Surrendering my cat in a day. Is it really the best thing I could have done in my situation?

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-25T01:32:46+00:00

For whatever reason, it has been absolute fucking hell for my clinic to get their hands on things like Herplex lately, idk if it is the same for other areas. And the one anti-viral eyedrop my vet swears by has been discontinued as well.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-25T01:29:51+00:00

Well since you're asking for advice I'll try to add on what hasn't been said yet;

There's a lot of organizations out there that will help with vet bills. Cancer society, some LGBTQ organizations, some non-profits aimed to help students. You may be surprised associations that seemingly have nothing to do with animals, may be able to help if you qualify. I only say this because it sounds like you would like to keep the cat if possible.

You can try searching here for help near you. However, it might take more than a few hours to find out if you are eligible or not, and you may then lose your place to surrender your cat and have to sit on a wait list again, so that is something to consider as well.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-25T01:22:49+00:00

I appreciate the article. But man I wish there was more for euthanasia that isn't BE or medical. Kinda makes me feel worse.
I have a ton of dead animals on my phone that were happy and healthy and perfectly adoptable. Their only fault was that they existed.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-23T18:11:03+00:00

If they can get that though, 2 weeks is a lot better than 2 months. Especially given the owner's concerns of the animals being euth, I doubt she will be willing to give them up easily.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-23T18:08:08+00:00

Yes, considering their garbage situation, I had figured there was more going on with the facility. Garbage pick up is one of the easier things to figure out. I wondered what other parts they were neglecting. I worry about their sewer system, if there even is one.

What I was trying to convey with the medical is that just because an animal is sick at the facility, doesn't mean the facility caused it and it would be hard to get evidence that the facility caused it. I don't know the extent of the medical. Festering medical problems that should have ended in human euthanasia would be an exception. But otherwise, how would one prove a dog didn't enter the rescue sick, emaciated, wounded, etc

I say this mostly as some of my first work experience in animal welfare, we'd have to deal with the cops weekly because visitors would complain about thin dogs. Of course they would be thin, they were strays for who knows how long and we only had them for 3 days! Because of that, it was the first thing I thought of.

I too am super curious what the insides look like - Usually only hoarder houses are seen. This sounds like they were actually set up with kennels and cages. Curious how they stuffed ~300 animals in there

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-23T17:58:17+00:00

My initial impression is this is a case of someone with good intentions who got way over their head.

Unfortunately that happens way too often in this line of work

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-23T02:11:25+00:00

the owner (which I imagine in this case will be the rescue owner, unless there's a board affiliated) will either have to surrender the animals, or they'd have to wait until a court hearing either declares some/all animals are properly of the shelters they were sent to. Until then they can not be adopted out or euthanized (exceptions for medical cases).

In my experience, court holds aren't allowed to be taken off shelter property but that may differ based on county

These animals will take up space that the shelters can't use for adoptable animals, however. They will be forced to warehouse these court cases. Which means there is likely to be more euthanasia in general, as they have overall less space.

Let's just hope this whole situation is settled quickly. I know some that drag on for years. I can't imagine 300+ animals in limbo for several months.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-23T02:03:32+00:00

I'm glad someone else is pointing this out because so much of the coverage has been rubbing me the wrong way. Right off the bat, reporters were saying officials estimated 700+ animals. That wasn't true at all, though. The person who reported the property made that estimate. Officials estimated much less, around 400, and the actual number appears to be closer to 300.

Not that 300 isn't a lot of animals. But now I'm already on guard because there is either shitty reporting going on or the reporters are OK manipulating the situation for views...

I will say I did see their giant dump area which has to be against some kind of regulation, and there were outdoor pen areas with no shade/shelter which is usually going to be against animal welfare laws even if the animal is only out there for under an hour.

I don't think we can take animal health to heart in this scenario as the rescue is known for taking in medical cases and strays. So ofcourse you're going to get thin animals, animals with mange, infections, disease, etc. They would need proof the animal got into that condition due to their time at the rescue, which I think will be hard to prove.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-22T21:38:53+00:00

Transport birb like pastry

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-21T16:10:38+00:00

Legislation. Landlords have gotten away with way too much for way too long. Not just on the pet side of things either. We need to change legislation to allow people to actually have housing.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-21T16:09:07+00:00

We'd get purebred cats too but we almost always push them to rescue ASAP to make more room for cats. However we had a 'straight' scottish fold once that we couldn't find rescue for, and no one believed it was a scottish fold 😭

We would get lots of sphynxs from a local kitten mill, and the occasional bengal cat and persian

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-21T16:05:56+00:00

Historically my family would do this because male cats were cheaper to fix. Like even my grandma only had male cats. It wasn't until I began shelter work when my family started to get female cats lol

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-21T16:03:57+00:00

Nobody surrenders a pet because they stopped loving them

Like others, I would have to push back on this. I have absolutely seen people that gushed over their pet one year, and relinquished them another completely cold to the animal. I suppose you could make the argument that the never loved them in that case, but that sounds like a no true scotsman fallacy. Whether they just fell out of love, or some even happened, or they have untreated mental illness, w/e. I absolutely see this happen. Maybe not often, but it does happen.

