UPDATE – February 14, 2012
We’ve made such amazing progress. Check the list of cats by clicking here. There are only 8 or 9
cats still in need of placements. (We’re trying to track down one who had a torn cage card and may not be appearing on our list.) Most of the remaining cats are tame, maybe a little shy and frightened, but certainly not feral. Please, please, please share this with everyone you know. These cats really deserve a chance for some happiness after all they’ve been through.
The senior dog still needs a place to go too. It would just be a heartbreaker if she was left behind to die. She’s a nice older girl, not very outgoing (she’s spent a lifetime in yards and locked in a kennel) but friendly and open to believing that someone could love her. Let someone know about her too. She deserves a chance.
We’ve also started all the vet visits. Senior blood panels, dentals. LOTS of dentals. We have 12-15 cats standing in line to get their mouths fixed. Two already recovering (including Ms. 87, now known as Noni), 2 scheduled for Friday and 3 more on Monday, more to schedule after that. These poor cats have had hard lives. But that’s in their past. The future is much brighter, with or without teeth. (We are still in need of donations, and will be asking for donations for weeks to come. If you can help, click here to donate.)
Thank you for all your help and good wishes. Thanks to all the groups and individuals who have helped to make so much happen so quickly. We’re doing everything we can to make sure each animal caught up in this situation has a future.
Look for introductions and photos of some of our new foster kitties in the coming weeks, just as soon as we get them patched up and recovering. March would be a great month for anyone considering adopting!
Susan Hoffman
BrightHaven Rescue Coordinator
Cell: 415.359.4113
PREVIOUS UPDATE: February 1st 2012
Fifty Cats Homed!
We’ve been busy since our original announcement about this situation, copied below. To date, FIFTY cats have either left the shelter or have confirmed placements and are just awaiting transport. Major THANK YOU’S to Cat Town, Tenth Life, Rosie’s Kitty Rescue, SFSU’s Campus Cat Project and the SFSPCA for finding placements for some of these cats. Also, thank you to the OAS volunteers, and to Fix Our Ferals people, for helping with transport. This has been an amazing team effort.
For an updated list of which cats are spoken for and who still needs help, click here. (All of the remaining needy kitties are either feral or shy and in need of long term foster care to bring out the best in them.)
For photos of the dogs (lousy photos but the best I could do) and what little information I have about them, click here.
For anyone concerned about “Mr. 87″ we have HER (yes, yes, it’s a girl!). She’s eating like crazy and seeing the vet this weekend. She is bright-eyed and engaged, so different from the photo below, and seems much younger than we originally believed. (We would be happy to hear suggestions for a better name than “87.” We’ve been calling her Baby but that’s still not good enough.)
We really could use more donations. We’re starting the vet runs this weekend and we’re looking at a lot of dentals, one boy needs x-rays, fecal tests, senior blood panels. We’re going to burn through the Magnolia fund so fast with all that needs to be done. So if you can help…..click here and please mention that it is for the Magnolia Cats.
Thank you all! This is a big project but we’re really getting there.
Susan Hoffman
BrightHaven Rescue Coordinator
Cell: 415.359.4113
PRIOR ANNOUNCEMENT: January 24th 2012
Dear Friends,
Near the end of October 2011, 80 cats and 2 dogs were seized from a home in Oakland, California. The owner of the home has been charged with neglect. For the past three months the animals were held at the local shelter in a form of legal limbo while the parties to the criminal case argued over whether the animals could be released while the case was still pending. In early January the Alameda County Superior Court finally gave Oakland Animal Services authority to find placements for these animals.
A lot of the cats are older or special needs; some are feral and some are tame. One of the dogs is a senior too. BrightHaven is doing everything possible to help these animals find permanent homes. Other rescues are responding and the shelter is graciously giving us time to find placements but we’re going to need a lot of help to pull this one off. If you can help in any way here are our most urgent needs:
1. Places for the animals to go: The tame cats need foster and adoptive homes; the ferals need safe yards or barn homes where they can live out their lives. (If you have safe outdoor space we can explain the relocation process and loan relocation cages to help the cats acclimate to their new surroundings.)
2. Donations: We’re sorry to have to ask but it always comes down to money. A lot of the older cats and the senior dog have serious dental problems. We’re talking broken and rotting teeth, not just tartar problems. But all they need to become adoptable, other than time and a few good meals, is to get those bad teeth pulled. Dental work is expensive and there are no grants available to help us with this. If we can’t afford the veterinary care, we can’t take the animal into our program, much as we would like to help. If you can donate any amount, please donate via our website and note in the “comments” section that the donation is for the “Magnolia cats.”
Click here for photos of all the cats. The list is currently sorted alphabetically by socialization level, with ferals first, then tame cats around pages 6-9, and then cats who have been deemed “workable,” i.e., shy but likely to become adoptable with love and patience and time.
These animals have been caught up in a horrible situation. It just is not right that they should be the real losers here. Please, whatever you can do to help us help them will be so much appreciated.
Susan Hoffman
BrightHaven Rescue Coordinator
Cell: 415.359.4113
This old man is number 87. He’s going to need most of his teeth pulled, AFTER he has a full senior blood panel and a few weeks to get some weight on him so that he can withstand anesthesia. We’re ready to take him into our program just as soon as we know that we have the aproximately $1000 that it will take to give him the care he needs. If you can help, please visit our website and donate to the “Magnolia cats.” (The orange boy in the upper right hand corner? We already have him. He’s FIV+ and as soon as his eye clears up he’ll be ready for adoption! We have a few others that we’ve already taken into our program too. So if you want to adopt, just ask!)
