Laurel o'such

Abandoned to Adopted: the story of a no kill shelter

Written and Designed by: Laurel O’Such

Dedication This book is dedicated Dr. Rudiger and all her staff for their willingness to let me expore her organization. They have inspired me to follow what I love because I see how much they enjoy their jobs and how happy it makes them to work with these cats. As well as the cats that are still up for adoption at Nine Lives Foundation because they can’t find their perfect home yet.

Dr. Rudiger performing a spay

Table of Contents Foreword

7

Introduction

9

Chapter One

10

Chapter Two

14

Chapter Three

19

Conclusion

25

Works Cited

28

Foreword

About three months ago, my mom set out a few traps to capture the feral kittens that had created a home in our neighborhood. We first caught two kittens, set out our traps again and caught two more kittens and the mother. At this point we had no idea what to do with these animals, so we took them to Nine Lives Foundation because we had heard about their spay and neuter clinic and how they dealt with feral cats. The people that work there were very understanding of our situation, and took three of the kittens in to be adopted out. We kept one which we later named, Jett. With the mother spayed, but alone and without her kids we decided not to release her by herself, instead Nine Lives kept her, where she later got adopted to be a barn

animal.

With my experience I realized my family was not the only one going through this, and that is why I decided to write this book. I want to make people in the Bay Area aware of the cat problem that we faced and how to fix it. I also want to show that euthanasia is not the only way for an animal; we have plenty of resources that we don’t know exist, and Nine Lives is one of them. Nine Lives Foundation also helped me know what a pound was and why their goal was to provide something on the opposite spectrum. The employees helped me come to terms with how pounds really treat animals, how they impound them and they only get a few days to live.

California mandates that public organizations such as the pound

must euthanize if an animal is not adopted out within five to ten days. Realizing that these policies are not what the pounds first intentions were, I knew that a life for any animal does not belong there. Nine Lives truly is no kill, they will not punish any animal that has an illness, disability or is considered wild.

I designed the book in a way that will show off the good nature of the facility as well as options of feral cats, such as mine. The Trap Neuter and Release Program, the fact that euthanasia is not the only answer, and how these animals have long lives ahead of them after being trapped are profiled to show my readers that there are more options for these animals than what’s on the surface.

7

Introduction

It was recorded in 2007 that 82 million cats lived within the planet’s population as household cats.

Yet, the feral population was said to be in the tens of millions as of this year. David Marks, a volunteer at Nine Lives, states “Some places just believe in some areas or some communities that euthanizing all the feral cats or all the feral animals is the only option. But, I think the trap neuter and release program, while it might be more expensive, and you still have a wild cat population out there, is the most ethical and most moral solution to the situation1.”

Euthanasia is “the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering2.” The definition of euthanasia in the “pet world” is roughly that euthanasia can be used when the animal has a bad behavior, a disability, no home, or their time is up because the caretakers can’t take care anymore.

The Trap Neuter and Release program is something on the op-

posite spectrum. The program is designed to capture stray cats in communities, get them either spayed or neutered, and release them into an environment where they are comfortable. This way, the cats don’t have to be killed or forced into a home, they can live the same lives they did before without overpopulating the community.

With the cats that either don’t have families or need a place to get food, they are put into a barn situation, where a barn owner feeds the cats and provides it with a safe place to sleep, where the cat can still can remain wild.

Although most feral cats that come through the catch and release program get released back or put into a barn, a fair amount are kittens come through to be adopted out.

David Marks explains as the weather gets warmer “and when spring arrives then suddenly a lot of kittens start getting born3.” This enters the “kitten season” where the communities are catching more kittens that

can be trained, and are able to be put up for adoption. Kittens, compared to adult cats, are more likely to be tamed with possibilities of being adopted, therefore these “feral” cats are able to be put into a home.

Dr. Monica Rudiger, the veterinarian and founder of Nine Lives, explains: “50 to 100 a month probably come through the spay/neuter clinic4,” referring to the feral cats in the Spay Neuter Release Program.

With fifty to one hundred a month, we see the effect it is having on our own community. In the Bay Area we have a feral cat population a lot bigger than we believe which is shown through the numbers at the clinic. What Nine Lives Foundation does is help the cat problem in our community; I believe we do need to acknowledge the problem we have and the help that this foundation can do to help us and the animals.

