Berkeley Humane Blog: Cathy M.

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Pet rehoming revisited...

The topic of pet surrender and rehoming is a sensitive one, and emotions run high among all of us in animal welfare when we discuss this topic no matter what point of view we hold. We wrote a piece awhile back in response to a box of cats abandoned on the street at our shelter, and we described the steps we believe should have been taken by the individual relinquishing those animals. But we did not address the broader complexity surrounding relinquishment and the human-animal bond, the issue at the heart of all animal surrender. In all cases of relinquishment, a breakdown of the human-animal bond plays some part—sometimes small, sometimes large—in the decision to no longer care for a pet.

We can sometimes be quick to assume that individuals surrendering animals to shelters do so with cold hearts and little regard for the animals’ well-being. An important study in 1998 by Natalie DiGiacomo, Arnold Arluke, and Gary Patronek¹ paints a more complex picture. All relinquishers interviewed in the study struggled with their decisions for some time and sought alternatives before bringing their pets to the shelter as a perceived last resort. DiGiacomo, et al.’s findings have helped those of us who face these situations daily to be more aware of the complexity of the decision to relinquish. The purpose of the research, and our reference to it, is not to justify relinquishment but to better understand the perspectives of those relinquishing animals. Much like each animal we care for is an individual and we can’t make assumptions about their personality based on appearance or assumed background, each person’s decision to surrender an animal is individual. Sure, some surrenders are done with haste and disregard for the animal(s)—likely the case for our box of kittens, for example—but we need to make the difficult and deliberate decision to live by what we preach and treat each case individually.

With that in mind, we provide the below steps that should be taken when one feels he/she can no longer care for a pet. Again, each case is unique, and acknowledging that relinquishment is an option at all is a difficult pill for us to swallow. But we in animal welfare play a critical role in helping our community be better educated about pet care and the human-animal bond, and we at BEBHS aim to work cooperatively with members of our community and network to reduce relinquishment of all kinds.

Guidelines for Re-Homing Your Pet

First, think about why you need to re-home your pet. Are you moving? Is someone in your household suffering from allergies? Does your pet's behavior give you cause for concern? Really think this through, as the decision you make will have a profound impact on this member of your family that you love.

If you're moving out of state, check out this website for suggestions on how to make the move with your pets in tow safe for all.
If you're moving locally, here's some great information from our friends at the East Bay SPCA on how to find pet-friendly housing.
For those of you with allergy concerns, this blog is a great resource on how to live with pet allergies.
And if you're concerned about your pet's behavior, try working with a trainer or attending obedience classes to improve behavior and communication between you and your pet.

Obedience training can help!

If you've thought it through and come to the conclusion that re-homing your pet is in the best interest of you and your pet, try to find her a new home by utilizing your network and your network's network. Act early! Do not wait until a move or other life event is imminent to find a new home for your pet. Talk to everyone you know about your pet and ask everyone you know to talk to everyone they know. Get the word out there and hopefully someone will be able to help. Use email, Facebook, Twitter, and any other social network you can.
If your network isn't proving fruitful, try finding an adopter yourself. You can post ads on Craigslist, at your vet, and in the local pet store. Coffee shops and libraries also have bulletin boards available for the public---walk around shopping districts and you will find an abundance of places to post your ad.
When you get a response to your ad, make sure you're screening all potential adopters to ensure your pet is going into a good home that meets his or her needs.

Some questions to ask potential adopters:

First, get the person’s name, address, and phone number so you can verify that the information provided is accurate.
Why they want this pet?
Where the pet will spend most of his/her time?
Are the other people in the potential adopter’s household aware and approving of their desire to acquire a pet?
Does the potential adopter rent or own his/her home? If renting, ask that they've verified with the landlord that pets are allowed, and that no species, size or breed restrictions will prohibit the pet from living in their home.
Have they had pets before, and if so how long they kept them?
Are there children in the household, and if so discuss the circumstances so that you can determine whether your pet will be comfortable with the potential adopter’s children’s activity levels.
Are there other pets in the household and will those be receptive to an additional pet in the household?
What is the potential adopter’s activity level and can it matches the pet’s?
For cats, ask whether they plan to declaw the cat.
Ask for the phone number of the person’s vet. Call the vet and explain your situation and ask about the person’s history of care, vaccinations, and preventative care.
Ask for personal references. Call those references, explain that you are considering rehoming your pet with the potential adopter, and ask the references if they were rehoming their pet whether they would be comfortable placing their pet with the potential adopter.
(These questions are a starting point…ask away!)

