cat was euthanized by shelter-were they in the wrong?

[nycmom18]

long story:

my mother recently passed away and had 2 cats. i could not find anyone to take them within our family, but eventually found a no-kill shelter-which one of the cats was originally adopted from.

the cat that was not adopted from there is named buddy and he was 12 years old. he was adopted from a different shelter who, i was told, euthanizes cats older than 8 years old. so once i heard that, i decided he shouldnt go there...

so, once i dropped both the cats off at the no-kill shelter last friday, may 29th, apparently they did a microchip scan and found out where buddy was orignally from, which is the kill shelter...out of a courtesy policy they contacted that shelter to see if they would like buddy back. he was then picked up and brought to the kill shelter(for lack of a better term).

meanwhile, i kept looking on the no-kill shelters website for pictures of my moms kittys and wasnt seeing buddy, but i did see the other one. so i then called them-which was tuesday night-and thats when i found out he was at the kill shelter. well i was beyond furious. still am!

anyway, then i called that shelter, explained the situation to the volunteer on phone, stating that i would find someone to pick him up right now(as i live in a different state) but it was almost closing and no one could help me.

the next day(wednesday, yesterday) i called back a couple of times and finally the director called me back telling me they could not disclose information-their policy. which i understand, but if hes there im trying to get him back. she just kept repeating the policy...which is why i believe he is dead, otherwise they would have said pick him up, right??

she also said that killing cats older than 8 is not correct, but that they do observe the cat to make sure he is mentally stable for adoption. well that said it to me right there. this cat takes a while to trust people-what cat doesnt, right? not to mention, his owner passed away, hes taken in a cage to a shelter and then to another shelter. you think hes gonna cuddle up right then and there???!

my ultimate question is this:

is there any law or rules of ethics that states how long a cat should be evaluated before coming to this conclusion? it hasnt even been a week!

buddy should not have been put down, he was just purring, love patting, and cuddling on the bed a week ago

is there anything i can do???

[MeepyCat]

If they can't disclose information, they *really* can't disclose anything, so I'd find someone to go see if Buddy is there before jumping to the conclusion that he's been put down. If that person finds Buddy, they should absolutely do what they can to get him out, "adopt" him as if they're a total stranger, whatever.

I'd be giving the no-kill shelter a serious piece of my mind. It was not okay for them to take your cats (and presumably, your donation on behalf of your cats, since most no-kill shelters require a fee on entry), and then ship one off to a different shelter. That's the unethical part.

How long a cat is given for evaluation at a shelter is a trickier question, with a lot more going into it. There is no one answer.

[Ola_]

Such a tough situation. If the shelter had a contract that the cat should be returned there then it really isn't the no-kill's fault. Also, it's sad but there are so many cats, even young adoptable ones, that most shelters are overrun and don't have the space to keep them all.

I am also not convinced that no-kill shelters are the solution to this problem. Many simply ship animals to another shelter/pound in order to have them put down so they can maintain their "no kill" status. And having unadoptable/ill animals confined to cages for the rest of their life is not exactly a good solution, since many deteriorate quickly in a shelter environment.

It may well be that they just don't want to give the info and nothing bad happened. If you or someone else were to go there you may find the kitty up for adoption or in quarantine since he hasn't been there long. The shelter may also not view you in the most positive light since you did not return the cat to them and they had to get him through another group. Another thing is they likely don't give out info on pets after they had been surrendered in case the person wants to claim them back and they have already been adopted, etc.

[Girl In The Fire]

Originally Posted by nycmom18

my ultimate question is this:

is there any law or rules of ethics that states how long a cat should be evaluated before coming to this conclusion? it hasnt even been a week!

buddy should not have been put down, he was just purring, love patting, and cuddling on the bed a week ago

is there anything i can do???

There are no laws, as far as I know, that say a shelter has to hold an animal x amount of days before euthing if it is an owner turn in. If it was a stray laws vary by town, city, etc. Once you give an animal to a shelter it is up to them to decide what to do with the animal. Shelters here have you sign a form giving them legal ownership of the animal. There is not much you can do.

[CarrieMF]

I'd be giving the no-kill shelter a serious piece of my mind. It was not okay for them to take your cats (and presumably, your donation on behalf of your cats, since most no-kill shelters require a fee on entry), and then ship one off to a different shelter. That's the unethical part.

It's not unethical at all. If you flip it around & the 2 cats were taken to the kill shelter & the kill shelter euthanized the cat which should have gone to the no-kill shelter people'd be up in arms about the kill shelter not returning the cat to the shelter it should have gone to.

[nycmom18]

but if the no-kill shelter offered to take him back, why would they choose to kill him instead of giving him to the shelter that would take him? is that REALLY in his best interest?

and i have requested to re-adopt him, of which i get no reply. literally while im speaking to the director. just silence. its pretty obvious to me...

thanks for your thoughts though.

[lach]

There's really no such thing as a no kill shelter: they may not kill the animal, but they just send it someplace else. Some animals are unadoptable, period, and unfortunately a 12 year old cat would count. No one would adopt a cat that old. If he's not mentally deteriorating already, he probably will fairly soon.

I'm sure they took one look at his age, assigned him as unadoptable, and shipped him off to the kill shelter to actually do the dirty deed. I'm sorry this happened to you, but that's just how no kill shelters work. They only keep the adoptable animals: any animal too old, too sick, too mean, etc gets sent to another shelter immediately. They don't have the money to take care of every animal that comes their way.

