July 4th started as an ordinary Monday. Crabby and early. Everything was the same as on other Mondays except for the view the caretakers who arrived to the Shelter first saw. These caretakers walk/ride their bikes/drive/take the bus each and every day to the 17th district in order to take care of hundreds of residents with feathers or coat according to their best knowledge. Even if it alone does not need enough endurance and spirit, “fortunately” there are some enthusiastic candidates who – from time to time – make these days more exciting.
This article is for those who want to get rid of – in a so called responsible way – from their unnecessary kittens and puppies or naughty dogs and inherited elderly animals that they received after an irresponsible decision. Since they are people, good people because they could leave their animals in the street or swat them behind the shed or they could even pay for taking the life of the animal on an operating table but they are much better people than that! They think and act responsibly. Of course, it is far beyond an average person’s ability to give their name and face for leaving alone an animal, particularly if a telephone call had been made to the shelter before the action and the answer was unambiguous “the shelter is full”.

Our hero does not give up – since he does not want to kill the animals - so he puts the unnecessary three kittens and their mother into a cage and leaves for the shelter. If nobody is there, nobody will be able to refuse to accept the animals – that is so easily understandable. He surfs the Internet for the address of the shelter and the little surprise package is now right on its way to Noah. The hero’s face is so excited because with his act the pointless death is avoidable and his package will expect lunch at noon safely and happily. He arrives to the Shelter, nobody is there. He gets out of the car, says tearful good-bye to the package at the entrance of the Shelter and turns back to his car with an exultant smile on his face: “I saved the life of four animals. Action is done.”

But his wish will not come true. This package will not have lunch. This package will be a breakfast. Imagine the cage made of plastic at the bottom and metal at the top with the three kittens in it who are not more than 2000 grams each. The kittens look out of their mom's coat curiously. It is cold outside. Nobody is out there. The closest house is about 200 metres far. Nobody will hear the kittens' shy mewing. It is too weak to bring help. But it is strong enough to be heard by the dogs. I think we can all evaluate the chance of survival of these kittens against some not really cat compatible dogs in a cage which is not too complicated to open. But even if the lock was a problem for the dogs, the bars are absolutely not for taking care of the tiny animals against one or more aggressive dogs.



Hopefully our hero reads this article because the worst is just about to come. You, who thought this would be the best for the kittens, did you think of determining the life of those cats with your action? Try to imagine those huge dogs coming closer snarling hungrily with a mouth as big as your whole body. Try to imagine how they felt when the dogs eliminated the bars within a fight of one and a half minute. Try to feel that pain they went through since they must have suffered a lot. Try to imagine the last moment they had. You had sent them to death. Your decision that you thought to be good resulted in a violent death.
The result of your morning action: 3 torn, dead kittens who you could have given a chance to live if you had started to think and had asked for help instead of making irresponsible steps. And a fearing mom cat, which had to witness the murder of her kittens from the top of a tree. Was it worth it?
We called the mom cat Hope because we did not expect survivals after the tragic discovery on Monday. Hope is quite fearful but it is a surprise that she still trusts in people. She purrs and cuddles. Since she has not breastfed yet, so we thought to send her as a foster mother to some needy kittens. But Hope was touched so much with the death of her kittens that she does not want to make contact and feed the new babies. She must feel that they are not hers.



The above story should stand as a fable to everybody although there is nothing fabulous in it. We must take it seriously that we are responsible for the animals even if we want to get rid of them. The negative hero of the above story - believe it or not - could get two years in prison since it was a crime. What else could he have done? He could have spayed the cat before or in the very last moment as well. He should have understood that shelters say seriously they are full. He could have come to visit the shelter when it is open even he expects to be refused with the kittens. He could have adopted the kittens and asked for help to find owners or he could have put them on a waiting list. And yes, he could even swat them behind the shed. All the other solutions would have been more human than his final decision. But the saddest of all is that he is certainly sure about taking all steps to ensure a long and happy life for the kittens. He is totally wrong without any punishment. But the mourning, the disappointment and sadness is still for the Noah family.

The kittens got their names during the writing of the article: Fear, Pain and Sorrow. Be happy on the other side of the rainbow bridge!

Ági