One wouldn’t think it, but I know, first hand, that the world of cat rescue is full of shady people, illegal activities, and lies. There is soo much to write about this subject that I will have to address it in multiple posts. In brief, some of the things that go on are:
- Fake rescue stories posted on their sites.
- Operating covertly.
- Taking credit for your work as a feeder and rescuer and making up lies about you to make themselves look good.
- Publishing your words, emails, and photographs, without your consent or knowledge, for their benefit.
- Cat trafficking: Stalking and Trespassing onto private property in order to abduct a certain cat for a paying client.
- Stalking cat feeders in order to gain logistical information about how to abduct the cat/s they provide care for.
- Judging and condemning cat feeders as an excuse to confiscate the cat/s and sell it for their own profit because they are: well-fed; healthy; own a beautiful coat of fur, and are socialized from interactions with their feeders.
- Self proclaimed Trap-Neuter-Return rescues that, in fact, DO NOT do trap-neuter-return for the benefit of street cats.
- Fake fees. Rescue organizations have TNR trappers that can get cats spayed/neutered and vacinated for Free. Yet, they ask adopters for a $125-150 “adoption fee” to cover, “the cost of spay/neuter and vacinations!”. Always ask to see the proof of “medical fees.”
- Hefty fees that they call “donations” just to trap a cat and have it spayed/neutered; something they should be doing voluntarily as a public service and a non-profit rescue organization.
- Troubled and emotionally unstable, “rescuers” that can be offensive and dangerous to interact with.
- Rescues that are NOT interested in cats that are truly in need, because they take too much time, cost too much money, and are less profitable for them.
- Rescues that want a specific breed of cat to sell for adoption. For example: Main Coons, Rag dolls, cats with long hair, cats with spots or certain colors. They have a superficial preference for who they actually decide to save.
- Stealing cats from registered colonies with certified caretakers.
- Targeting female cats because the kittens can each sell for over a hundred dollars. $
- Not reaching out to help male cats because they are less profitable.
It’s disturbing, don’t you think? To be continued.