Cats saved; layoffs possible

MOUNT VERNON — There have been rumors that all cats at the Knox County Humane Society Cat Shelter would be euthanized after the beginning of the year.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 12:16 pmand is filed under story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  • Natae

    OK……. I have two male kittens needing fixed ASAP. So where do i go to do this now? Is this place going to re open soon? I talked to someone a few weeks ago and they told me to come get paperwork done and pay them 50 dollars the prior week to the surgery….. This makes me uneasy at this point doing that just in case i loose money..??? So now what do I do if i cant afford the Vets cost of roughly 400.00 to get shots and several appts just to get this all done. HELP!! I love my cats andmy dogs, I love animals. I just wish everyone would take care fo their “own” In a timely manner as I alwasy have. This would help all the creatures out there i think.

  • LLD

    If God made animals the same as animlas why don’t animals have soulS?????
    The empty building for the Cat Shelter could be used bea homeless shelter for HUMANS or for Homeless Children. Budget cuts are everywhere pretty soon people you aren’t going to have anywhere to live do you care??? If you love your cats so much be responsible cat owners. Pay for license for them just like dog owners half to.

  • drhobbs

    that will help the county budget..now that the county euthanized are of the cat.. BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET

  • BJF

    I disagree that animals are dumb! I have seen a lot of animals smarter and better behaved than a LOT of humans I know. Bravo to whoever saved those poor cats. They are God’s creatures just as you and I are and they deserve a chance at happiness just as much as you or I do. I thank the wonderful people who saved the cats. And I am a dog person.

  • appreciative

    A big THANK YOU to all of the volunteers at the cat shelter, who absolutely take time out of their busy days “…to clean up messes created by other people.” If people can spend 30 minutes of their day ranting on this blog about how they’d do things better…you’d think they could spend 30 minutes of their day being part of the REAL solution. Talk these days is cheap. Very cheap.

  • Paul

    If we were talking “Rats” instead of “Cats” I doubt there would be any uproar about getting rid of them.Take a few stray rats into your house and see how much compassion you would have for poor little creatures that need care, love and attention equal to humans.
    Animals are animals. You can’t love the cat and hate the rat without being somewhat hypocritical.

  • Susan Clogg

    I assisted with the spay/neuter surgery at the shelter on Mon., and it will continue.
    We are having dog s/n surgery Fri. as scheduled. In fact, there never was any plan to discontinue surgery. Please watch for our board director’s press release this week in the Mount Vernon News. It may even be out tomorrow. We work hard to keep our shelter going and to do what is in the animals’ best interest.

  • Linda Michaels

    I am shocked and dismayed at what is transpiring at the KC Humane Society.
    I am not a HS member but I volunteer in the canine spay/neuter clinics.
    I have heard nothing regarding the continuation or discontinuation of these clinics.
    The newly elected board owes it to the community to communicate fully and honestly
    about the decisions it is currently making. And to my2centsworth who said, “I am very happy that finally something is going to be done about the overpopulation of animals, especially right here in Mt Vernon. Animals are animals, not people. If every animal that is born is kept alive, before long the whole earth is over run w/ them.” Guess what. People are biologically animals.
    And before long the whole earth will be over run with them. Or perhaps it already is.
    You may enjoy the fantasy that man is created in the image of God but if that is true, God
    is a sorry mess. The measure of society is the way in which it treats the most helpless
    among them. Knox County has a pretty poor record in this regard. And finally, if you are
    not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Don’t bash the hard working dedicated
    volunteers who struggle to clean up messes created by other people. Try spending a day in their
    shoes and see how long you remain patient and gracious.

    • my2centsworth

      Actually, people are not biologically animals. A animal cannot have a conversation, cannot reason on things, ect. They are animals, a lower form of life.
      But I want to make it clear once again, that I do like pets, …when my dog was getting old & sick, I cooked for her.Keeping the right viewpoint on things doesnt mean being cruel to animals,.. but the population needs to be controlled, same as with deer season, or any other animal, because they are not people.

      In foreign countries monkeys are not allowed to be destroyed, & they actually take food away from children while eating it. They rip screens off windows & come inside. They are taking over, not to mention the diseases they spread because of feces & urine EVERYWHERE.
      The same with the “sacred cow” in some countries. Cars have to cater to the sacred cow, but if it gets hit, the driver is at fault.
      Rats in other countries also. They put out food for them, as if they are a god. There is a zillion rats running all over the place! And what did ONE rat do to that six week old baby in Waverly, ohio recently? It ate her toes off. Sick!
      See what I mean? These animals need to be put in the right perspective. Not every cat or every dog born needs to be kept alive, some (many) of them need destroyed.

      Even the word “adoption” is wrong. We adopt children (humans) but we buy animals.BIG difference.

  • puzzled

    This story raises more questions than it answers. Can we expect a follow up this week?

    The headline says layoffs are possible. Further down you write that the staff has been let go.

    Are there any animals left at the shelter? Or were all the cats removed?

    Who removed them?

    What “rumors”? Circulated by whom? Were the rumors that the new board wanted to euthanize the cats? Can you call one of the new board members and ask if that was their plan?

    If the cat shelter will have no cats and will not operate a spay/neuter clinic, does that mean the shelter will close? What other purpose could it serve?

  • my2centsworth

    Well,….I have a different view of things. This is going to upset alot of you people, but thats ok, I dont mind.
    I am very happy that finally something is going to be done about the overpopulation of animals, especially right here in Mt Vernon.
    Animals are animals, not people. If every animal that is born is kept alive, before long the whole earth is over run w/ them.
    And to Pam…… man oh man! Have you lost your common sense? Cats & dogs ARE NOT smarter than people. They are a animal, not able to have a conscience like humans do, no morals…humans do, no reasoning or thinking ability. Man is made in Gods image w/ these qualities…not animals. They are a lower form of life. Geesh!
    Anyway, I love animals as much as anyone else, have had many cats & dogs in my life, but…I kept things in their right perspective.
    My cats were not allowed to walk on the kitchen table because it scratched around in the litter box w/ its paws. The dog was not allowed to lick the kids on their face because its tongue is its toilet paper. YUCK!
    Keeping things in their right perspective, again.

    If children are hungry or homeless, or people struggling, they should come first in line for help, not animals.
    The world is changing rapidly. Going downhill. Before long there w/ be no $$$ to take care of these critters. Then what?
    The money that is spent on keeping a lazy ole’ cat sleeping all day on a window sill could go for helping a child or family in hard times. People come first, face reality.

    Its time now stop all the cat hoarding. They w/ take over the world if their population isnt kept down.
    Need to remember…. they are not humans, they are animals, & keeping so many alive is unneeded.

    • Voice For Them

      ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Let’s just hope that in your next life you’re not a cat. If keeping so many alive will be unneeded, then I’m sure you’ll volunteer to be first in line. I resent the fact that you call them a lower form of life. Anything that has the breath of God in it, deserves to be cared for by us “higher life forms.”

  • dave

    reading all this is sad, but now i know why all my nieghbors told me to keep my cat inside. i guess that 5-10 yrs ago the east side of the county was really bad with stray/wild cats. my closest nieghbor told me how they ‘fixed’ the problem, and it isn’t a preutty picture.

  • jt

    some people just don’t “get it” do they. if all the cats are spayed/neutered then you have alot less
    litters running around. which normally means less in the shelters. if you plan on breeding them you should make sure you can afford them financially. don’t just drop them off out in the country for the fox, coyote, or farmers to kill. it is truly sad that our county has this problem but we’ve brought it upon
    ourselves.

  • Verna

    It saddens me to hear of the destroying of any animals. I have heard that even being a volunteer there at the shelter was hard. Volunteers r there to help not b held back. Ive been leery in going to the shelter. so many restrictions 4 adoption. I no its hear-say on my part. but word of mouth travels faster than any newspaper or flier. If I could Id take them all in. But I rent and it not being my propertie I hesitate to adopt in worry the animal may have some trainning problems and i’ll only have my animals indoors. If I’m wrong about any of what I’v writting please correct me. Tks

  • Charles McManis

    Just as on national level it seems local level politics are destroying something of value to this community……we have a great need here for care for and humane treatment of cats as well as dogs….I have adopted 4 from the shelter myself over 3 years and cannot believe ANYYONE claiming to represent the Humane Society would seriously consider ending a spay/neuter program……even if there is no shelter……and I have to wonder how many of these shelters that are taking these cats are no-kill or did the local board just pass on their wards to be killed elsewhere?