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Chapter I

TNR

The majority of Bay Area residents don’t understand our feral cat problem as well as our ability to help it. Although people may believe taking these animals to the pound or leaving them to be in their back yards is helping, Nine Lives Foundation helps us understand that the moral way to decrease the population is their way. The Trap Neuter and Release program, also known as TNR, is a program designated to trapping primarily feral cats, neutering them and releasing them into their original environment.

Most feral cat colonies are from twenty to thirty cats, and each mother cat can have up to three litters a year5. In each litter is common to have six to eight kittens, within two years of their lives these wild cats can become impregnated themselves6. Through many organizations, like the Nine Lives Shelter, cats are a priority to control in the local communities within the Bay Area.

Through their control they use the technique of TNR, where they “take cats that are out there that are feral can’t really be socialized can’t be tamed, their just too wild to ever go into someone’s home; 10

trap them, neuter or spay them, and then release them back, and that way they get to live out their lives in a way that they’re used to7.” The reason for doing so is to reduce the feral cat population, by tagging them. They now have a chip which shows the cat has undergone treatment. What most communities aren’t aware of

“they get to live out their lives in a way that they’re used to”

and that don’t understand the problem is that “TNR averts the birth of kittens, prevents the feral population from getting out of control and reduces the number of cats who end up in overloaded, high-kill shelters8.” They also don’t realize that release is a form of decrease. These animals are being put back into the

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communities, maybe where they are not welcome, but where they can live out their full lives without reproducing to increase the local population. Many believe the best way to get rid of these communities is to euthanize them, yet don’t understand the consequences of doing so, or maybe the fact that that is what they are doing. People willingly give cats the shelters or pounds where they

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don’t comprehend what it means to be no-kill, and with that don’t know these places are euthanizing the animals. At Nine Lives these feral cats are given the same opportunity as any other that comes through the shelter because of their firm grip on the word no-kill.

Our communities respond in positive ways most of the time.

Trish, the receptionist at Nine

Lives, told me how she puts out food in covered places for these cats to eat because they are too afraid of humans and the citizens in her area are too afraid of the cats. The proactive citizens in areas where these cat populations exist provides the colonies of cats food and fresh water for the safety and care of the animals. People have the perception that these animals are not

healthy or taken care of but that is far from the truth9. With the Trap Neuter and Release program, the cats are brought in voluntarily by members of the community where they treat these cats with the best of intentions. When brought into the shelter or into organizations, like Nine Lives, these felines go through an extensive treatments for shots, surgeries,

medical problems, and the spay/ neuter procedure10. Although one may think these cats aren’t healthy, they are able to get treatment easily if brought through a shelter or clinic like Nine Lives.

Some may be concerned about the costs of the medical exams and evaluations, yet its a small price to pay for the decreasing population, health, and

wellbeing of the feral felines. For the Nine Lives Foundation the prices range from 35 to 45 dollars depending on the need for a spay or neuter. Especially for the smaller organizations, they are in need for the extra funding because of the small amount of money coming in and the volunteer requirement it takes to keep up such an environment.

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Chapter II

The Moral Option “The No Kill model of animal sheltering – where euthanasia is reserved only for those dogs who are vicious and pose a threat to the public or those cats and dogs who are irremediably suffering, in which medical treatment cannot alleviate their condition – is gaining acceptance and saving more animal lives in shelters around the world11.”

The

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definition of no-kill shown by Paws Chicago explains that the only need for euthanizing is due to bad behavior or critical condition.

Nine Lives, however, proves that even bad habits can be dealt with through the trap neuter release program or being released into a barn setting where the cats can still live the wild

life but have the care and facilities to sleep, drink, and eat safely. They also believe that critical condition euthanizing only includes when a cat is on the brink of death and its the best for them12. If an animal has a disease where they may be considered not adoptable or in need for help, they are still treated like any other animal that comes in; people are also en-

couraged to adopt them.

With these feral cats coming into the shelter, there is a high risk for diseases, such as cancers, aids, and ringworm; Paws Chicago makes clear that they euthanize only if the animals are in critical condition. Dr. Monica Rudiger, the veterinarian and founder of nine lives, states, “All the cats here are given a full exam when they enter. They are spayed or neutered. They are tested for Leukemia and Aids, de-wormed, vaccinated just overall health check. If they need anything done we’ve removed legs, eyes, toes.

