Jul31
Don't Weep for Willow
Posted at 12:09 PM | Permalink
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Comments (6)
I remember the first hoarding case I ever went on. The woman would never open the door, and her blinds were kept drawn. Standing on her porch, you could catch a whiff of animal waste, but just a whiff. Since she was unwilling to work with local humane officers, there was only one thing left to do: get a warrant to remove the animals from inside her house.
That day is etched in my mind. When the door finally opened, the smell was so overpowering that seasoned police officers―including one who had just returned from Vietnam―called for masks. Fleas leapt up to bite us all over as we threaded our way through the piles of saved newspapers. There were dead cats among the live ones and, down in the basement, a maggot-covered floor, a broken hot-water pipe spewing steam, and feral cats living in the dark in the rafters.
Not every hoarder has reached that stage, but that was not the last house of animal-hoarding horrors that I saw or helped to bust.
Willow is one of nine puppies who were born to a dog living alongside numerous other animals in the dilapidated home of an indigent hoarder we talked to a few months ago. Our cruelty caseworkers coordinated with local officials to provide this woman with enough food to last her until a kind volunteer could arrange to take the animals out of there―to a decent, reputable animal shelter.
But then it was discovered that the pups were suffering from symptoms consistent with parvovirus. Crowded, squalid conditions—the conditions one typically finds in hoarders' homes—are incubators for communicable diseases. Parvo is a common yet preventable illness that causes uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhea, loss of appetite, and eventual death in most cases. Willow was the only puppy to make it out of the house alive, along with nearly a dozen cats.
Willow's story does have a happy ending. The volunteer who drove her to the animal shelter was so smitten with Willow that she adopted her. As you can see from this picture, Willow is enjoying a great life in her new home!
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Is that local "sanctuary" that you heard about run by a hoarder? What about that "no-kill" shelter on the outskirts of town? Hopefully not! There are lots of good facilities, for sure. But please be vigilant, because if no one investigates, animals can suffer greatly. Hoarding is a recognized symptom of a particular type of mental illness, which, if left unchecked, leads to animal suffering—and often a slow, miserable death for the animals involved. Hoarders "collect" animals even when they can't care for the ones they already have. They ignore or deny the increasingly substandard (and eventually appalling) living conditions that invariably arise and commonly refuse to seek veterinary care for sick or injured animals. They also often refuse to euthanize animals or take them to open-admission animal shelters—which is why so-called "no-kill sanctuaries" often wind up being a "front" for hoarders.
For animals who are suffering at the hands of hoarders, there is a fate worse than death—a fate that Willow escaped. I know that on my first hoarding case, we were able to rescue dozens of kittens from that horrid home, and I wept to think of how long they had lived like that and for the dozens more who had just crawled under the furniture and perished. To learn more about hoarding and what you can do if you know of a hoarder in your area, please read our factsheet.
Posted by Ingrid E. Newkirk
TAGGED:
euthanasia hoarders parvo hoarder no-kill shelters Willow
Comments
Let me tell you the story of Ollie, the little black cat I am now caring for.
My next door neighbor, suffering from end stage alcoholism, got a kitten, the cutest little female you ever did see. We told him to get her spayed. He just grinned and said he'd take care to keep her inside with the windows and doors securely shut.
Yeah, right.
Well, she got out one night and as they say, it only takes once. He came over complaining the cat was pregnant and he did not know what to do about it. We told him again, when the kittens were born, take the cat and get her spayed either at the animal shelter or Golden State hospital, where they do low cost spay neuter, and call Animal Assistance League to pick up the kittens for adoption.
He did neither. He locked up mama and the kittens and hoped for the best. He now had 5 cats.
Mama got pregnant again, this time by one of her sons, and 5 more kittens appeared. He now had 10 cats in a 1 bedroom condo.
About this time my neighbor hired a homeless girl to clean his condo. Her solution to the cat problem was to throw all the now grown kittens out the door and keep mama locked inside. She got out again, however, got pregnant again, and hid this litter inside my dog's house in my yard. The neighbors began to round up all the cats to take them to a rescue society; when it came to the kittens in his dog house, Buck decided they were his and they were not going anywhere. We got all but two; one of those was Ollie.
Now are you following? All the kittens adopted but two, Ollie and his brother Tiger. My neighbor decides to move and abandon the two that are left, saying they will do fine "in the wild." What wild? The middle of the City of Orange???
I was able to catch Tiger and take him to the animal shelter, but Ollie eluded me. I decided the best way to catch him was to feed him and treat him decently, then I could take him to join his brother.
Guess what? In the process I fell in love with him and could not bear to part with him, so now he lives with us. He will not, however, enter a house no matter how comfortable, so we have a cat carrier with a blanket, an outdoor mat, and food by our front door at all times. When he hears my voice he comes running and follows me all over. He will be going to Golden State to get neutered soon. His claws, however, will remain intact.
My neighbor, meanwhile, is living in Mira Loma with his wife, stepson, roomate, and from what I've heard from those who know, another hoard of animals including horses. GOD HELP US ALL!!!
Posted by: Rev. Meg Schramm | July 31, 2009 07:15 PM
Amazing story, i'm glad it has a happy ending. It is not a random act of kindness that causes these beautiful, happy and carefree innocent animals to be euthanized, especially that is if they can't be saved and if they have been neglected or abused, at the hands of some unthinking human. No this is the product of neglect and sub-standard living conditions, again this is unthinkable cruelty. Thank you Ingrid. you are an inspiration to us all.
Posted by: vegancoin | July 31, 2009 09:31 PM
I think people start off with good intentions then it escalates and sadly the animals suffer in the end, i have 10 cats all rescued whom were neglected etc, 2 of them were actually rescued from a hoarder, they had never been sociallised, loved or given a cuddle, you wouldnt of thought now looking at them that they had had such a bad start in life. I think its up to the public to be more aware and vigilant of whats happening in their street and to report any suspicions they may have.
Posted by: lisa | August 1, 2009 02:26 PM
All of us, if we really love animals, need to look locally for these "sanctuaries" and private shelters (particularly the ones who call themselves No Kill)
We need to see what is really going on behind closed doors.
Too many of these shelters and sancturies are torture holes for animals dying anonymously because no one bothered to find out what the sanctuary was really up to
The philosophy of No Kill has become this- that humane euthanasia is "bad" but LETTING ANIMALS DIE OF DISEASE OR NEGLECT OR FIGHTING in cages is ok.
We all need to take a closer look. Go as an adopter and look around. Volunteer. Talk to delivery people, mail delivery people, utility people, neighbors. Look behind the closed doors! Find out what is really going on! Document it if you can with video, pictures.
Don't let these animals die and suffer hidden from the world!
Posted by: Jerome | August 3, 2009 03:31 PM
i believe all the animal shelters need to stop killing animals just because theres either not enough room or because they bit somebody.Animals are just like humans they do not need t obe treated like this.THey should only put them asleep only if they are ill.TO me its cruel to them its for safety. im only 14 years old and i believe everyone should know whats go on in the shelter before you think of taking your dog there that you own or found off the streets.
Posted by: Elizabethparker | August 3, 2009 10:42 PM
Yes horders start out with good intentions and become bad, however many private shelters don't get fithily. like us all of out cats are spayed and healthy, and heres a big one, if the "shelter" won't let you in to the area to see any of the cats then that is a problem. i telk all corncerend partys to hold on so i can put my dogs in there crates and let them in to view the cats and the vet records. euthanasia is not bad, KILLING for lack of space is NOT euthanasia. If you have to many animals please get help now, before it's too late.
Posted by: christina | August 5, 2009 10:03 AM