January 7, 2010
More cats are expected to be rescued from the Madras home of Sandy Ballard in the next few weeks. This after 113 cats were taken December 22rd all of them sick.
Ballard says she now has about 30 cats saying there is no where else to take them in Jefferson County.
"They don't have a shelter for cats there and they would have to put them down if they took any so we are going to work with them to take some more of those cats and treat them and get them adoptable and find them homes," says Bonnie Baker, Founder of Cat Rescue, Adoption and Foster Team.
Cat Rescue, Adoption and Foster Team or CRAFT of Bend took 53 of the rescued cats. 6 have been adopted and ten went to a rescue program in Portland. All of the cats there are ready for adoption.
But at the Central Oregon Humane Society 30 cats are still too ill to adopt.
A two year old male rescued from the home had his eye removed earlier this week, after an ulcer ruptured in his eye.
"All of the cats have one form of disease or another and as they've been here we've noticed new symptoms pop up in some of them," says Crystal Mendigren the Vetrinarian at the shelter.
They are keeping the cats isolated until they are healthy.
Some may be ready for new homes next week.
At the Redmond Shelter 26 of the thirty cats rescued are up for adoption.
KOHD News spoke with Sandy Ballard on the phone, she says people are still calling her to take cats and she doesnt know what to do but help.
"People who do that they think they are doing the right thing for the animals and they are to a point, but they get to the point when they are overwhelmed and they arn't doing the animals a service," says Baker.
Comments
Be fair
As in my previous comments, I hope readers/viewers will do a quick count: 42 of 113 have been adopted or moved to different shelters. That's 38 %. Not bad in 3 weeks! What a miraculous recovery for cats in what was described as such terrible condition.
Again, since there was no information obtained by reporters from Sandy about the condition of the cats when she got them, it is biased to state in this article - even from a veterinarian - that "all of the cats have one form of disease or another and as they've been here we've noticed new symptoms pop up in some of them," implying that this is all Sandy's fault. If you support this perspective, then why would not the emerging symptoms be the fault of the current care providers? Because, of course, this is not how illnesses are manifested in debilitated animals, whether under the care of a vet or someone else.
Clearly, Sandy does not get healthy, well-cared for cats. She gets the throwaways, ones that CRAFT, COHS, etc. have not accepted. Let's be fair about Sandy's role in all of this.
I will suggest to her that she refer all her callers to CRAFT and all the Humane Societies in Central Oregon and ask them to report back with the responses they get. It's easy to refuse to help a living creature in distress if one can maintain a certain distance between oneself and the needy beings. And it's easy to criticize those who cannot maintain that distance - because the animals are on their front steps.
As Albert Schweitzer said, "Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight."
In terms of the editorial presentation of this article, the grammar is juvenile and completely inadequate for a professional news organization. Surely you can find someone who knows how to spell and punctuate. This presentation does not lend credence to the content of your story, but perhaps it explains why it was so one-sided.