By all means, I will accept any suggestions anyone might have in this wonderful community, not limited to Pootie/Woozle lovers...I just thought that people with a love of animals might have contact information or, god forbid, come across a situation similar to this.
I have been upset by this situation for a week now and last night brought everything to a head. I didn't get much sleep and need some help.
Please follow me below for the story.
My friend, Michele and her daughter live across the street from me. They rent one half of a duplex which is owned by her mother and step-father. Last fall, they found 2 kittens dumped in a box. Unfortunately, we know that this is not an uncommon occurrence and in fact, with the recent housing crisis, articles like this and this are all too common. For the record, this woman has been my friend for 11 years. She moved in to her duplex 2 months before we moved in to our house and our children have grown up together. Her daughter is just like one of my kids.
So anyway, they brought the kittens into their home. Michele's parents do not allow pets in their rental units-- they have several. However, they allowed Michele's daughter, their granddaughter, to have a guinnea pig several years ago and they have another gentleman who rents a house from them who has a cat. Still, knowing the rules, Michele showed the kittens to her mother when she came to her house. She let her mom know that they were going to take care of them and that they would keep them outside when they were old enough. Nothing was said, either by Michele's mother nor her step-father. She and her daughter nursed the cats through the winter. The one cat, Alice was her name, must have been the runt of the litter. She was pure black but so small and had a broken tail to boot. Jasper, her brother, was a beautiful gray tiger. I am trying to find pictures to upload and will update this diary later if I can figure out how to do that. For anyone who has teenage girls, you will recognize the names from Twilight. Jasper and Alice thrived under the care of my friend. She made a bed for them in her garage for the cold winter nights as well as had a nice warm bed out on her back patio that was covered and had straw in it. I admit, once they were home in the evenings, the cats found their way into the house for an hour or 2, just for extra treats and some playful companionship with Michele's daughter as well as my 2 kids.
Fast forward to last week. Michele's step-father came over while she was at work and her daughter was in school, supposedly to take a look at the garage door that was malfunctioning. I saw him but didn't think anything of it. He has come and gone from the duplexes and I normally don't think twice about it. Later that day however, Michele called me and said that Alice was missing. When her daughter came home from school Jasper came running as always but Alice was nowhere to be found. We have security cameras (a story for another diary, believe me!) and she asked me to go back over the tapes of the day to see if I could spot Alice. One of our neighbors has a pit bull and Michele was always worried that it would get loose and attack other dogs or cats in the neighborhood. I searched the tape of the main camera and didn't see a thing. She finally called her parents to ask if her step-father had seen the cat when he was over that morning. Well, not only did he see the cat but he loaded it up into his truck and took it to the country and dropped it off! Her parents told her that he would have taken Jasper as well but he couldn't grab him fast enough. They then went on to tell her that she knew the rules and no pets were allowed in the rental units! Just 2 weeks or so ago, Michele's mother told her she should get someone to build a little cat house out back so the cats could get out of the garage, and now she was acting like that conversation never took place! Let me repeat that-- He took the cat and threw it out on a country road! They gave Michele and her daughter no idea as to where he took her and refuse to even give them a general idea of where he dropped her.
Yesterday, they told Michele that they were going to give her the opportunity to find a new home for Jasper but it had to be done by last night. If Jasper was not gone by today, her step-father was coming back to get him and take him out into the country as well. I have 2 dogs and a cat myself and I just can't wrap my mind around this. What kind of person does this to an animal????? But, more importantly, what kind of people do this to their daughter and granddaughter???
We found a home for Jasper last night, hopefully a temporary one. I spoke with my husband who is out of town for the week and he said once he comes home, we will try to reconfigure our garage to accomodate Jasper for the time being. My cat is 15 years old and I do not know how well it will go to try to introduce Jasper into the fold. But I am willing to do whatever I have to in order to get this cat back. Michele warned me, however, that if we get him back and he comes back over to her house, her step-father will take him-- regardless of the fact that he will now belong to us. She then went on to tell me that her step-father has done this for years! He owns a business and if a stray cat would find its way to the property, he would set traps and catch it. Then, he would either take it out to the country and dump it or she said sometimes he would tell her that he "taught the cat how to swim"!
I am just sick about this! I love animals but, more importantly, I love my friend and her daughter. They are literally sick over this. Michele's daughter did not go to school today. She cried almost all night last night and is not eating. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what can be done about this man? I don't even know who to contact but he cannot continue to do this. How many times has he taken someone's pet and dumped them off on a country road? Doesn't this meet some sort of standard of animal cruelty?
I am sorry if this seems like a rambling rant--again, I also have been up almost all night just sick about this. I admit I have worried that if I make a complaint or call someone that this might impact my friendship with Michele. After all, this is her mother and step-father. However, something has to be done. I just don't know what that is. Thanks, in advance, for any advice given.