The Golden Valley Animal Humane Society's move to put down 118 cats rescued from a St. Anthony mobile home last week has prompted leaders of no-kill animal shelters to call for better cooperation that they say might have prevented some of the deaths. Still, opinions are mixed as to what kind of pets would have emerged from such extreme conditions. The Humane Society said offers of help from three other shelters came only after the cats were already put down. Humane Society representatives said the cats had diseases ranging from feline AIDS and herpes to upper respiratory infections and ringworm.
The pervasiveness of chronic and contagious illness among the cats led Humane Society officials to determine that "if placed it could potentially be putting animals into the community that could impact the health of other animals," said Humane Society spokeswoman Tracie Jacobson. The cats had been living in Cheryl and Stanley Saladis' 500-square-foot, debris-packed mobile home in St. Anthony before they were removed Feb. 10.
At the Home for Life sanctuary in Star Prairie, Wis., Lisa LaVerdiere offers a haven for animals that are old, chronically ill or have behavioral problems that make them unlikely to be adopted. She said she wishes that small rescue organizations such as hers could have worked with the Humane Society to try to save at least some of the cats.
"Nobody else but the Humane Society had the resources and the personnel to do that kind of large-scale rescue," she said. "The Humane Society provides that service that's valuable. But people expect the Humane Society to be there for the animals, and when other groups offer to help and support them in that effort, I wish they'd reach out to us. I wish we could work together to help." An official from a Hastings shelter with a "no-kill" policy said the deaths were "totally unnecessary" and claimed that the Humane Society ignored calls and e-mails from people offering to take in the cats.
The pervasiveness of chronic and contagious illness among the cats led Humane Society officials to determine that "if placed it could potentially be putting animals into the community that could impact the health of other animals," said Humane Society spokeswoman Tracie Jacobson. The cats had been living in Cheryl and Stanley Saladis' 500-square-foot, debris-packed mobile home in St. Anthony before they were removed Feb. 10.
At the Home for Life sanctuary in Star Prairie, Wis., Lisa LaVerdiere offers a haven for animals that are old, chronically ill or have behavioral problems that make them unlikely to be adopted. She said she wishes that small rescue organizations such as hers could have worked with the Humane Society to try to save at least some of the cats.
"Nobody else but the Humane Society had the resources and the personnel to do that kind of large-scale rescue," she said. "The Humane Society provides that service that's valuable. But people expect the Humane Society to be there for the animals, and when other groups offer to help and support them in that effort, I wish they'd reach out to us. I wish we could work together to help." An official from a Hastings shelter with a "no-kill" policy said the deaths were "totally unnecessary" and claimed that the Humane Society ignored calls and e-mails from people offering to take in the cats.
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