One day a couple of years ago, I spied a small cat sitting on our windowsill. It was strange because I thought I knew all the neighborhood indoor/outdoor and barn cats, including the big orange tabby that haunted the pastures and the Siamese mix from next door.
Something about this little tabby told me that she was lost and looking for comfort. I told Mr. fMf, and we decided to try to catch her so we could take her to a shelter to (hopefully) be reunited with her family.
When we looked back out, she was gone. My heart dropped: there were foxes, coyotes, dogs, owls, cars…all manner of threats out there. It turned out, though, that she was just hiding in a bush around back. She came right to us when we called to her, and we learned what a shy but sweet (with a big purr!) girl she is.
After calling around to the local shelters and being told they were all full (!), we knew she’d have to stay. She was promptly vaccinated and spayed (no microchip was found), and she’s never really tried to go outside since she came in. She’s our windowsill kitty.
Sadly, people here dump their unwanted pets in rural areas. A neighbor has multiple cats that simply appeared on her farm over the years. We never saw any flyers posted about someone missing this tabby, so we surmised that it was a “dumped pet” scenario. Without resources like a local animal shelter to accept surrendered animals, some people may feel they have no humane options available – but let me be clear: there is no excuse for cruelly dumping pets.
And being dead last in the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s animal welfare rankings, for twelve years in a row, is nothing to be proud of!
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