If you've exhausted all of the above without success, start looking into rescue groups and animal shelters. Go here for a fairly comprehensive list of shelters and rescues in the Bay Area.
As a last resort, if you've exhausted all of the above options and feel you have no other choice, your local municipal animal shelter will take in your pet. Go while they're open and give the person handling your intake as honest and complete information about you and your pet as possible. The more they know about your animal from the start, the better equipped they will be to help him/her find a home Make sure you go to the shelter that serves your area. Berkeley residents should go to Berkeley Animal Care Services, Oakland residents should go to Oakland Animal Services, and residents of Contra Costa County should go to Contra Costa Animal Control in Pinole or Martinez.

¹ DiGiacomo, N., Arluke, A., & Patronek, G. (1998). Surrendering pets to shelters: The relinquisher's perspective. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Interactions of People & Animals, 11(1), 41-51.

A Box Full of Kittens

This is what Kris, our Dog Coordinator, found sitting next to the recycling bins earlier this week.

A box. Taped shut. Labeled "Mom 3 Kittens". There was a second box, also labeled - "Kittens".

Upon closer inspection (the picture was taken after closer inspection) I found a total of five kittens, about three months old, and a mama cat about a year old.

Six cats. Abandoned outside in sealed cardboard boxes.

Kittens 1 and 2 on their way to BACS

Mom and 3 kittens, headed to BACS

I'm struggling to figure out how anybody could think this was the right thing to do with six lives they could not, or would not, be responsible for anymore.

There are much more responsible ways to go about relinquishing an animal. Maybe the person who placed these cats in cardboard boxes, carefully sealed and labeled them, and then left them on the side of the cold, rainy street doesn't know this.

So let's use this blog as an opportunity to educate.

What to do if you don't want to care for an animal anymore.

Take said animal to your municipal animal shelter. If you live in Berkeley, go to Berkeley Animal Care Services, don't drive 5 towns over in the hopes that nobody will recognize you. Go to the municipal animal shelter that serves your area. Don't go to a rescue organization like BEBHS - we'll just tell you to go to your animal shelter.
Go inside.
Speak to the person behind the front desk.
Hand over the animal.
Sign whatever paperwork they need you to sign.
Pay whatever fee they need you to pay. If you can't pay, they'll still take your animal - just remember, caring for this animal will not be cheap for the animal shelter; your fee will help offset the cost of its care just a teeny-tiny bit.
Go home and know that you did the responsible thing.

If you're worried that surrendering your animal to the municipal animal shelter increases its chances of being euthanized, remember that abandoning your animal on the street increases its chances of meeting a much crueler end.

Please, be responsible with your pets.

A Happy Ending

When I go to area shelters to pull cats, I usually only give their history a passing glance. Most of the time they're strays and I'm glad for the opportunity to provide them with a second chance at a nice home. I never entertain the idea of finding the cats' original home.

Never. Until I met this handsome Russian Blue.

Where'd my home go?

He was named Anton when I met him at Berkeley Animal Care Services. Like so many other cats, he'd been brought in as a stray and, since no one came to claim him, he was up for adoption. He was a little reserved when I opened his cage to say hello, but he quickly warmed up to my pets. I could tell he'd come from a loving home and wouldn't have a difficult time finding his next home. I brought him to BEBHS to begin his next leg on the journey towards adoption.

A few days after Anton (who we renamed Aleksei - a nice Russian name for a Russian Blue) was transferred to BEBHS, I got a phone call from a very sad woman named Ashley who thought Aleksei might be her lost cat. He'd been missing for a month and she was chasing down her last lead. "I posted flyers in my neighborhood and someone saw this cat at BACS and called me because he looks a lot like my cat. It's so hard to tell from a picture though. I don't know if I'll ever see my cat again."

Ashley reunited with her lost kitty. At last!

I was excited but doubtful, like Ashley said, it's so hard to tell if the picture of a grey cat with yellow eyes is the same cat you raised from a kitten and loved. Nevertheless, I made plans for Ashley to come meet Aleksei before he went up for adoption on Saturday.

