The black Kia rolled up shortly before midnight to Fat Cat Rescue, a 7-acre haven for feral cats in Wadsworth that readers might remember visiting in the summer of 2023.
It certainly was not summer now, but late January and bitterly cold.
A couple got out of the car. You see them on security camera footage, jiggling locked door handles. They notice the doggie door., remove a cat from the car, push it through the door, then speed off.
Being a cat, however, the animal didn’t stay where it was put. She ran back outside, into the freezing weather, joined by two more cats dropped off by the same couple.
The volunteers who keep Fat Cat humming eventually corralled the three cats, one badly hurt by frostbite. Then they appealed to me.
“We need your help please,” Michelle Andrich, a volunteer wrote. “Two-part help.”
The first part was to share photos of the couple dropping off the cats and their car in the hope that “someone will recognize them and turn them in… There should be consequences for their actions.”
Pass. In the annals of unpunished crime, dropping off cats at a shelter doesn’t cry out for justice The couple didn’t know any better, which leads to Fat Cat’s second request.
“There are proper ways for a pet owner to surrender their pets,” said Andrich. Would I help “educate or enlighten people on proper ways to surrender your pet”?
Well, I can try.Whether they actually get enlightened is on them.
People give up their animals for a variety of reasons — they move, lose jobs, can no longer afford their upkeep. Pets get sick, or their owners do.
What should you do if you can no longer care for an animal?
Start by planning ahead, if possible.
“Don’t wait until the last minute,” said Kaye Larsen Olloway, who runs Fat Cat and suggests giving at least a month to find your pet a home. “If you know you’re moving out, don’t wait until the night before to make arrangements for the pet. Give us a chance to make arrangements . We have a list of 20 other rescues we can contact.”
Or reach out to Chicago Animal Care and Control.
“Our staff will help you,” said Armando Tejeda, public information officer at CACC. “You don’t have to do this alone. Resources exist.”
Tejeda said CACC will work with pet owners to help them keep their animals.
“If you just need food for a week or two, we can help you with that,” said Tejeda. “Or minor surgery. The landlord won’t allow unfixed animals, and you can’t afford to neuter, we’ll do the neutering, or bring your pet up to date on vaccines.”
Business is booming at CACC — 5,753 pet surrenders last year.
“Last year our adoptions are the highest in our history,” said Tejeda. “We’re averaging 56 animals a day coming into the shelter.”
Why the big jump?
“Housing instability is a big one right now,” said Tejeda. “Landlords are telling tenants they can’t have pets, or are imposing monthly fees — $25 to $50 a month or more. The rising cost of veterinary care is also a huge factor.”
Pet owners have a far better chance of finding a home for an animal than CACC does.
“You’re the best advocate for your pet,” said Tejeda, pointing out that dogs get lost in the crowd at the shelter. “They shut down and are hard to show. All these dogs don’t get out of the cage much. They’re jumping up, barking.”
Of course, CACC is a kill shelter — animals are put down, sometimes on the day they arrive.
“We should be a last resort,” said Tejeda.
Although — and I’m pointing this out because people might not think of it — another reason pets are abandoned is because they’re dying, and the CACC way is quicker and more merciful than freezing to death on the side of the road.
“We do offer low cost euthanasia, if someone knows it’s time,” he said. “A $10 charge.”
Since people will ask, I’m happy to report the three cats abandoned in January at Fat Cat are doing well. They have names (the one with the worst frostbite is Elsa, for obvious reasons). They were lucky. You can help your pets be lucky too, if you remember the love you felt when you first got them should it become necessary to part ways.
“Dumping them is wrong whether you dump them at a rescue or dump them on the side of the road,” wrote Andrich. “It’s just wrong. They are not garbage. The animals deserve better. If you can’t take care of them, then make an effort to find a place that can take them. Do the right thing.”