Monday, December 22, 2008

The Deceased Womans' Cats and Legacy

I am still living the results of doing a good deed. The old woman who died suddenly in her trailer at Columbus Greens, was a nice old soul. We would chat while waiting on traps. I had to selectively trap many of the cats. I got 12 of them fixed before Thanksgiving, then ran out of Poppa funding for the month. In all, I've taken in 15 to be fixed now.

I was called by the family after Thanksgiving and told she died. They wanted me to take in all the cats. I said I couldn't, not unless they helped out. They said they'd try, and put something in the obituary that said donations should go to Jody Harmon's spay neuter fund, in care of the mortuary.

The family didn't communicate afterwards outside of once, after they left the initial message about her death and requesting help with the cats. This I suppose, thinking back, was a little bizarre, because they told me about putting that information about donating, on the obit, but never told me how I would ever get any donations, if there were any. Then, I never heard from them again.

When the cold hit, I finally went over and began to trap the kittens, feeling sorry for them. I went after the last four right when the very cold freeze hit.

The daughter, inside the trailer cleaning out her mother's stuff, said she would watch the trap and if a kitten was caught would move it, so the others wouldn't see it in the trap. I had asked that she do this.

She left a message a kitten was caught, later, but didn't move the trap. The only offer of help was they wanted me to take the rest of the old woman's cat litter, which amounted to about two inches in the bottom of a jug. There was not enough in the jug to fill much more than the bottom of one litterbox.

She also claimed that only two of the cats were really the old woman's. This was baloney and she knew it. This is what people claim to avoid any responsibility. In light of the hardships I was going through to help these cats, it was insult piled upon insult.

The vet clinic I used finally looked up the obituary and found the funeral home donations were supposed to be sent to. I called the funeral home--Fischer Funeral Home. They said there were two donations and that they would send them. They never came. This morning, I called again. The woman said they had been sent, but couldn't get off the phone fast enough, said she'd call me back. I told her nothing ever arrived.

I get a message back that there really were no donations. So I call again, and ask what is up with that, since I was told ten days ago, there were. The man said he'd look into it and call back.

When he did, he was mean, accusatory, told me they have a long history and good reputation and I was being accusatory. I told him I was not, that I knew nothing about them or their long reputation. The only thing I knew about them is my own experience with them, which amounts to calling them and being told, ten days ago, that there were two donations and they'd be sent to me and nothing ever arrived, and that even this morning I was told they had already been sent and the story was suddenly changed to "there really weren't any."

I said "No good deed ever goes unpunished." And described the expenses I'd been through taking in those cats.

He tried to claim it was really them who are doing good deeds, by establishing these memorial accounts. At this point, I really wanted to just start vomiting. I didn't know why he didn't just address the issue, which was, why did they tell me there were donations and they'd send them, and now they're telling me there aren't any. Why was he feeling the need to attack me.

In Albany, I have encountered really nobody with any morality as far as right and wrong, or fairplay.

I told him one more time, before slamming the phone down: "I called you up because ten days ago, I was told there were two donations and that they would be sent to me. Now, first the claim was they were sent, then the switch to there were no donations. What am I supposed to believe?"

Here's what I believe. They're either totally screwed up in their record keeping and there really were no donations or they stole the donations that they did get or lost them. And I believe they're not very nice people, for him to go at me in that manner, makes me think they're guilty of something off color altogether or just not very nice.

They claim they manage the memorial accounts very well, and yet, the family put down "Jody Harmons spay/neuter fund" without apparently providing any address or contact information (for me), so that the mortuary would ever have had an address to send the donations to, if any came in.

I only ended up calling them because my vet clinic said I should try that, since I couldn't figure out where these donations would be going, if the family put that in the obit or how I'd get them. I don't know how the hell it's supposed to work. I was never told anyhing, except the family said they'd put something in the obit, so maybe I'd get some donations to help with their mom's cats. I never got told a thing after that. I'm not psychic. I'm not in the know about such sutff.

What have I learned from all this? People suck. The old woman got me involved in the first place, by saying her son was willing to pay for the fixes of the cats. He didn't. He finally donated enough to cover two. Maybe that was wishful thinking on her part, I don't know.