Saturday morning rolled around and Aleksei's foster mom dropped him off early as arranged. A little while later Ashley showed up to meet him. As soon as she saw him, she knew she'd found her missing cat. The skeptic in me wasn't convinced, so I encouraged her to spend some time with him, just to be sure. After a few more minutes she was certain.

It was such a wonderful moment. One month, two shelters stays and two temporary names later, Ashley's efforts and perseverance paid off and this sweet, handsome cat (who was actually named Kuumba) was reunited with his person.

It was also a wonderful lesson in the power of hope (take that inner-skeptic!), the importance of community (thank you kind-stranger-who-takes-the-time-to-read-lost-cat-flyers), and the unshakable bond between a cat and his person.

....

And if you thought it couldn't get any sweeter, here's some icing for this wonderful story.

Ashley sent me this awesome email a few days later:

Hi Cathy!

Everything is great! It is so nice to have him back home. He's been getting super special treatment and visitors! I can't tell you enough how amazing it was to get him back! I was really at the place of thinking I would never see him again. :(

He went missing on 9/20 near Mosswood park in Oakland. I rescued him in 2007 from Los Angeles Animal Services. He was 6 weeks old and needed to be sponsored as he had to be hospitalized. He had an intestinal hemorrhage. After 2 days in the hospital and a few months of iron supplements for anemia he was good as new, and we've been attached ever since.

He's 5 and a half years young, and he was named after the swahili word for "creativity," Kuumba. It is also the 6th day of Kwanzaa

"Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it."

He truly embodies all of that for me and those whose lives he has touched. I attached a picture of him as a kitten for fun.

Thanks again,
Ashley

The Hard to Adopt Cat

This is story of my cat, Pumpkin.

Pumpkin, post domestication

I was working for a different animal shelter (which shall remain un-named) when I met him. He'd been living in the shelter for almost a year and was clearly suffering from the stress of shelter life. Once upon a time, he must have displayed some endearing traits; otherwise he never would have made the cut to be taken into our care at all. But by the time I met him, he was depressed and angry. He'd hiss and swat at anybody that got too close - human or feline. He was what we called a 'red dot' cat - only staff were allowed to socialize him because he was too dangerous for anyone else to handle.

At this point, he was a hard to adopt cat, but still adoptable. He just needed to find the right person with the right amount of cat-smarts and a whole bunch of patience.

One day, a volunteer got too close and Pumpkin lashed out, biting the volunteer. This was the worst possible thing he could have done at this time. He was already on consideration for the unadoptable list (aka euthanasia list) because of his aggressive behaviors. By biting a volunteer, he sealed his fate; he was headed for the euthanasia table.

Up to this point I hadn't had any overtly positive interactions with Pumpkin. He was just one more cat on my daily task list. I'd warily go into his enclosure, making sure not to get too close, to care for him. My time socializing him was spent with a very long wand toy, which he would take an occasional and half-hearted swat at. He never purred or asked for pets, and when I would try he'd shy away and only let me scratch his ears.

But when I heard that he was 'unadoptable' I just couldn't stomach it. I knew that despite his aggression, there was a nice cat inside.

I made the decision to adopt Pumpkin, despite the fact that I had a two year old baby plus two other cats at home.

On Pumpkin's first night at home, I sat in his room with my daughter in my lap, unsure about how much attention he would want. To my surprise, he came right up to me, head butting my head and rubbing up against my daughter's eagerly outstretch palms. He rewarded our tentative efforts with a deep, rumbling purr. It was as if he was saying 'thank you for rescuing me'.

Since that first night in my home, I have never had cause to fear a bite from Pumpkin. He's great with my daughter and eventually learned how to co-exist with my other two cats. I have never regretted the decision to adopt him and am filled with a warm fuzzy feeling when I think of the journey he's been on. He was angry and depressed, languishing in the shelter. Now he's a happy and well-adjusted pet.

The moral of Pumpkin's story is that the behavior you see in the shelter isn't necessarily what you'll see at home. I remind myself of this daily, especially when I'm faced with shy, withdrawn, or aggressive cats. These cats all have a history that's affecting their behavior in the moment. As that history evolves, so does their behavior. They just need the right person to come along, with the right amount of cat-smarts, and a good measure of patience.

