The plight of a “loving cat” bounced between shelters and the streets has created a stir on-line and alarm among the many animal rescue group.
In early January, a cat confirmed up at a North Side resident’s door. He was taken in after which surrendered to Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh [HARP] shortly after.
HARP – the biggest nonprofit animal shelter working within the area – returned the cat to the neighborhood, the place he then appeared at a neighbor’s doorstep. They took him in and named him Mowgli. After taking him to a vet and confirming he was wholesome, he was put into Pittsburgh Hill District Cats’ care and the native rescue linked him to a foster mother or father.
PublicSource spoke with a number of sources, a few of whom declined to be named, to verify Mowgli’s story.
In a Facebook post calling for somebody to look after Mowgli, Rivky Blumberger, director of Pittsburgh Hill District Cats, described him as an “outgoing” cat who “seeks out” human firm. “[Mowgli] thrives on human interaction and craves attention from everyone he meets,” the submit states.
Blumberger and others suppose that cats ought to be returned to the road provided that they’re feral or different choices have been exhausted, and fear that the apply might endanger pleasant cats who’ve by no means lived outdoors.
“This wasn’t an isolated incident; many rescuers we know have taken in cats that were dumped on the streets by HAR,” said one other Facebook post detailing Mowgli’s story, sparking greater than 80 feedback, many recounting detrimental experiences with HARP.
HARP employees say releasing cats with pleasant temperaments complies with coverage, which assumes some could also be escaped pets. “Even if they are friendly, we are hoping that they will be able to find their homes when we put them back because a lot of times the cats get out of the house by accident,” mentioned Ryan Bridges, HARP’s group cat coordinator.
Trap-neuter-return and return to subject
The nonprofit HARP has an working funds of roughly $10 million according to recent IRS filings, and has a contract with the city allowing it to invoice as much as $1.125 million in a two-year interval for caring for or euthanizing pets seized by regulation enforcement or animal management.
It operates in a subject wherein there are competing philosophies.
When treating cats introduced from outdoors, many rescue teams comply with trap-neuter-return [TNR] practices. According to the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty, a feral cat ought to be trapped humanely and brought to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered and vaccinated, then returned to its earlier colony or neighborhood.
“When people bring [feral] cats to shelters, the best thing to do is to fix them, vaccinate them, and return to field,” Blumberger mentioned.
TNR cats are often ear-tipped to point that they’ve already been spayed or neutered, to keep away from trapping cats which have already been handled.
Concerns arose for some about HARP’s TNR practices when folks seen cats being returned that they felt had been adoptable and never accustomed to residing outdoors, particularly throughout winter months. A stray cat, in contrast to a feral, is socialized and might stay indoors, which means many are good candidates for adoption.
HARP employees mentioned the cats put up for adoption are cats with microchips whose homeowners didn’t declare them after the shelter contacted them. If cats are available in and not using a collar or registered microchip, they’ll return the cat to the neighborhood wherein it was discovered, hoping that it’s going to return to its proprietor.
Blumberger mentioned this apply will be “detrimental to the cats because friendly cats don’t have survival skills.”
Angie Fry, assistant director of operations at HARP, disagrees. Even pleasant cats are secure outdoors, she mentioned, as a result of “their natural instinct is if they are within a 2-mile radius of where they live, or where their colony is, they will go back there, so they know where to source food, water and shelter from.”
The coverage of returning wholesome cats with out identifiable homeowners to the outside, practiced by HARP, is understood inside the rescue world as “return to field,” and is one other technique to handle the outside cat inhabitants. It’s a substitute for fostering or adopting, usually practiced as a consequence of house constraints.
Return to subject is “not used a lot across the country,” mentioned Stacy LeBaron, a Vermont-based former cat rescue skilled and host of the Community Cats Podcast, including that it’s principally practiced “where overpopulation is a bigger issue.”
