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70$kittens

Last weekend as I was coming home from my Weight Watchers meeting (don't ask) I saw on the side of the road a little cat.

I stopped my van and backed up. I got out of the van and realized that it was not a little cat but a litter of 7 kittens approximately 6-8 weeks old. They were all huddled together in one small bunch in the grass on the side of this country road.

When I reached to pet them a couple of them hissed at me but they didn't run which led me to believe that they had had some human contact. They were all curled together about 4 feet from the side of the road which led me to believe that they had been dropped off by someone. ('Cause seriously, what normal kittens would choose that open area as their safe place to hang)

Anyhoo, obviously I wasn't going to leave them there so I went back to the van and found a box and went back to the kittens and loaded them all up with my jacket as a blanket. I brought them home, knowing full well we couldn't keep them but thinking we would probably have to take them to the pet shelter.

I get home and hubby is unimpressed, kids are very excited and the Wonder Dog is beside herself thinking she has new playmates.

Now here is the crux of my story. We take the seven kittens to the pound and tell the guy at the desk that we found them on the side of the road. I'm then told that it will cost me $10 per kitten to drop them off. do the math folks!! That's $70!

I tell the nice man that they are not OUR kittens - I literally found them huddled on the side of the road.

Yeah, $10 per kitten.

I say, I don't have $70 to pay for kittens that aren't even mine.

He says, well....that's our policy.

Hubby, standing behind me says, then I guess were going to take them and put 'em back where we found them.

Then another worker says, Just take them, to the the nice man. He does.

We're waiting around because the kittens are all in a nice storage tote with a hand-knitted blanket given to my kids by their grandmother.

And the guy says, You're good to go.

To which I reply, Uh...can we have the box and blanket back?

So here's my thing....

I know that animal shelters cannot just accept any old animal because it cost money to take care of them. I understand that the $10 fee is just and right for people who are too lazy to get their animals spayed or neutered and just want to drop off the litters each time they appear. But I also do not think it is right to charge someone for taking care of an animal that is in danger as those kittens were. Had I called the animal control officer he would have had to drive out, find the kittens, transport them all at a more substantial cost. AND the kittens may not have been there when he got there.

I have no solution, of course, which I guess in the words of that old saying makes me "part of the problem".

All I know is I will continue to pick up animals that I see loose and alone but I can guarantee you that my hubby will not because he knows that dropping them off will cost him money.

And you know if HE feels that way there are others who would feel the same.

By the way, support your local Humane Society in any way you can. They are doing great work with very little government help.

8:19 a.m. - 2007-04-18

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