Cat Days of Summer

This weekend, adopt a cat 9 months of age or older and you will pay no adoption fee! Come fall in love with your new pet Saturday the 25th or Sunday the 26th from 11am-5pm.

Here's some of our adorable and adoptable adult cats waiting for loving homes.

Moxie is 9 years old, but she's as spunky as ever. Playful and affectionate. A great girl!

Latrice Royale is one unique cat! She's only a year and half old, and maintains a lot of her kitten attributes. Including playing non-stop and then needing lots of cuddles to recoup.

Volta's a whole lotta cat! Her loving nature is as large as her body. All she wants is a person to give her cuddle and treats (but not too many, she's trying to re-gain her girlish figure).

Warhol is tortie through and through. She's friendly, playful and fiesty!

Stallion is one of my favorite cats of all time! If I didn't already have a house full of animals, he'd be coming home with me.

Ernest and Stallion

Ernest showing off his bow tie

Two of my favorite cats are Ernest and Stallion. These big black boys just pull my heart strings.

Ernest contemplating the universe

I love the way Ernest sits on his perch with his little paws curled around the edge. And I love his white patch on his chest; it makes him look like he’s wearing a bow tie. And he’s a talker! He’ll have entire conversations with you. I don’t quite speak cat yet (it’s on my to-do list to learn), but with all his different meows, I’m sure he’s saying something. He has a quick staccato meow that sounds just like “Hey!” And then there’s his succession of three meows of different tones, Mmra, mow, meow. Low, high, low. That’s definitely conversational. Like “listen to this!” I could spend hours conversing with him. Maybe we’ll unlock the secrets of the universe together.

Stallion

Stallion’s an entirely different kind of cat. He’s got this big Maine Coon mane that frames his face, making him look like a lion. And his long bushy tail. And those big furry paws. He’s just a big black ball of soft loveable fur. Plus, his favorite toys are drinking straws. He may be big and handsome, but he’s not afraid to bat a straw around like a kitten. I love a cat that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Stallion's getting silly

But my favorite part about him is his purr. It’s deep and sonorous. Rumbling and rich. And he’s always got a purr at the ready, just waiting to envelop you in its soft, warm tones. He purrs when you pet him. He purrs when you feed him. He purrs at the sight of you sometimes. When I’m grumpy or stressed, I take a Stallion break. The sound of his purr and his soft fur gently nuzzling into my hand help me feel at peace.

It will be a bitter-sweet moment for me when these two boys get adopted. I’ll be thrilled to see them leave the shelter and go to loving homes. But I’ll miss them. I’m looking forward to that day, when they’re nostalgic memories.

Monochromatic Cats

Calamity Jane

For some reason we have an abundance of black and black and white cats and kittens. Which is just fine, because they’re all amazing cats that will make wonderful pets. But one of my goals as Cat Coordinator is to keep a variety of types and colors on the adoption floor at all times. Usually, I wouldn’t want 11 of out 13 adoptable cats and kittens to be the same color. But somehow it’s happened. We have 6 black kittens, 3 all-black cats, and 2 black and white cats.

It’s monochromatic.

Bali

Which brings a few ideas to mind.

How about we have a black tie event where everyone wears their evening dress and comes to adopt a cat that matches? It can be the formal adoption weekend. Don’t you think a cat like Bali would look great draped over your arm as you sashay about in your evening gown?

Or what about we go Goth instead? Let’s celebrate our inner dark child, cat loving selves. Wear black lipstick and nail polish. Put on that all-black outfit you love to wear. Come adopt a cat to match your look.

Bad Boy Black Cat Love

Then there’s the black-cat bad-boy. Wear your biker boots and a bandana. Walk with a tough guy gait. Come get the cat to match. Embrace your inner bad child.

What do you think? Instead of disparaging over the lack of color on the adoption floor, let’s celebrate this! After all, it’s not going to happen very often. I’m going to try my darndest to keep variety for all of you color-philes out there. But for the monochromatic lovers: Come adopt yourself a beautiful, loving, wonderful black or black and white companion. There’s lots to choose from. And they’re waiting patiently to go home.

Here's a few more color-less cats you could meet this weekend!