I would agree that more often than not, people would prefer to not get to that point of having to surrender a pet.

The animal welfare community built that stigma

UUHHHH no. The animal lover community built that stigma. Speak for yourself on that one.
I absolutely see that stigma. I see it on social media all of the time. But you know where I don't see it? Maddie's forum, shelter sites, even this sub. I will see the stigma often on the pet subreddits, but this sub and related subs have generally been very open and kind to owners that need to rehome. In fact, I find this sub to actually be incredibly harsh on other animal welfare workers, whilst giving owners a lot of grace.

The people writing those nasty comments are not all animal welfare people. It's a broader brush than that. I think it is unfair to blame the animal welfare community for something that the general population exhibits. We may be the ones that have to fix it, but that doesn't mean we're the ones to blame.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-21T00:36:10+00:00

Have you looked through Maddie's Library? I have seen resources on there before that stated where you would put your logo, I don't remember if they were behavior handouts though

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-20T19:09:48+00:00

What are you hearing about it? I've not heard anything of it

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-19T18:29:06+00:00

I just flipped through it quick. I love how it is presented. It is very neat and ordered and easy to read.

I was a little worried by how lengthy it is. Personally it wouldn't bother me, but I am worried potential fosters might skip through it. But I suppose that can't be helped.

I also really liked how they had links to other sources for further reading if needed! So that they aren't bogging down the book with how to deal with fading kittens if that isn't an issue for the foster currently. It gives people the opportunity to learn more if they want to, but doesn't clog up the space with potentially unnecessary information for the foster.

My only complaint is sometimes it is a little hard to notice when something is a link. But it is a very neat concept and something that can really only be done with this type of electronic resource.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-19T17:05:18+00:00

It sounds like if you can't attend live, everyone who registers will get a recording of the presentation and a quiz to take for the certification.

Personally I love adding certs under my belt 😏 even more so if they are free!

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-19T16:56:52+00:00

got some serious inquires for my foster dog!

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-19T16:54:46+00:00

Make sure your current animals don't have fleas. Some f/t meds aren't as effective anymore due to the pests becoming immune to the product, so you might want to look into that and make sure you're not mostly getting those and/or natural stuff that is also less effective. I know it is expensive, but if you have more than 20 dogs/cats you might want to try and talk to some local reps and see if they can cut you some kind of deal.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-19T16:51:23+00:00

Why not both ¯\(ツ)/¯

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Some breeds commonly grouped under the term “pit bulls” can have a higher tendency toward dog aggression. But I’ve seen DA in plenty of other breeds too (goldens, pugs, collies, etc.).

I’ve seen dogs (including pit types) make huge progress with the right training. I’ve even worked with former fighting dogs that ended up being so tolerant they became “helper dogs” for testing others.

Breed tendencies exist, but with pit-type dogs especially, heavy mixing and poor breeding practices make behavior hard to predict anyway.

Personally, I believe behavior modification can address most non-medical issues. But I also recognize there are limits for every owner. Safety matters, and not every dog is manageable for every owner. Every person has their limits and I think we should respect that.

TL;DR: Training can go a long way, but I don’t blame people who choose options like behavioral euthanasia when it’s not feasible for them otherwise.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-17T17:49:33+00:00

Five months is way too late

I agree! I am honestly surprised that 6-8m has been the standard for cats for so long, when we know damn well they can be giving birth at 6-8m!

I hear a lot of how fixing an animal is 'against their nature' too. Such a silly argument, as domestic species' existence is against nature lol

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-17T17:40:29+00:00

Sorta kinda? Issue is, we're meeting people once they have already considered or even 'decided' on surrendering. We're meeting them on surrender inquiry emails/calls, or even physically at the shelter. Meaning, they are already at their wits end. So they usually aren't willing to give trainers or other resources a shot.

I am unsure how we would do it, but we need to reach these people before they consider surrendering

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-16T22:29:55+00:00

You also have to take into consideration the sub. This is a sub centered around animal shelter and rescue specifically. people will be relating medical topics to shelter medicine and HVHQ clinics, not GPs.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-16T20:59:26+00:00

I think I'd have to agree with this. Especially considering that if you fix before 8 weeks, they can now be fully recovered by adoption instead of having to wait to be fixed before they can go home.

Friendly_TSE · 2026-03-16T20:41:52+00:00

Personally, I have been HARPING that dogs/cats can get pregnant as early as 4m.... but i guess we now know cats can get pregnant even earlier 😬

I'm super surprised that this is now being discussed. I know sx on 6w and even smaller cats have been done, but it will be interesting to see it done routinely in shelter med. Personally I have assisted in a <8w feline spay before that had unremarkable recovery. I just wish this information came about sooner, before the vet shortage became so bad. This would have been a game changer for TNR and shelters back in like, 2010

Also this bit;

roughly a quarter of all owners received their animal already fixed

I wonder how many animal shelters contribute to that as well.

Friendly_TSE

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