We’ve done abscess. We do whatever we need to do to get them adoptable13.” Her statement shows their true no kill posture that no matter what ailment an animal has; they are treated in the best possible way and not penalized for what they cannot control about their bodies. Through most animal shelters in the U.S. it is estimated to be about seven million abandoned or unwanted animals that are forced into pounds and put under euthanization. The doctor at Nine Lives had a very similar recollection to why she decided to make her own absolute no-kill shelter. She explained that her first experience with shelters she was shocked by, “on my very first day I had to deal with the fact that fifty-four cats were being signed down for Euthanasia14.”

Cats that are born feral come into this world not even knowing humans exist because of how wild they are.

Although we try our best to protect our community and maybe even the lives of the cats, we catch them and give 15

them a place where we think they might be safe. The truth is we don’t know what the pound is really doing to the animals that are taken there. California mandates that their pounds only give animals five to ten days to get adopted otherwise the animals are to be euthanized. David, the volunteer I talked to at Nine Lives, showed his concern that, “euthanasia is used because they had their 3-5 days in the shelter and their time is done and the shelter won’t pay for housing them long15.” This is a fact that we don’t comprehend. Like Dr. Rudiger shared, she started to vol-

16

unteer at a regular shelter where she thought these cats were taken care of, but it turned out it wasn’t hard for her to discover fifty cats were killed on her first day. For animals that we live with it is hard to understand the concept of euthanizing, yet for a wild cat that sleeps on your door mat without you knowing it is completely fine.

Many professionals go as far to say that “this argument is as controversial as the abortion argument16,” meaning they cannot take away a life that hasn’t lived, and these animals didn’t get asked if they wanted to be born into a family of stray cats so we cannot

stop them from living. Nine Lives Foundation claims they have about 100 cats come in every month and only about ten feral come into the shelter. Although they do accept these animals if they have to, they are born wild so they encourage people to put they back into their natural habitat after being treated.

Chapter III

Not Any Better

When looking for a pet one thinks they should be looking for the f luffy, purring kitten, yet have no understanding of what it takes to have an animal.

Throughout these animals lives, people are noticing abandonment and owner irresponsiblity17.

These abandoned animals do end up in countless amounts of animal shelters, one being Nine

Lives, so why can’t one find their perfect little creature through these organizations? In shelters, which commonly have kittens, a fair amount of these shelter cats are in fact adult cats. Yet the adult feral cat population in shelters is a lot larger than those of kittens, adult feral cats are a part of the barn adoptions which give them a small advantage over the kit-

tens. People adopt these cats to be wild in their barn because of the fact they they need a better home and may be afraid of humans, all one has to do is put food and water out and provide them with a warm place to sleep18. When going into the adoption rooms at Nine Lives you see an absurd amount of cats, but regularly filtered in and out.

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cat getting anesthesia for surgury

Dr. Rudiger brief ly explained the amount of adoptions in the center every month, “Our average is about 12519.” With the average being 125 a month, although thats a great number, clearly we can see more adult cats than that, and the number 125 includes kittens which are in high demand. David Marks states, “They say there is someone out there for everyone and think there is somewhere out there a home for every animal. But, some are really hard to place and it’s understandable20,” although seeming impossible to find every animal a home, it’s harder to find a home for an animal that people don’t bother to look at, such as a feral or a disabled.

In comparison, there are thousands of children in the foster care facilities now a days, but we don’t give up on them, judge them for being in the situation, or realize that a kid that walks down your halls may be that foster kid21. We can’t disregard how a feral animal can be made a pet; recently I caught a cat in my backyard and after getting her spayed and treated, we keep her in our house as we would for any normal house cat. She is able to be around us and have us pick her up and play with her; my family sees first hand how a wild, scared cat can change to be familiar around humans. According to David Marks, a volunteer at Nine Lives, “a lot of [cats] just come in as kittens because their born, because 21

their parents weren’t spayed or neutered and they have no where else to [go]22.” This is the fault in our society, blaming the cats by not adopting them or euthanizing them for something they couldn’t control.