[Ola_]

But if you think about it, why would they let you adopt the cat, if they still had him? You have surrendered the cat (which for many shelters is a big X in terms of allowing future adoptions) and didn't honour their contract to give it back to the correct shelter. They don't know anything about you unfortunately and from this limited view it doesn't look too favourable.

Just trying to provide some perspective of the other side...

If you really want him back I would go in person (or have someone go who knows him) and see if you can find him and adopt him, without mentioning the previous history.

[gumby74]

My husband is on the board of our local no-kill shelter and this is the info I can provide.
1. Typically, when we give animals to other shelters, we have them sign a contract stating that if they are going to euthanize any of the animals, that we are first given the opportunity to reclaim the animals.
2. Truly, when they say they can't provide info. they can't. Have someone go and physically look for the cat.
3. They tend to make decisions about euthanizing right away so the staff does not get too attached to the animals. For stray dogs that come in, they temperment test them in the first three days and the impound period is a week. If they fail the tempermeant test, they euthanize them after a week.Cats are the same.
4. Anything deemed "unadoptable" is often euthanized and I suspect that if they did euthanize him it was because of his age. However, the reason I really think you should send someone to look is because a case of two cats coming in together after their owner died is usually one of those "special" cases that gets more attention and therefore they wouldn't eithanize right away. i can't tell you how many of those "special" cases we used to our advantage to advertise....that way, the cats get adopted and it brings more traffic through our shelter.

In addition, I just have to say that indeed the words "no-kill" needs to be scrutinized closely. Personally, I think we should be called a "limited admission" shelter, because we don't generally take surrenders. There have been euthanize decisions made in the past that I haven't agreed with, but generally speaking they do a good job keeping those deemed unadoptable by others. I know of several shelters that claim they are no-kill and by no means should they be advertising themselves as such.

Best of luck. I'm sorry to hear about your mom's passing and I hope that in the end you are able to find out that Buddy is alive and well!

[CarrieMF]

Originally Posted by nycmom18

but if the no-kill shelter offered to take him back, why would they choose to kill him instead of giving him to the shelter that would take him? is that REALLY in his best interest?

and i have requested to re-adopt him, of which i get no reply. literally while im speaking to the director. just silence. its pretty obvious to me...

thanks for your thoughts though.

You never said in the OP that the no-kill shelter offered to take the cat back. I find it odd that they'd offer that after sending the cat there to begin with.

You wouldn't be re-adopting the cat, you'd be adopting it since it wasn't your cat to begin with. You also mentioned you were out of state & you'd been trying to find someone else to go & get the cat.

[nycmom18]

carrieMF: sorry, yesterday i spoke with the no-kill shelter and learned that they told the kill shelter they would take him back if they couldnt take care of him. the reason they called them was out of courtesy that the shelters there do for eachother because most shelters would want their cat back, assumingly* having their best interest in mind...

true, the cats weren't mine technically, but i lived at home for a while before leaving for school, and then i was home for summers...so i still consider them my cats none the less.

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by nycmom18

true, the cats weren't mine technically, but i lived at home for a while before leaving for school, and then i was home for summers...so i still consider them my cats none the less.

It's one of those things, if you surrender the animal you are giving up all rights to it.

Personally I'm going to say from experience that it can be difficult to get someone to adopt an animal that is 8+ years old. My friend has been seeking an adoptive home for one of her gorgeous persians the last two years, and now the cat is 11 and basically obviously is staying with her. The cat was a valuable producer, and she let her keep breeding fairly late and when she was done wasn't able to find a home. And, I sat with her at the shows, when she had her there with HUGE coat looking gorgeous with her show grooming, and once people asked how old she was it was pretty clear they weren't interested.

Most breeders will try to end a breeding career by 6 years old. And, that's a pedigreed animal, which generally is in higher demand.

[SunShineSally]

Originally Posted by lach

There's really no such thing as a no kill shelter: they may not kill the animal, but they just send it someplace else. Some animals are unadoptable, period, and unfortunately a 12 year old cat would count. No one would adopt a cat that old. If he's not mentally deteriorating already, he probably will fairly soon.

I adopted a cat who was 12 and she was the best thing I ever did. My Aunts x girlfriend adopted a 14 year old dog. I always go for the older animals in a shelter I only adopted one kitten all the others were adults.

I also think that the no kill should have contacted you first to let you know that they were moving the kitty to a kill shelter and would you like to take it back or go there! i would call and they would hear it!

[Sailor]

I don't think there is anything you can do here. In truth, as another poster pointed out, there is no such thing as a no kill shelter. Those who are no kill will often make room for new pets by passing on some of their animals to a kill shelter.

It's not ideal - but there are SO many homeless animals. There is just absolutely no way to care for them all, and there definitely aren't enough homes for them all.

The other sad truth is that senior animals are the hardest to place in homes. A lot of people went puppies/kittens or still young animals. Very few people want seniors. If you put a senior animal in a shelter (any shelter), the chances of them being euthanized are VERY high. Like way higher than getting a second home.

I'm sorry this happened.

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by Sailor

The other sad truth is that senior animals are the hardest to place in homes. A lot of people went puppies/kittens or still young animals.

That is SO true! When we were looking for a second dog we visited a number of shelters/humane societies and I told them that temperament was most important, but I was looking for a dog around 5 years old or maybe a bit more. They were all shocked!

Honestly a lot of times it's difficult enough to convince people to adopt instead of buying from a breeder/mill so older animals really have the odds stacked against them.