To compare the two collector cases is interesting. Sure, those of us involved with the Lebanon situation are resentful of all the public support SafeHaven is getting. Not resentful that they are getting help, (glad they are) more so that we didn't. The cats in both situations were in dire straits and needed help. What was the difference? Why didn't we get any such support?
I don't know.
The law ignores the cases we try to ask for help with. The paper ignores our pleas for help. And without publicity or law intervention, we have to bear the costs and try to find homes ourselves. That is tough. We don't have full time publicity and funding people. Boy, I could use one of those and so could KATA I bet.
I'm just me, nobody else. KATA is just a handful of people, most of whom hold seperate full time jobs.
Sure, myself and KATA wish we'd had the support Safehaven is getting with the cats they took from the latest Linn County collector.
But think about it. Each case involved 45 cats. What is that, a magic number or something with collectors?
Even though we were being manipulated by Mr. House Flipper, who took over the property after the woman was foreclosed on, despite the fact we could get no involvement from the law or from the local papers, for support, we did it anyway, because those cats had no hope if we hadn't gotten involved.
We do not have trained publicity machines or paid 9:00 to 5:00 staff. We are just nobodies on a mission.
And yet we did it anyway.
Watch the news about the cats now at SafeHaven and read the paper articles. It was even in the Oregonian. Same number of cats.
In both cases, the cats needed help.
Think about the case that wasn't covered, the costs basically two or three people paid out of their pockets to give care needed to those Lebanon cats.
Think about the harrassment and conflicting stories we endured and had to sort out, from House Flipper man and the collector and the whiney neighbors who wouldn't help, but were anxious to be seen as good Christian people. Think about exhaustion and stress so severe, two involved, myself and one KATA person, almost collapsed in breakdowns.
Compare that to this latest collector busted story: A whole shelter crew involved, paid, with the law involved,too, and now with the story even running in the Oregonian, all the donations and support likely flowing in.
But it is astounding what we accomplished in the shadows for those Lebanon cats. Absoutely unbelievably astounding. We are rock stars, man. Maybe only to the cats, but isn't that what is supposed to matter?
Don't get me wrong. If someone actually wanted to donate, I would take it and KATA would also. We're not stupid. And we still have nine of those collector's cats waiting for barn homes.
The satisfaction is private. The horrible feelings, of being a laughing stock, a footstool, worthy only of slave status, of being used, unappreciated, come bubbling forth inside me, and probably also with KATA, by the contrast of how the public and the law support some animal helpers and spit on others. It doesn't feel good, but I'm glad the cats were helped in the second situation, too.
I am a Cat Woman. My self-appointed mission in life is to save the feline world! To accomplish this mission, I get cats fixed. Perhaps my mission might be slightly delusional. This blog is a mishmash of wishful thinking, rants, experiences as I remember them and of course, cat stories and cat photos. I have a nonprofit now, to help keep the cats here cared for and to fix community cats. Happy Cat Club formed in 2015. Currently, we are on a mission to fix 10,000 cats.
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