Dr Fate]

5. Wha? So the Vet cant even have a cat now?

It's a medical fact that pets provide health benefits to humans- heartless bastards is what they are.

[Vidar]

9. The nursing home where both my parents spent their last years

have 3 dogs on staff for their therapeutic value & highly encourage the visits of pets & other animals. Of course the VA is usually more concerned with killing their charges off quickly.

[CatWoman]

10. you have a problem with supplying a link to this?

[Dr Fate]

11. I second the request for a link. n/t

n/t

[CatWoman]

13. What's up, Doc?

:hi:

[Dr Fate]

18. Hello

I have several cats too, if you did not already know.

[RamboLiberal]

14. Link added in original post - thanks for pointing out my goof

eom

[peace13]

15. Being allergic to cats I can tell you

some could become seriously ill with a cat in the house. I love cats but I could never live with one. Peace, Kim

[tabasco]

19. I am also allergic to cat dander.

Dogs are not a problem for me.

[Dr Fate]

20. Such BULLSHIT- check out this link on War-time animal mascots.

THere is even a bit of military history to back letting these Veterans have a pet- this is an outrage.

http://community-2.webtv.net/Hahn-50thAP-K9/K9History22/

And another cat called Susan attended the D-Day invasion after making herself at home on a landing craft of the Royal Navy.



Simon With His Dickin Medal

Perhaps the most famous animal mascot to receive the Dickin VC medal was Simon, the ship's cat who served on board the HMS Amethyst, a British escort sloop, just after WW II, in April 1949.

The sloop, a ship originally designed for convoy escort duty during the Second World War, was in China as Mao Tse-Tung's forces consolidated their hold on the country.

The Amethyst was trapped on the Yangtze River and shelled by the Chinese. The ship was hit 50 times. Seventeen were killed; 25 wounded. Simon was trapped in the wreckage and not found for four days.


The Communist forces then besieged the ship for most of the summer. Despite his wounds, Simon continued his duties, hunting rats on the trapped ship, helping to preserve the dwindling food supply, until the incident ended. It should be noted, that Simon was the only cat to ever receive the award.