I often ask myself if I've taken the easy road in fostering? Although I welcome each cat that's brought to the Safe Haven with all the love and care I can extend, I won't even peruse the shelter website that most of our cats are rescued from, because I can't bear to look at the faces of all those that I can't take; knowing that their fate is a very grim one at best. So sometimes I feel like abit of a fraud if you will, sitting here in my nice comfortable home, working with one foster at a time, enjoying the fruits that come from watching them settle and then thrive in this atmosphere, and then..........well it's adoption time and I start all over again. I don't have a hundred voicemails from people needing help with their cats, I don't have my email inbox overloaded with requests or pleas, and I don't have cats/kittens dropped at my door by those too cowardly to take responsibility for their own problems. I don't spend my evenings and weekends running from one cat related urgency to another, and I don't even keep in touch with many (if any), fellow cat rescue volunteers on a regular basis.
The adopters that have given Fonzie & Fergus (the two orange males that were adopted afew weeks ago) their forever home, keep telling me how lovely and wonderful I am. Of course I'm deeply touched by their kind words, but for the most part I believe them to be totally undeserving. I sent afew emails with pictures of the boys attached, I spoke to afew people, and I searched for a way to help.....not exactly moving mountains in my opinion.
I help cats and people find each other; and it's all I really love doing; I'm just not sure if I can be placed in the same group with all those who are in the trenches of this work every day.
Here are the latest shots of Fonzie and Fergus in their new home -
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| The Boys |
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| Safe & Sound |
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| Elliott & His New Brother Oliver (The Lab) |
LM....please do not discount your role in cat rescue. Foster homes are extremely important. You are contributing greatly to the cat rescue world. We all have to find our niche......and we can't all be colony caretakers, trappers etc. Everyone has a role to play - and if you can't play a role you can donate. And yes, there is no doubt that this type of volunteering is stressful!!!! But we do it for the cats!!!! Be proud of every life you save!!!
ReplyDeleteJoanne L.
A month ago, we decided to adopt two little cats who were shy and scared.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and her friend had been looking for a home for these two little boys who had been brought in to a rescue shelter separately, but - we were told - had become fast friends. In a place where things looked grim, for adoption and certainly for them to stay together, they had found each other. And now they desperately needed help to find a home.
Does this sound familiar?
As I sit here with one of the boys curled up (upside down, I might add), on my lap, watching the other tucked into the pillows on the couch... both purring and happy and safe...I'm thinking of how thankful I am that my sister approached me and told me their story. That you approached her. That there are people who perform actions of caring that add up to positive changes in this crazy world of ours.
Everyone has a role in each happy ending. And it really does 'take a village' to make change happen - many people with different roles, all working towards the same goal. For some, it's being on the front lines and starting the process. For others, it's working in the shelters and providing care. For others, it's doing the work to place each little creature. And, every role is pretty important to have a happy ending.
You see how other people contribute to happy endings. We see that you're part of a team and what you do is important.
We wouldn't have our boys without you. From looking at the other pages on your blog, I can see similar stories where you have helped other cats find their happy endings.
"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee."
Marian Wright Edelman
We'll be forever thankful to you for everything you do to help find happy endings. Without you, we wouldn't have our boys.
Love M and R
(And Edward, Elliott, Harley and Oliver)
We think you do an amazing job!
ReplyDeleteAdorable and thank you for all you do! The mom here could not foster kitties as she would never ever want to let one go. I know your heart is three times bigger filled with love for these sweet ones needing homes.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a mountain to an ant, is a grain of sand to a human..
ReplyDeletethe shelter is constantly calling for volunteers to come in and cuddle with kitties.. why? because no one thinks that is a good way to 'spend' their time. They prefer active activities, like walking a dog.. Walking a dog is an accomplishment.. you have a beginning, a middle and an end, and it is repeatable several times in the time you have.. what an accomplishment, I walked five dogs! But "i patted 10 cats" just seems so .. well for lack of a better term, lame.
But kitties who get regular love and attention seek it out.. when adopters come in to find their kitty, it is much easier for them to find and bond with a kitty who comes out and seeks attention vs one who is hiding in the litter box because their only human contact is with shelter staff who generally are poking and prodding them.
Same is true with foster homes. With out people like you, what would happen to the kitties that are fostered.. I can tell you because I know full well what happened to them before the shelter I volunteer for created a foster program.. they were killed. Kittens too young to be adopted out - killed by the box full.. sick? they would attempt to treat, but if it turned into anything more than a mild cold chances are they were put down for fear of everyone else catching it.
You do not save the world.. but what you do means the world not only to the cats you care for, but those people that go on to love them.
Not only that, but you inspire others. Either to go out and foster and change lives, or to adopt. Or you inspire people like me who need reminding all too often that there are good people out there in the world. I am socially plugged in because I need reminders that not everyone drops their pet off at a shelter when it is no longer convenient to take care of.. or worse..
so buck up, be proud, and take pride in what you can do. You are on that road - even if it is the easy one.. all too many people find even that road too difficult to be on.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your post today. Please don't downplay your contribution in socializing and helping form Fonzie and Fergus' purrsonalities. Think of the many years of love and companionship their adopters and the cats will enjoy through your efforts. And I admire your great act of love in letting them go!
I think the very best volunteer work is one that nourishes the helper and the helped.
You perform a valuable service, one or two cats at a time.
Kittens at our shelter are kept in foster homes until they are 8 weeks old. What a difference it makes! They are friendly loving kittens who get adopted so much faster.
I clean cages and socialize cats and kittens at a no kill shelter every week. I stay out of the shelter politics. The one time I fostered, I couldn't part with the kitten and adopted him! We do what we can.
I am in a similar situation to you, though I don't do half of what you do. I volunteer with a rescue group, and have two foster-cats right now, aside from my four perma-cats. I don't do the dirty work of turning people down because there's no more room for fostering, I don't try to manage money for the rescue organisation... But there is always something more to be done, even by those who do more than I. They probably think that they themselves are not doing as much as other; those others probably feel the same. If a person cares, then they will always feel that what they do is inadequate. We do what we can, we do what we will. We can't change everything, so we change something. And that's valuable, too.
ReplyDelete