So angry, found empty cat carrier & can of food - People are scum!

[Dancemom03]

It happened again this morning... I was taking DD19 to her first day of a new job and, at the end of our street near the main road, there sat a cat carrier and a large maxwell house can full of cat food. I stopped the van, got out, called "kitty, kitty" while checking the surrounding area but no luck. The poor little guy was probably sitting there in the underbrush somehwere watching me, too traumatized to come out.

The DDs imagined maybe it was a momma cat and kittens that became too much bother for their owners to find a home for. Less than ten days from vacation, DD8 pointed out that perhaps the family didn't have a petsitter and left for vacation - afterall, it's summer and everybody needs a vacation whether their responsibilities are met or not. Ever the realist, I wondered if they'd lost their jobs, their home, their marriage, even their kids...

That can of food won't last the morning. A neighborhood dog - or the other tens of cats who were once dumped here too and now call it home will eat it first. Did the owner think that kitty would come back to the crate to sleep every night and have a bite to eat from that puny can of kitten chow? Beyond those trees and underbrush, a mere 50-75 feet, sits an inground pool which has been the final drink of water for more than one cat who fell in by accident. The trees overhead are home to owls and two red-tailed hawks who'd be happy to eat small creatures given the chance. A hundred feet in the other direction is the main road where we see the bodies of the less fortunate on an almost daily basis. It's just so sad. Thru my tears, I'm furious... I just don't get it.

There's a stunning siamese who's lived in the field next to the fitness club for over a year now, sneaking over at night to eat trash from the cans by the pool b/c it looked like a good dump place to her owners. I'm sure she was an expensive cat, her original owners may even be club members with no shortage of funds, but that obviously didn't help her stay in her home b/c there she sits watching from the edge of the field. So far, she's alive, she survived the winter, but it's likely she'll never find another home with a sunny window to sit in b/c she no longer trusts people and can't be caught.

What is wrong with people today? I know there are a million answers and millions of dirtbags in the world, but why do the ones who want to dump their animals drive out to "the country" and kick 'em out on the side of the road?

How can you possibly do that to a family pet? There are no-kill shelters and, if that's too much bother, overnight cages at the humane society for your unwanted pets - no questions asked. They won't be any less afraid or abandoned but they will be safe, fed, and cared for. Sure they have too many cats already but your kitten, who was so cute playing with that bit of string a few months ago, will not drown in a neighborhood pool; be eaten by hawks, owls, foxes; hit by a car; freeze; or starve to death b/c he's too traumatized to approach strange people/houses.

So, consider this a plea from one of those folks in the "country" who feed those stray animals, take them to vets if they're sick or hurt even when the budget is already stretched tight, and sometimes, even give them a proper burial... PLEASE spay or neuter your pet... It may not be the animal your beloved dog or cat produces but you can never be sure unless you plan to keep every one of those kittens or puppies for life...

 

[robinb]

Maybe ... it's a neighbor whose cat escaped and they are trying to get her back .

 

[Dancemom03]

I wish it were a lost pet. Nope, this is another one abandoned. There are only a few houses back here and when somebody loses an animal everybody knows it within hours. Also, it's become a habit to post signs of lost dogs/cats along the road b/c chances are somebody has found it. We've even had pet rabbits and ducks found and returned home. In such a small area, outside a small town, it isn't hard to notice new things and everybody knows everyone else's business.

This is obviously another dumping. The carrier is on the grass strip entering the development, on the grass next to the road facing the woods with door open and remnants of a paper towel inside, cat food is sitting upright, out of the crate maybe ten feet away where the underbrush starts, not inside the crate. Owner likely sat the crate down, opened the door and placed food to steer cat towards small strip of woods while they drove away. It's pretty deserted up there when you turn off the main road, not visible from anyone's house - a perfect place to dump and run. Last summer there was a box of kittens sitting in almost the same spot.

Just last week, there was a yorkie who'd been shaved roaming around without a home but he was down by the house - a good little walk from that spot. I'm sure eventually we'll see whoever the new little guy is, as long as he survives. Right now, I'd sure like to run into his owners though. Boy would I give them a piece of my mind...

 

[tasha99]

Maybe one of your neighbors is trying to catch/tame a feral cat. I'd be surprised if it were a dumping since they left the cat carrier.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have feral cats all over the islands here. There is an organization that catches them, neuters them, and returns them to where they were caught. They set up feeding stations near stores, even some shelters and beds. I guess they can't bear to take them to the humane society, and actually the cats probably catch vermin near the stores. (There is one really sweet apricot cat that I always pet at Publix-he is very fat, so he eats well.) I don't know, but it's possible someone is taking care of a feral cat.

 

[Dancemom03]

Maybe one of your neighbors is trying to catch/tame a feral cat. I'd be surprised if it were a dumping since they left the cat carrier.

I used to think the same thing too until we'd lived here awhile.
If you don't want a cat, you don't need a carrier. Why save it - especially if you can escape without having to take the cat out of carrier first? Just open the door, put food outside and walk away...

It's sad, the humane society lends live cat traps that my neighbor uses to catch feral cats occassionally. Sometimes animal control even comes out to do it without our knowledge so we always keep collars on the cats we've taken for spay/neuter/vets just in case.

It used to be really bad up there. We had an older neighbor who used to feed twenty or more daily and let the cats breed on her property. Deadly upper respiratory infections, viruses, and FIV were prevalent and I can't count how many times the girls would bring a seriously ill kitten they'd found on the way to the bus stop home for us to run to the vets and wait out the life or death decision. Thank heavens our vet understood that we couldn't just ignore it, and takes post-dated checks for the unexpected expenses neccessary to heal the small furballs we later find good homes for.

After the cat-lady died a few years ago, the new home owners set traps - real traps, not an open carrier, and the humane society took many, others migrated down the road and hang out between my house and the next door neighbor who also puts out food. There just isn't anyone around who would try to use a carrier instead of a trap. By neccessity, we've all learned the most efficient way to catch strays and cooperate to round them up a few times a year for the humane society's "$5 neuter-a-thon". It's worked well and the stray cat population is almost non-existant. Now, if only folks would stop dumping their pets...

 

[scottishduffy]

So sorry to hear that. It is very sad when pets are just abandoned.... I can't even imagine what an animal must think when the person it loved just drops it off and leaves forever.

FWIW, I left my cat carrier outside to catch my kitty. He got out of our 2nd floor apartment and we left the cat carrier outside downstairs, with his blanket inside to lure him back. We also put a second extra carrier we had near the front of our complex where we see other cats hang out in the bushes. It was a horrible rainy night but thankfully he found his carrier and we had him back the next day.

 

[Dancemom03]

Okay, maybe I'm just too cynical. DD8 is going out to ride her bike in a few minutes. I'm going to ask at each neighbor's today just to be sure I haven't misjudged anyone and there isn't an AWOL kitty I don't know about.

Still, this was a huge amount of food - one of those big plastic Maxwell House coffee containers, like I'd leave if I was dropping off for my mom to cat-sit for a week - for retrieving a lost cat, especially since it was left outside the crate, with none inside. I've left a crate out before too, but right next to the door, not in the middle of nowhere, near the main road & away from all houses.
There wasn't a blanket or a lovey of any sort inside either - just a bit of soiled paper towel.