Millersburg Fiasco

Darn it, I got things messed up in Millersburg. Some hairdresser who lives in Albany and her friend, who lives in Millersburg, have been feeding cats at a trashed out abandoned trailer. I am always wary about such things, because I respect private property. This woman told me this property had been abandoned by owner. Actually, I heard this elsewhere also, from someone who knows her. But, nonetheless, I have a rule about never trapping on private property without owner permission.

Turns out, someone is working to clean up the property. When I saw this, I left immediately and called one of the women feeding the cats. It's a messed up story. This property has been abandoned for several months, with cats living under it, breeding, kittens being born. I told the woman I am under no circumstances going to rehome these cats, that they would need to do so, if it is done. I told them plopping a plate of food down is easy as combing your hair. The rest of rescue and helping cats is the hard part and not to expect me to do it all.

She wanted to know if they had to make a donation for fixing these cats. I said, "Well, it would be nice, because otherwise, the cost is paid by volunteers, like myself even, because I'm paying for bait and gas, and holding them here night before and after surgery and then volunteers work to raise money. So of course you should contribute something, for gosh sakes."

Everyone should, but almost no one does. Exploitation is what it is called. Entitlement attitude.

Anyhow, in the end, I lured two of the cats to public property, the edge of the road, and trapped them there. But I told the woman I will not trap underneath that trailer without owner permission, that they should feed them elsewhere, so they can legally trap them, like on the woman's property, which is nearby, who feeds them, for gosh sakes.

Apparently most of the neighborhood strays have migrated to this trailer, since the windows are smashed out and there is shelter, and now food left on the porch. So, with owner permission, it is actually a great place to catch all the Millersburg strays and get them fixed. A perfect set up. But, again, need owner permission. So I told them that, and they're supposed to work on getting it.

UPDATE: Turns out, the people who lived there and trashed the place only leased it from the real owner, who is dismantling the trailer, readying it to be pulled away for trash. So both women are trying to pull me into to taking full responsibility, the usual, and I am fighting back this time, telling them I will not trap anymore cats to be fixed, unless they work at finding them homes. They claimed they would do so, by asking around. I said, "That isn't working at finding them homes. You can place a free ad once a month. You can advertise repeatedly on craigslist. You can post fliers." The next excuse was that they were both tight on money. I told her again, none of the above mentioned things costs anything to do.

So, in the end, I told them I would get these two fixed, return them and not to call me again, unless they're going to find them homes. Because these are doomed cats, with the trailer being torn down, and them soon having absolutely nowhere to live or be fed. I told her again, it is easy to feed cats, hard to put effort into getting them fixed and finding them homes and I can't do it all.

I told her how much pain I'm in, how exhausted, and neither of them had a reaction. It's all about them wanting someone else to do it, so they don't have to have sleepless nights worrying about it, or exert any effort at all. This is the norm reaction here and maybe everywhere.

It is a wonderful thought, that someone could just be called, to do all the work, of trapping them, getting them fixed, vaccinated, treated for parasites and finding them homes, too. What a wonderful thought.

I wish I could just call a magic number and have people happily say "We'll take care of everything. Don't worry another moment about this. And, it will cost you nothing! Go take a nap, or soak in a hot tub while we solve that for you."

Don't you wish there were magic numbers to call for every problem? I do!! Boy, I do. I'm going to dream on that one tonight, about a magic number to call to solve every problem. All one must do is say, "Hey, I need this done." or "This needs changed. Do it." The customer service on the magic number hotlines would be out of this world wonderful too.

But, the reality is this: there are very few people working to help cats, doing the extremely difficult work, of getting them fixed, and finding them homes. And these people are not funded and for the most part, do it on their own time and on their own money, exactly the opposite of how it should be. And, these few people are worn to death, by the frequency of demanding calls, the abuse, abandonment, sorrow and horrors seen daily, and the reluctance of anyone to join the effort or at least to contribute to it.

To ask the very few people out there doing anything, to do more, is criminal, hard, selfish, mean.

You want the cat problem solved? Then get involved. Get out there and be willing to do something other than plop down a plate of food and demand others do the hard part.

Right now, there are no magic numbers. I am not one. Please, understand that. I am not a magic number. I wish I was, but I am human. I have a breaking down painfully on fire body, limited time, limited space, limited everything and I do the best I can which I think is really good, for doing all this without any pay or pay back. I think I've done really well, surviving this long, in this harsh reality.

I tried to call some MIllersburg people I know, mainly to gripe about the trailer situation, which isn't far from where they live, see if they had any ideas, too, and to hear a human voice. I also told this woman, who sounded groggy or high or alcoholed slightly, how hard it is, how lonely I am. I said I should just go jump off a mountain, get it over with, because things are only going to get worse for me, although I can't even climb a mountain now with my body in such shape. She said "don't do that". I perked up, thinking maybe she'd say, "Let's just go do something fun for a day next week. You need some fun." Instead she said, "If you jumped off a mountain or ran away, then somebody would have to place all your cats." My head sagged. Darn it.

I wasn't trying to blackmail that couple into doing something fun with me. Not really. Guess I just wanted something from that phone call, something like caring or empathy, or a hint someone gave a damn. I help lots of people. Would it be so awful for one of them to invite me out on the town or to the coast, or just something I wanted to do? Yeah well whatever.