Stupid family at animal shelter

[jjc927]

I was at the animal shelter today with my mother because they had a special on black cats for Friday the 13th where any black or mostly black cat would be $13. This one family, despite signs all around asking to NOT put your fingers in the cage, decided to do it anyway at least 3 or 4 times. I even told the worker that kept telling them not to that people will not read anything that is not written in big black letters (the signs were on normal sized paper but are noticable). I bet if they did adopt they'd be bringing back the cat because it bit them or hides.

[zombiequeen]

I was at the animal shelter today with my mother because they had a special on black cats for Friday the 13th where any black or mostly black cat would be $13. This one family, despite signs all around asking to NOT put your fingers in the cage, decided to do it anyway at least 3 or 4 times. I even told the worker that kept telling them not to that people will not read anything that is not written in big black letters (the signs were on normal sized paper but are noticable). I bet if they did adopt they'd be bringing back the cat because it bit them or hides.

Ooo look a kitty in a cage! Let's taunt the kitty until it bites us, then we'll throw a fit until they put it down for being aggressive! Or if they're no-kill, we sue them! That'll teach them for having kitties!

Maybe one day they'll try it with the tigers

[blas]

No, because then they'd put the tiger down

As much as I love when people who do stupid things/torture animals get their just desserts, the animal always suffers more

[zombiequeen]

Not unless they were in the wild.....but yeah I agree. I would love to put some of them in cages and poke them until they freak out...then complain and stuff.

[EvilEmpryss]

At the shelters I've been to, the concern about fingers in the cage isn't fear of customers being bitten, it's fear of disease transmission. The shelters do the best they can to ensure that all the animals are healthy, but occasionally one in the early stages of feline leukemia, AIDS, or any number of other infectious diseases slips through the vetting. When people get saliva from one cat on their hand (or urine or feces from petting dirty fur) and then they touch the cats in the next four cages they have potentially transmitted the disease to all of them. Since many shelters can't afford to cure sick animals (and some of the diseases are death sentences anyway) all the cats will be euthanized.

A lot of people only think about rabies and picture sick animals as foaming at the mouth. If they only knew how quickly an infectious disease could spread through a kennel they might think twice before sticking their fingers in cages!

/Public service announcement

ETA: I personally think the whole black cat sale thing is an idiotic idea on a level with putting bunnies on sale before Easter. People will buy the cats on a whim and not think about the work that goes into being a proper pet owner.

[Talon]

No, because then they'd put the tiger down

True, but look on the bright side: the SC won't be able to poke the animal with a bloody stump where their hand used to be

[Seshat]

The RSPCA here keeps the same kind of hand sanitiser hospitals use. There's a dispenser on the outside of every cage, and big signs begging people to use it.

(Need I mention that we do - and that we see lots of people who don't?)

[jjc927]

ETA: I personally think the whole black cat sale thing is an idiotic idea on a level with putting bunnies on sale before Easter. People will buy the cats on a whim and not think about the work that goes into being a proper pet owner.

It's not that hard to learn though. People tend to ignore the black cats in shelters out of superstition and it is much better they are given new homes rather than either staying in the shelter or being euthenized. It was just a cute idea they had in order to generate more adoptions so that they had some more room.

[Mytical]

Yes, but there is the Dalmatian Syndrome. Or that is what I call it. When 101 Dalmatians came out, kids yelled for cute little Dalmatian pups, and the parents got them. Then the pups grew up. So many were abandoned, put down, etc because people were too stupid to realize it was a "Fad". Not saying that will happen with the cats, because they don't get as big as a Dalmatian, but something to think about. Still..I'd love to have a nice black cat..*sighs* if only somebody living with me was not allergic to all things fur.

[lobo94]

I like black cats. My best friend for fifteen years was a little black fella I found named Lobo. We were close. I joke that if the superstitions were true, I'd have been dead a very long time ago.

The one that owns me now, Nipper, is black, with orange streaks. A Tortoiseshell, which is a calico variant. She's a sweetheart.

As an aside, now you know one of the sources of my handle.

[Mikkel]

I like black cats.

I like cats, period, but I have had a black cat, Rose, and she was beautiful. The only thing was that she was almost impossible to photograph, most of the pictures I have of her just show a black catformed blotch.

[Mytical]

One of my favorite pets when I was growing up was Midnight. Absolutely adored that feline. Then my neighbor got angry at us and poisoned her. I was .. angry for quite some time. Poor thing.

[XCashier]

I like cats, period, but I have had a black cat, Rose, and she was beautiful. The only thing was that she was almost impossible to photograph, most of the pictures I have of her just show a black catformed blotch.

Yes, I had the same problem with my Shadow. He was a handsome one, but you can only photograph black animals in natural light or they won't come out clearly in the photo.

Mytical, I'm sorry about your Midnight. Evil neighbor, I hope he rots in Hell.

[Whiskey]

ETA: I personally think the whole black cat sale thing is an idiotic idea on a level with putting bunnies on sale before Easter. People will buy the cats on a whim and not think about the work that goes into being a proper pet owner.

This is a point I was about to make. Also, all the terrible things people do to black cats on Halloween/Friday13

[chrisfabo]

A friend is looking for a pet, and called me with a mixed of 'freaked-out' and 'amused' in his voice. His local shelter has a room JUST for the Black Cats. No Cages. They're just.....socializing. He was amazed because hands down they were the friendliest animals in that shelter. One of them thought "nice big perching human!" and climbed to sit across his shoulders, purring. I could hear him on the phone!

....now I want a cat again. Damn Allergies.