Oakland TNR Coalition, one other small rescue in Pittsburgh, tries to launch cats solely when completely vital and doesn’t return to subject pleasant cats. “We don’t do a lot of the [return] because we do try to rehabilitate,” mentioned Lydia Swanson, the Oakland group’s founder and govt officer. “TNR is for the cats that can’t go inside.”
Perspectives differ on greatest practices round returning cats.
“It’s not a black and white question,” LeBaron mentioned. “It comes down to, what is [a shelter’s] specific mission and purpose.” She mentioned smaller rescues may make cautious determinations with every individual cat, whereas bigger shelters could not be capable to do the identical as a consequence of the next quantity of incoming animals.
HARP follows a couple of foremost standards when figuring out what to do with a cat. “Temperament is not one of those criteria,” Fry mentioned, including that they have a look at whether or not the cat is in good physique situation and has a superb coat, which is decided by their veterinary employees. Fry mentioned HARP finally appears to be like to find out whether or not the cat was “thriving outside.”
HARP makes use of the deal with given by the finder to find out the place the cat will probably be launched. “There’s a 2-mile radius from that in which I can choose a safe location to return a cat,” mentioned Bridges.
Local rescues impacted
Some employees at smaller animal rescues really feel they must shoulder the burden of HARP’s returned cats, regardless of having much less assets. “We’ve been noticing [this] for about two years,” Blumberger mentioned, including that Pittsburgh Hill District Cats has now taken in pleasant cats that had been microchipped by HARP.
Some rescuers say HARP may be returning some cats that may be significantly vulnerable within the wild.
In October, Oakland TNR Coalition discovered a young kitten with a microchip whereas working to catch a colony of kittens within the North Shore, and Swanson thought “this is so strange, he’s so small.”
They found the kitten was beforehand with HARP by means of phrase of mouth and had been in a position to get hold of HARP’s information. Swanson mentioned the cat was solely 3.8 kilos and 5 months old after they took him in. Releasing a cat of this age and dimension is troubling, Swanson mentioned.
HARP officers say they usually begin returning cats to the sector after they’re 5 months old.
“Five months is what we use because that is the peak of social maturity,” mentioned Fry, including {that a} younger kitten might doubtlessly be rehabilitated right into a pleasant cat even when they’re feral.
Following an inquiry from PublicSource about this kitten’s remedy, HARP officers mentioned the discharge was an “oversight.” The organization pledged to conduct an inside assessment of the organization’s kitten placement protocols and implement further coaching, “emphasizing the importance of comprehensive health evaluations and thorough consideration of individual needs.”
“We sincerely regret any unintended lapse in our procedures and recognize the importance of addressing such matters promptly,” wrote Michele Frennier, director of promoting at HARP.
Swanson mentioned this is only one instance of Oakland TNR Coalition capturing cats beforehand surrendered to HARP. “It’s happening a lot and to more [rescues] than just us,” Swanson mentioned.
Most of the cats which might be surrendered to HARP are usually not being launched. “In 2023, we took 3,700 cats in the year and only 232 went back outside,” which is just round 6%, mentioned Fry. The shelter can home as much as 150 cats at a given time.
Rescuers say that HARP might work extra carefully with different native rescues to seek out placements for cats moderately than returning them to the sector.
“They don’t make an effort to build relationships with other rescues that could help them,” mentioned Tim Lydon, former HARP worker and founding father of Harmony Dog Rescue.
“They’re very hard to get in contact with in terms of small rescues reaching out to them,” Swanson agreed, “so many small rescues [are] out there that are willing and able to help, that want to have a better relationship with them.”
Fry mentioned the organization’s ultimate aim is for cats to return to their homeowners. “We don’t necessarily reach out to other rescues to say, ‘Hey, this cat’s adoptable’ instead of TNR,” she mentioned. “Our belief is that this cat was thriving outside, this cat either has a caretaker or belongs to somebody and will go home.”
Delaney Rauscher Adams is an editorial intern and will be reached at [email protected].
This story was fact-checked by Pamela Smith
