Not on My Watch: Bustin' Out Blythe

I can't take it any more. Every day I see photos of mama cats and babies, senior cats who are dumped by their owners, all ages of cats, needing rescue from kill shelters. I can't save even ONE of them because my house is full, I have no fosters and I need to build our fundraising base so we have something to draw upon so we CAN help cats. Sitting on my hands is not my idea of how you do rescue!

I NEED to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!!!!

I got another pile of rescue-pleas from Betsy, my contact at Henry County Care & Control. Most of the pleas were about mama cats and kittens. I know I can't help them right now, but there were two pleas regarding single cats. One is for an injured kitten and the other, for an adult cat with a nasty bite wound to the face. There was some quality about that cat that called to me. I decided that if I helped one cat that maybe for once, I'd luck out and it wouldn't cost me a zillion dollars to help her recover. She wouldn't get sick on me or turn out to have FIV+ or worse. I can't know if there will be problems until I reach out to help and by then it's too late. You're in. You made the commitment. Whatever comes next is on your shoulders. You have to have faith that you can handle whatever comes next. I have to say, it's a lot easier to have faith with such good friends who support my endeavors-even if it only means they send me emails cheering me on.

Betsy wrote:

“Super awesomely cool sweet amazing girl....her body is very Persian looking but I had a hard time getting a body shot as she was wiggly and wanted to just rub all over me.

Her face has 2 punctures, and her ear is involved, it is swollen, the canal is almost shut. I squeezed a lot of pus out of her holes....we started her on antibiotics but she needs to be vetted.

She purrs non stop and is just a lovely lovely girl. PLEASE help save her life!”

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control. Why HELLO, you cute thing! And a GIRL?! ooo!

I started to make calls and write emails. Rescuing a cat from a kill shelter is not a piece of cake. So many details need to be in place to make it happen and when you're about 1000 miles away from that shelter, it's even harder. Each piece of the puzzle comes with an agonizing wait. Can you get a foster home? Do they mind medicating a cat for a few weeks? Can you get someone to GET the cat from the shelter, go to the Vet, be there with the cat until the exam and tests are over and be willing to provide comfort for that cat should something terrible happen and the cat has to be put down for some reason. This is not a simple request to make of ANYONE and it is not made lightly.

I have to bet that by the time the cat can safely travel to Connecticut, that she will be a sweet, social girl, healthy and ready to be adopted. I have to also bet that when she gets here, I'll have room in my house for her or that impossible to find foster home will have been readied. It's a big risk and it gives me a stomach ache, along with some vivid palpitations.

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control. Oh dear!

Over the course of the past day, I was able to get a lot of wonderful people to come forward and say “YES!” when I asked for help. Then came the hardest part of all...contacting the shelter to ask if the cat was “still available” (code for “Still Alive”).

I HATE calling. I hate it. I called the Director and left her a voicemail. I was so wired and tired, I could NOT say my OWN PHONE NUMBER after trying three times! How embarrassing!

Now I had to wait...and wait..and wonder if she would call me back since now I'm a lunatic...so I called again to make it worse for myself, knowing that it's Friday and I just found out that 25 cats came into the shelter from a hoarder last night! The Officer who answered the phone, put me through to the voicemail before I could sputter out the words that I wanted to know if the cat was available! All I could think about was that now ALL the cats are at very high risk of being put down because of the new burden on the shelter. I was VERY worried that I was too late, too slow to decide, too much of a sissy to call the shelter a third time!

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control. We'll never know why this poor cat got taken to the shelter. We just know she needs to get back out, and soon!

I admit that I'm shy about making phone calls-which is not a good trait to have when you do rescue. So I opted to email Betsy in case she was near the computer-which she often is not during the day. In a few minutes, I lucked out. I had my answer:

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control. Hello, pretty lady!

YES. SHE WAS AVAILABLE AND YES, WE COULD PICK HER UP TOMORROW MORNING AND BUST HER OUT OF HENRY COUNTY!

Her name came to me immediately. Blythe, meaning joyous. Now my dear Bobby has to pick her up and get her vetted and I can go through all the worrying about if she has contracted something terrible from that bite or that she's very sick. I don't know how old she is. I just know she's sweet and friendly and FLUFFY. That will have to be good enough for me, for now. Tomorrow we'll learn more. Today we can smile for a moment and be glad that, at least, one kitty had a good day today and with any luck more people are taking a chance and rescuing other kitties from shelters today, too.

This is not easy work. It's very draining, but the feeling you get when you WIN ONE...MY GOD THAT'S A GREAT FEELING...okay..knocking wood..we're not out of the woods yet. We have to see how Blythe will do at the Vet. I hope it will all go well and she has a negative Snap test for FIV+ and FELV! Stay tuned!

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control. Welcome Blythe. We hope you like your new name!

Speaking of which, this is another kitty who MAY still need a rescue---

This precious little angel needs her hernia fixed, it can probably be done with her spay, we are concerned about leaving her sit here....and you know we do not have a vet on staff. She purrs non stop and is so loving we hate to put her down.

Please help if you can.

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control.

ID# 5/18-1770

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Henry Co. Care & Control.

**Please Note; When forwarding, crossposting, or re-posting I ask that you leave this message intact exactly as it was written by me. I do not give permission to post my message, part of my message, or my photographs on Craig's List or FACEBOOK. Thank you for your help and support, and for respecting my wishes.**

Betsy Merchant~

We are very rescue friendly and are more than happy to work with any rescue group as long as the group has a valid Georgia Department of Agriculture license! Any rescue group, whether in or out of state, that takes pets from Georgia shelters, is required, by Georgia law, to have a rescue license issued by the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Animal Protection Division. Having tax exempt status is not the same as a license. For more information on obtaining a license, please call (404) 656-4914.

Contact:

mystiblu@bellsouth.net

Henry County Animal Care and Control

527 Hampton Street

McDonough, Georgia 30253

(770) 288-7401

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/GA67.html

Our Hours:

Monday-Friday: 9 am-4:30 pm

Saturday: 9 am-1 pm

Sunday: Closed

County Observed Holidays: Closed

The shelter is located at 527 Hampton Street in McDonough. We are located south of Atlanta off I-75. Take exit 218 and head east on 20/81 toward McDonough. Our address is 527 Hwy 20/81 East.

For all other information regarding ordinances, county codes, and other functions of Henry County Animal Care and Control please visit www.hcacc.org