Damned If You Do.
I'm feeling mightily down at the mouth.
Found out the kittens from the crazy cat lady's house were indeed collected. They were all sick. One died in the holding pen. The rest were put down. The pregnant queen was rounded up on Tuesday. I hadn't seen her for a couple of days so I called to find out if they had her, if I could take her in, but she had to be euthanized this morning. She was apparently sick as well -- perhaps a kidney infection. It makes me ill to think of her being put down, and her kittens not even getting a chance. I had hoped . . . I'd hoped to help her, and the babies, I'd hoped to make some good come of all this.
Animal Control has rounded up several adult cats from that property. They will no doubt be put down as well. And there's more there. At least four.
I'm preparing evidence, so it's there if it's needed. I have pictures of her feeding them every morning. I have heartwrenching video of a three-legged cat limping through her garden. And I have her home address. Not the cat house, but the house where she actually lives. It's also within walking distance, and though I haven't seen her car there yet, other evidence points to it being the place.
The nice neighbor, Linda, also has a live trap she's going to be putting out. Better than chasing them down, though the animals will come to no better end.
The helpful guy at the shelter informed me that his boss is overseeing this case personally, trying to get this situation resolved. It's getting attention, they've been out there several times this week. It's not being ignored. It's just that this woman is devilish hard to get hold of, and she's evidently bent on weaseling any which way she can.
I'm trying not to be angry or impatient, but it's hard. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn. It's just hard knowing these animals are dying, and harder still to fear that nothing will be done to punish her, or stop her doing it again. It's hard watching them take the cats away and put them under, and watching her put food out for the ones that are left each morning because she just doesn't care about what happens to them. Not really. She just cares about having them.
I feel bad, like I should have been watching more closely, or like I could have done something more to help. I should have done something when the kittens were taken away. I don't feel like I have done the right thing, even though I know that I have. I don't feel good about it. I feel horrible. It feels like fighting evil with evil, and no amount of mental calisthenics is going to alter the fact that I honestly feel like I'm in some way responsible for this. The situation is getting cleaned up, but I still feel dirty.
Make no mistake, though. I know that this woman . . . she bears the lion's share of the blame. And, deus lo volt, she will get what is coming to her.
I'm afraid it will end in stalemate, with no progress being made but ongoing capture and death, and me having done harm I cannot undo, even if it's a lesser evil than hers. Even victory will come at a steep price, over the tiny bodies of the helpless that should have been cared for, and weren't. All I can do is stand my ground, fight for them if I can. And hope.
Good god, how can a person allow this to happen? I simply do not understand.
"But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I will be unique in all the world. . . . You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Found out the kittens from the crazy cat lady's house were indeed collected. They were all sick. One died in the holding pen. The rest were put down. The pregnant queen was rounded up on Tuesday. I hadn't seen her for a couple of days so I called to find out if they had her, if I could take her in, but she had to be euthanized this morning. She was apparently sick as well -- perhaps a kidney infection. It makes me ill to think of her being put down, and her kittens not even getting a chance. I had hoped . . . I'd hoped to help her, and the babies, I'd hoped to make some good come of all this.
Animal Control has rounded up several adult cats from that property. They will no doubt be put down as well. And there's more there. At least four.
I'm preparing evidence, so it's there if it's needed. I have pictures of her feeding them every morning. I have heartwrenching video of a three-legged cat limping through her garden. And I have her home address. Not the cat house, but the house where she actually lives. It's also within walking distance, and though I haven't seen her car there yet, other evidence points to it being the place.
The nice neighbor, Linda, also has a live trap she's going to be putting out. Better than chasing them down, though the animals will come to no better end.
The helpful guy at the shelter informed me that his boss is overseeing this case personally, trying to get this situation resolved. It's getting attention, they've been out there several times this week. It's not being ignored. It's just that this woman is devilish hard to get hold of, and she's evidently bent on weaseling any which way she can.
I'm trying not to be angry or impatient, but it's hard. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn. It's just hard knowing these animals are dying, and harder still to fear that nothing will be done to punish her, or stop her doing it again. It's hard watching them take the cats away and put them under, and watching her put food out for the ones that are left each morning because she just doesn't care about what happens to them. Not really. She just cares about having them.
I feel bad, like I should have been watching more closely, or like I could have done something more to help. I should have done something when the kittens were taken away. I don't feel like I have done the right thing, even though I know that I have. I don't feel good about it. I feel horrible. It feels like fighting evil with evil, and no amount of mental calisthenics is going to alter the fact that I honestly feel like I'm in some way responsible for this. The situation is getting cleaned up, but I still feel dirty.
Make no mistake, though. I know that this woman . . . she bears the lion's share of the blame. And, deus lo volt, she will get what is coming to her.
I'm afraid it will end in stalemate, with no progress being made but ongoing capture and death, and me having done harm I cannot undo, even if it's a lesser evil than hers. Even victory will come at a steep price, over the tiny bodies of the helpless that should have been cared for, and weren't. All I can do is stand my ground, fight for them if I can. And hope.
Good god, how can a person allow this to happen? I simply do not understand.
"But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I will be unique in all the world. . . . You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince