any animal rescue groups near Forest Hills? (Washington: homes, living in) - Pittsburgh - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

kookamus · 10-31-2009, 02:19 PM

I have a cousin who is in the hospital. She is in pretty bad shape. She has two cats at the house. I know there are thousands cat but is there any one who can catch these poor creatures? We have 7 cats and a dog and my wife is in poor shape physically. Thing is her mother has 4 cats that we might have to take one day and we are tapped out. The last resort would be to put them down and if so, so be it but there would be an extremley generous donation if anyone can help.

Hopes · 10-31-2009, 06:22 PM

See if you can get the cats into Animal Friends. It's not near Forest Hills, but it's the only no-kill shelter in the area.

TechieTransplant · 11-01-2009, 05:33 AM

The Animal Resuce Leauge on Hamilton at the intersection of 5th Avenue/Washington Blvd is a terrific place to take animals. You can be assured they will be well taken care of and adopted by a wonderful family.

raubre · 11-01-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

The Animal Resuce Leauge on Hamilton at the intersection of 5th Avenue/Washington Blvd is a terrific place to take animals. You can be assured they will be well taken care of and adopted by a wonderful family.

But they are a kill shelter. The OP doesn't want to have them put down (only as a last resort.) I would go with animal friends, or even place an ad in the paper or online to see if anyone will take them .

Hopes · 11-01-2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

The Animal Resuce Leauge on Hamilton at the intersection of 5th Avenue/Washington Blvd is a terrific place to take animals. You can be assured they will be well taken care of and adopted by a wonderful family.

They're definitely kill shelters. There's a very good chance the cats will be put to sleep within 24 hours.

TechieTransplant · 11-01-2009, 07:11 PM

I apologize, I misunderstood my wife when she explained it to me. I thought she mentioned it was not.

groar · 11-02-2009, 07:57 AM

animal rescue league is a kill shelter, but they do everything they can to avoid euthanizing. what hopes said is not true at all - unless the cats are sick or completely unsocialized they won't be put down in a short period of time. if the cats are adoptable, and the arl has space, they will be put up for adoption and kept indefinitely. when they start running out of space, they do everything they can to foster animals out before they start euthanizing. you can ask them to contact you if the cats are going to be put down so you can take them back. they will also tell you right away if they feel like the cats aren't going to be put up for adoption.

animal friends always has a long waiting list for intakes - this is the price of being a no kill shelter. and if someone leaves an animal on their doorstep - the line just got jumped and everyone on the waiting list has to wait even longer. people who support shelters like the arl call them "open door" shelters because you can either be no kill or open door - you can't be both.

animal friends also straight up won't take an animal they don't consider adoptable. and if they find an animal to be unadoptable (say if a dog who seemed ok snaps at a worker), they *will* put them down. i'm not condemning them for this; i think they do great work. i just don't think it's as clear cut as kill shelter = bad, no kill shelter = good. as long as we have more pets than homes, kill shelters are a necessary evil, and ones like the arl that do all they can to adopt and practice humane euthanasia should be commended and supported, not condemned. and i do have to question which is worse - a humane death or life in a shelter environment. living in that situation does literally start to drive animals insane after a while.

there are pounds in some places that do euthanize very quickly, make little to no effort to adopt, and use inhumane practices to kill the animals like gassing and heart sticks. but the arl is not one of these.

i'm going to dm you the address of a local guy who has an animal welfare mailing list. he can get your message out to a lot of people who run rescues, etc. i wouldn't be afraid to take them to the arl if that's what you need to do. it's worth getting them on the waiting lists at animal friends and the humane society (which is also no kill) as well - you never know.

Hopes · 11-02-2009, 08:17 AM

It all comes down to space available, groar. Animal rescue won't have more space or fosters than Animal Friends since Animal rescue gets the majority of animals in the area.

groar · 11-02-2009, 09:02 AM

i volunteer at the arl and it is very rare that they are completely full and have to euthanize for space. they do euthanize for behavior or health regularly, but that's a different issue. i get an e-mail every time the shelter is full begging for people to foster animals. and it's not very often.

yes, if you bring an animal in to the arl it is possible that they could be euthanized although, as i mentioned, you can ask them to notify you before it happens. but it is simply incorrect to state that "there's a very good chance that the cats will be put to sleep within 24 hours" if you bring them to the arl. there's a chance they'll be put to sleep, but not a very good one. in fact within 24 hours, i'd say the chance is zero, again unless they're sick or have serious behavior problems.

kookamus · 11-03-2009, 05:37 PM

Thanks for the help. I will contact the ARL. There are just too many abandoned animals out there and it breaks my heart. We have 7 cats and a dog and have reached our limit. We have willed a nice hunk of change to the local humane society.