Rayna

Rayna was found on the street.  Skinny, hungry, but walked right up to a little girl and asked for help.  The girl’s mom let her take Rayna in but realized the cat might need more help than this family could provide.  She took her to the local shelter thinking that was the best place for her to get help.

Rayna is alive because of No Kill Advocates

Rayna on my lap on June 4, 2021

Unfortunately, it was an SCS shelter in Colorado.  SCS claims it wants to give animals freedom from thirst pain and hunger among other things.  That’s great, but they do not guarantee the freedom to live for healthy or treatable homeless pets.  Rayna was treatable.  The SCS shelter did not feel inclined to help her recover.

The SCS shelter decided not to treat her and scheduled to be euthanized. 

The woman, who had done what she thought was right, was distraught.  She believed Rayna was treatable.  She went to a place that calls itself a shelter, which brings an image for a refuge, or a safe haven to mind.  But some shelters use the name loosely and act more as pounds. She needed to gain some weight, had a URI (essentially, the sniffles) and was suspected of kidney issues.  Why would any of that be a death sentence?

She reached out to on Facebook for help.

“There is a cat at the Colorado Springs shelter that my children and I rescued but they are not wanting to spend the money to help her get back to health... they are going to euthanize her if we can't find someone to foster and take on her care. Unfortunately, we can not...but she is just the sweetest thing and she literally approached my 12 year old asking for help. I feel terrible that this decision will end up costing her life.... PLEASE if anyone knows of a rescue that takes on good kitties with poor health please please please help me connect with them as quickly as possible!!“

An advocate called the shelter to try to learn if the story was accurate and received information.  She was told the Rayna was not responding to treatment. 

“I haven’t seen the record yet but got a call back. This cat is very sick , been on antibiotics and fluids since march 31st. It is not responding to treatment of antibiotics , highly suspect of being in renal failure and possible hyperthyroidism severe dental disease and other underlying issues .”

The woman that found her said the shelter said she could take the cat back or the cat would be killed.

But wait?

Was the cat irremediably suffering and untreatable?

Why would you return it to someone that would have to euthanize it anyway?

OR, if it was treatable, why was the shelter wanting to kill it?

So, they told a rescuer, willing to consider taking the cat, that it was at death’s door.  They either lied, are incompetent, or just do not care.  Combinations of the three are possible.

That’s SCS.  It has got a great bunch of marketing feel good language, but saving lives is not part of it. 

Fortunately, No Kill advocates stepped in.  The woman reclaimed the cat.  Transporters brought it to a No Kill shelter.  The cat was treated for the URI, her kidney issue was actually diagnosed and addressed and the work of adding weight was undertaken.  In a week, she was fine to go to the adoption floor.

On intake at the No Kill facility, a shelter employee wrote:

“She didn’t have that bad of an upper respiratory infection. In the three hours I was with her she sneezed one time and had a little bit of congestion in her nose. But she was not mouth breathing or anything like that.”

2 days later I followed up again to see if Rayna would be ok.

“She is doing well. They won't know if she will need long-term fluids or not, but having many cats with kidney disease, it can be managed for a long time. The URI is manageable. She confirmed in all caps: NOT A EUTHANASIA CANDIDATE.”

Two important parts of that last sentence.  One, this medical team felt they ahd a treatable pet they could handle, two was the word euthanasia.  No Kill uses the definition to define an irremediably suffering pet with a poor or grave prognosis of life without unremitting pain.  Rayna had medical issues, but she could live a good life.  Didn’t she deserve that?

Now Rayna will need an adopter that want to take care of her.  She will need to have her kidney issue addressed.  But for now, she is safe, healthy, and getting better every time.  I know this because I have visited her 3 times since she landed in the hands of No Kill advocates and organizations.  She has never been considered for euthanasia.

Recently, the SCS shelters, with over $100 million in assets and $10s of millions in annual revenue could not solve this issue.  It took the smaller more compassionate organizations to take on Rayna and help her have a full life.

SCS recently tried to pass law to make Colorado and SCS state and failed.  The law was written specifically to give them air cover to kill the Rayna’s in Colorado.  No Kill and other animal welfare advocates lobbied and blocked their regressive language.  They will try again. 

And No Kill advocates will step back up to stop them.