There’s an ugly truth about shelters that few people know. Shelters are not designed to “give shelter,” and most animals don’t make it out alive. The animals with the least chance are the ones with illnesses, behavior problems, and the elderly. And owner surrenders? That’s pretty much the kiss of death.
But today we’re here to celebrate the people who help animals make it out, and who make sure they get a home.
Meet Tony. We first met him in the Broward County Animal Shelter and he was, to say the least not happy to be there. If Tony had been picked up from the streets of New York City instead of the Miami area, he probably would have been listed as “New Hope Only.” *http://www.nycacc.org/newhope.htm
- Tony in Broward County’s Shelter.
Luckily, Tony, or as they called him at MDAS, “Bighead Tony” caught the eye of an amazing rescuer named Maribel Moure. Modest Mari says that she and Dorian Wagner of “Your Daily Cute” both have a soft spot for the “Tomcat” faces. When Mari saw Tony fight so hard for freedom, she knew that she had to give him that second at life.
Tony even had a potential adopter who was looking forward to meeting him. As with all cats being pulled, Tony had tests done on him for the usual suspects, Feline Leukemia (FeLV), Upper Respiratory Infection (URI), (Feline Distemper), Feline Calicivirus, and Rhinotracheitis (Feline Herpes Virus) and the biggie, FIV. FIV, or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus is considered the kitty version of HIV.
Tony, not surprisingly for a street cat, tested positive for FIV. Much like the human version, FIV isn’t always a death sentence, and many cats can go on to live long and healthy lives. But the scary thing for potential adopters is that FIV can be spread by deep bites and scratches. So unfortunately, Tony’s potential adopter had to pull out, since she was at her limit for FIV+ cats.
Mari was determined to fight for Tony, and now says that there was a group effort, with many people making phone calls, sending emails, calling in favors, begging, and pleading. Finally, a home was found for feral Tony; Rikki’s Refuge in Rapidan, Virginia! http://www.facebook.com/RikkisRefuge Since Rikki’s is a refuge, Tony now has a place to live out the rest of his days, but if somebody falls in love with him, he’s able to leave.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Imagine Home transport without some bumps in the road. You see, Rikki’s Refuge has set intake days, requiring isolation for all incoming animals. If we weren’t able to get the boys to Rikki’s in 5 days, it would be another month before they could get in. Foster homes for FIV+ cats are very precious, and we didn’t want to risk impeding another FIV+ cat. We rushed, and through some sort of miracle (yep, Paw of Jack again,) we were able to get the transport filled in 5 short days. And then our friend Mari, who can’t stand to see a solo cat on a transport, learned of another FIV+ cat, Einstein, who also needed a ride to Rikki’s.
As a sort of payment for throwing a wrench into the works, Mari recruited a dear friend of hers, KD Potter, to take the two boys from Miami up to South Carolina(!) and meet Melanie Morgan, who offered to rent a hotel room and drive the boys up to Roanoke Rapids, NC. Melanie would then be met in NC by Donna Savory, who works at Rikki’s, and would take them the rest of the way.
Going back to the start of my post, your Imagine Home Admins believe that the people who go out of their way to get animals out of kill shelters are amazing, and deserve our love and gratitude. So say we all, I believe. ~noelle~
So say we all. Indeed!