It is not their fault that the mother became pregnant and the family couldn’t take care of her kittens. It is primarily the owner’s problem by not understanding the simplicity of a cat becoming pregnant. Jolon, a client through Nine Lives, stated something very similar, that “we kind of live in a disposable society and everybody just thinks if we have a problem we can just get rid of the problem, but [the cats] didn’t create the problem23.” She having four feral house cats of her own believes that these cats are not given the opportunity of a good life. The life outdoors is hard on a newborn kitten that, in order to survive, must be on the lookout for prey; especially in the colder months look for warmer places to sleep and hide out.

One has to realize that spaying and neutering all animals is the only way to decrease the population.

Nine Lives requires all cats that come through the shelter to get this procedure in their way to stop the problem. If you let your house cat out once that isn’t fixed, they have that capability to impregnate or get impregnated by any other cat outdoors, thus increasing the cat population.

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Conclusion

These animals that live in the bushes of my backyard are not worthless, because they didn’t choose that kind of life.

Jolon Wagner, David Marks, and Dr. Rudiger showed me there are plenty of options for the future of these cats, through homes, no kill shelters, or programs such as the Trap Neuter and Release.

The definition I was given about No-Kill was that no matter what the circumstance may be, no cat is treated differently because of how they were born. Feral, wild, uncontrollable are considered reasonable excuses to use euthanasia in other shelters or the pound because they have time limits. Nine Lives shows that the time limit on life is natural death, and they have the ability

to change how people see wild animals. People view these cats as a nuisance to our society.

A civil way to stop this population problem is simply by the Trap, Neuter and Release program because eventually it will naturally get smaller, rather than leaving a non-spayed mother cat to get impregnated and leave five new kittens on your block, under your car, or in your bushes. At Nine Lives Foundation they treat the unwanted cats the best they can, as you walk in you are immediately welcomed by “retired” cats that live permanently at the shelter. You are shown to the rooms, about 12, filled with 10 to 15 cats each and ready for adoption. David Marks told me that there is someone out

there for everyone and the same goes for animals. All these cats are looking for is a place to sleep, be fed, and poop, much like how a baby (human) depends on us but, you don’t need to watch these as much. This foundation has made me realize that we as humans think the world is built for us as human beings, yet in fact we are a small portion of what is living here. We ignore the problem we cause, which is the overpopulation of animals because of our selfishness to help them, even in the smallest ways.

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Works Cited 1

Marks, David. Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2014.

2

“Euthanasia.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

3

Marks, David

4

Rudiger, Dr. Monica. Personal interview. 12 Feb. 2014.

5

“Local program launched to reduce feral cat population.” Daily Review [Towanda, PA] 12 Oct.

2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

“Group tries to keep up with feline explosion.” Valley News-Dispatch [Tarentum, PA] 18 Aug.

6

2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

7

Marks, David.

8

Winograd, Nathan. “When Is No Kill Truly No Kill?” Http://www.pawschicago.org. N.p., n.d.

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Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

9

“Group tries to keep up with feline explosion.”

10

Rudiger, Dr. Monica.

11

Winograd

12

Marks, David.

13

Rudiger, Dr. Monica.

14

Rudiger, Dr. Monica.

15

Marks, David.

16

Raasch

17

“Fur Flies Over Rising Feline Population.” Christian Science Monitor 3 June 1998: 13.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

18

Wagner, Jolon. Personal interview. 11 Mar. 2014.

19

Rudiger, Dr. Monica.

20

Marks, David.

21

Galanes, Philip. “Puppy predicament.” New York Times 5 Jan. 2014: 6(L). Student Resources

in Context. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Marks, David.

22

Wagner, Jolon.

23

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To help Nine Lives through your donations or commitment to making a change visit: www.ninelivesfoundation.org

Abandoned to Adopted

Laurel is a seventeen year-old from Los Altos, California. She is a high school student at Los Altos High as well as Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts and Technology.

She is still growing up in Los Altos with her parents and two older brothers. Her hopes are to go to university to study Film or TV production and work in her field. She also enjoys physics which she uses to her advantages incorporating it in her films.

Abandoned to Adopted:

the story of a no kill shelter

Laurel O’Such

Written and Designed by: Laurel O’Such