To the Rescue

My last post got me thinking.  Where would one go to get a quality Keetain?  Of course, one could go to a breeder.  So many people do.

I personally would love to breed cats.  How fabulous to make your living by encouraging cats to do what comes ever so naturally - reproduce!
 Hey, you know what?  I could manipulate the gene pool and create a signature breed - no, better - create a Master Race of über-Persians, or Abyssinians, or Scottish Folds! Omigod, what if Joss Whedon made an internet series about my mad scientist exploits -- think of the power! 
Mwuuu-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!!

And in no time, my palatial breeding facility would be festooned with blue ribbons and trophies!  Think of the glory! I'd make gazillions of Benjamins in fees for my tomcats and, speaking of Toms, have Hilfiger design a line of custom stud pants -- think of the money!


But I digress.

Julia at 5 weeks

I actually have nothing against cat breeders and do not challenge anyone's right to a purebred cat.  As a matter of fact, professional cat breeders do the responsible thing and spay and neuter their kittens before they are sold.  That said, although I am delighted over the eerily breed-specific traits displayed by my Moggie Quasi-Maine Coon Keaton, he is an accident of nature and he, like any cat I will ever own, was pulled off an animal shelter's euthanasia list.
  

I adopted Sebastian and Julia from Anjellicle Cats Rescue in Manhattan and then ended up volunteering for five years before I left the Big Apple.  Keaton was among my last fosters. Despite my firm intention to forever keep no more than two cats and my numerous valiant, exhaustive attempts to get him adopted, Keaton simply wouldn't leave . . .

. . . Okay, I confess.  He never even made it to the website.

Keaton at 5 weeks

Anjellicle's Director, Kathryn Willis, has been at the helm of the organization for twenty-something years.  In all that time she has worked purely out of her love for cats, with no remuneration whatsoever.  Her all-volunteer staff can get a little wacky on occasion:

Anything for a donation dollar!  Wacky or no, these caring folks save the lives of more than 700 cats per year in the New York metropolitan area. 

That's a lot of cats.  And it's just the tip of the overpopulation iceberg.  Kathryn has limited resources and only so many foster homes.  Many's the time she would answer the desperate call of an ACC worker and haul a couple of cardboard carriers full of kittens to her home base at Spoiled Brats.  She'd have no plan for placement, but bless her, somehow she could always persuade a lucky foster (often myself) to give in and add another few charges to their already full household.  At one time I had eleven cats in my one bedroom apartment.  Sadly, every day is Sophie's Choice for Kathryn.  For every cat she pulls, she is forced to leave behind several other equally adoptable ones to spend their last night on earth behind bars.

Sebastian at 5 weeks

I must make mention of another non-profit, The Toby Project, founded by New York City veterinarian Andrew Kaplan of City Veterinary Care.  This excellent organization's mission is to send free spay/neuter mobile clinics to impoverished neighborhoods in an effort to reduce the population of unwanted animals.  One year I received a devastating fundraising letter from Dr. Kaplan that slammed home the gravity of the situation.  It opened with the description of a typical day in the life of a vet tech tasked with euthanizing the inmates of a kill shelter.  I will never forget the horror I felt when I read those first sentences, which I paraphrase (WARNING: disturbing):

You open the cage and take the kitten out.  She is still purring as you place her down on the table to inject her.  When you are finished, you throw her body into a waiting trash can.  You try not to think about it because you need to move on to kill her siblings.

Needless to say, The Toby Project got all the money I could spare that year, and has every year since.

Oh --  vis-a-vis my breeder dream, I don't think I'll be bringing any more Keetains into the world, thanks.   And, dear reader, please support your local rescue organizations.  Donate, foster, volunteer.  Spay and neuter your pets.  Opt to adopt.  If you desire a purebred, try to locate a rescue group for that breed first if you can.

Now pardon me while I go give my scrappy moggie scamps a hug and eats n' treats.