  • Fred

    If they are so concered with making money to take care of cats. Then maybe they should have to buy tags for them like dog owners have to for there dogs. If you go online to look for dogs at the animal shelter for which the dog tags are suppose to support from my understanding you will find more cats than dogs. Maybe this would be an incintive for people to get there cats spayed or neutered.

  • Kaye

    The taxpayers of Knox County DO NOT PAY FOR THE SHELTER!!! The Knox County Humane Society is a 501(c)3 tax exempt, PRIVATE non-profit organization as defined by the IRS. The Knox County Commissioners used (key word here: USED) to award the Knox County Humane Society a small subsidy of about $5,000 to help cover the costs of utilities, but now that subsidy is gone. The Humane Society keeps itself alive through private donations, adoption fees, and spay/neuter clinics. Now that the spay/neuter clinic has seen its last days, the new board has done not only a huge disservice to the community as a whole (did you know that the average family of four in Knox County only makes about $35,000 a year? That’s hardly enough to pay for your living expenses, let alone the extravagant vet fees the local vets around here charge just to have the neighborhood feral cats taken care of).

    CSD, the staff was overworked and barely paid, the volunteers are people in this community (just like you) who want to make a difference in the welfare of the homeless animals in our community. If you’re genuinely concerned about the welfare of the cats at the hands of the staff and volunteers, you should be EXTREMELY concerned about the welfare of the cats now that the new board has decided that a ten-day supply of cold medicine worth 26 cents just isn’t cost effective, and it would be better to euthanize them.

    This new board has several husband-wife pairings. This is unethical, immoral, and just flat-out a conflict of interest! I for one am just looking forward to a huge number of cats being dropped off at my home in the country. People will avoid taking the animals to a KILL facility!

  • PAM

    What kind of people would do such a thing. Why not just kill there owns pets or family. Pets or cats or dogs are smarter than people, those people need help.
    If their family was locked up in a home (nursing) why not kill them tooo. Animals have just the rights as people. What of people worked there should not have been there at all, be more careful in hiring people or volunteers , check back grounds on them.
    County needs to restucture.

  • Jim

    One does not “euthanize” when one kills a healthy animal. A CORRECT term is “humanely destroy.” The revised Code uses that term.

  • Roger

    This entire mess needs to be investigated somehow deeper by parties away from this county!!! Seems to be always an upheaval with this cat shelter and its workings!!!!

  • CSD

    Good. The former staff and management was lazy, rude, and incompetent. I tried to use their services several times in the past three years only to be turned down, laughed at, and made to feel I was intruding on their business. Knox county citizens (and taxpayers) should not have to put up with this type of behavior. I can only imagine how the cats were treated. At least I had a choice in the matter, the animals did not.

    • heidi

      Excuss me!! I have been a paid staff member for 9 years at the shelter and i am not lazy,rude,or by far incompetent!!!!!I have given so much of my love and time caring for the animals over the years!Everyone who walks in the door is there to help the homeless and abandoned animals of knox county.So the people of this county should come to together and try to work on the same team rather than sit on the side lines dictating and judging those who spend all their time and hard work with the animals.

  • Salli Haines

    When is the cat shelter going to have a board that is for the cats not someones’ hobby?
    I used to volunteer at the shelter but the politics were so deep it made it difficult. The welfare of the cats was not the priority and anyone that “made waves” was driven out.
    To eliminate the spay/neuter program is ridiculas. Outreach and education is needed along with an affordable spay/neuter program, in order to battle the ongoing over population of cats and dogs.
    The County needs new board members that care for the ANIMALS! Its’ never too late to start over and restructure.

    • S.H.

      The name of the cat shelter should be The Knox County Troubled Society. I know of several people, myself included that have worked at the shelter and the reports end up being the same. When a good program or system is in place and working well then someone from the board gets upset because it wasn’t their idea and so away with what was working and or the person who presented the new idea.
      If you rocked the boat then you were percieved as a radical and there was no use for you. If you questioned a bad practice, you were no longer needed. So much money was spent on continually medicating sick cats that were not improving and were in “sick bay” for months and months. Those are the cats that should have been humanely destroyed not the healthy ones. I brought cats home that the shelter didn’t know what to do with because they couldn’t see an obvious diagnosis, such as a UTI vs. Diabetes. There stories could go on and on from past workers but they were never able to maske a difference in the shelter because of being forced away from the shelter.
      Other counties have good programs and shelters, what is wrong with Knox?