I want out of Albany so badly. Decent honest people? Where are they? I haven't found them in Albany. It's like here, people think honest means whatever they can get away with. The animals suffer. And so those who help them.

I also tried to get management at that trailer park not only to donate, but to get involved. I listed all the cats I've gotten fixed there, about 100, maybe more, over the last year and a half. They were cagey, claimed they were under rules that did not allow them to even dictate if their tenants had cats or not, let alone whether or not they were fixed.

I already knew this was baloney they were trying to feed me. But they held tight to their baloney words, and refused to get involved or to donate a dime. I refused to swallow their bullshit sandwich. I wanted to vomit on them, too, but I don't, because for some reason, also, people make everything into my fault somehow. It's part of the scam artist mentality in these parts--defer blame, blame others. What they hope is that someone like me, who gives a shit, will do it for them for nothing. They're a couple of scam artists without any sense of right and wrong or fairness. I meet so many people just like them.

I'm also trying to collect from a Corvallis woman. She wanted six cats caught and fixed, three kittens, three adults. I caught them all. She wanted shots on the adults. I told her it would cost extra. They finally paid for two of the adults' shots, but never the third. It's been months. She had some friend of hers, she called the cat whisperer, who promised he was going to make a batch of business cards for me, for free. I faithfully sent him a file of the card design. Think he ever did it? No. But of course I'm trying to get the money out of her for the shots because that came out of my pocket, for gosh sakes. I think she asked it to be done, but expected her mother to pay. I think that's what went on there. Not sure.

I feel totally alone here, like a worm that gets stomped and stomped and stomped. I want to believe in people, want to believe they're honest and good. But most are not at all. They'll stomp on whomever they can stomp on and walk away with their little crooked smiles.

I suppose that's why I prefer trapping ferals in the middle of the night, ferals unattached to people, to feed them myself then, after they are fixed, no humans involved.

When you find someone who promises something and then actually follows through, without being under threat of the law or lawsuit, and that you don't have to ask over and over to follow through, then you have found an honest soul. When you find someone who pays you back for helping them out, no matter how long it takes, then you found a gem of a person. Such people are rare indeed.

This is my quest. I've always wanted to believe in the decency of people. It gets harder and harder to do.

9 comments:

  1. what about that friend who brought you that carload of catfood a short time ago? And what about the woman at Poppa who took in the little kitty who needed to be isolated for a while? Do they live in Albany????
    I'm sorry it is so cold there - I think its better if people are honest, i.e., "I can't afford to donate - or, I can't afford to donate much but will give what I can" rather than promising you the moon and delivering nothing. Their guilt promopts the promises and their lack of responsibility keeps them from doing anything.

    ReplyDelete
  2. No, that person, who brought the cat food, doesn't live in Albany. She lives an hour or more away. The woman who took in the torti kitten, she lives way up north, in Beaverton.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's about the work involved, in caring for so many, too, Jeanne, not just money, and the work and cost of trying to find them homes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree, people suck and the animal suffer. Bottom line.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Amy. You may be right. My delusions are fading. Darn it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I told someone else, that I believe a good share of the people in this county attended Scam Artist U and graduated with honors. I must enroll. I need to learn the ways of the scam artist, become one of them, only better, scam back!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. But then no one would ever trust you again!!! One reason I responded to you was because I sensed sincerity - honesty - no scams. I don't part with the hubby's hard earned money for just anyone or anything!! It has to be something or someone I believe in, and no scamming involved!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jesus. These people are dealing with a family member who died, and you're still whining about your own situation. You have no compassion for humans, only cats and your own pity party.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Winky, I gave that old woman full compassion, help, labor, all sorts of things. And when that family requested help, they got hours upon hours of my labor, solving that problem, and money. If that isn't human compassion, I don't what is. What isn't human compassion, is criticism like yours, taking advantage of someone, lying.. None of these are compassionate traits whatsoever. You have no idea what you're even talking about. I'd have to guess you're just mean, have no sense of right and wrong, or well I don't know what. If you know so much about compassion then why not exhibit some.

    ReplyDelete

Round Up

Today is cat round up for tomorrow's five spots.  Two more came up from the vet student in Harrisburg late this morning.  Over 60 fixed ...