Losing a beloved pet is never easy, especially when they have been part of your life for decades. That is why one woman in Florida was devastated after losing her cat under heartbreaking circumstances. What makes the situation even more upsetting is that the cat’s death may have been preventable: the rehoming shelter where she had placed the feline allegedly euthanized him without warning.
The incident involved Reddit user Technical-Pick-2243 from Florida, who shared her story on Reddit. According to her post, her parents lost their home while she was away at college and were forced to surrender her two cats, Tigger and Paws, to a “no-kill” shelter for rehoming.
While Tigger was promptly listed for adoption on the shelter’s website, Paws, a 14-year-old tomcat, appeared to be overlooked. The Reddit user later called the shelter, only to learn, to her shock, that Paws had been euthanized less than a month after being surrendered. It remains unclear why the shelter made that decision, though some commenters speculated that Paws may have been considered too old to adopt.
Tigger, the other cat, was successfully rehomed and adopted. However, this went against the Reddit user’s wishes, as she had specifically told the shelter that Tigger and Paws were extremely bonded and said the shelter had even promised they would live in a new home together. If things weren’t bad enough, the shelter never informed her about the euthanizing of her cat.
Florida Redditors Clarify What a ‘No-Kill’ Shelter Is
Even if the former cat owner mentioned that the facility she left Paws and Tigger with was a “no-kill” shelter, some Redditors noted that the term is of a more technical nature than people often realize.
“‘No kill’ generally just means that animals are not euthed for space and that the shelter has at least a 90% live release rate (meaning 90% of animals are adopted out).“
A few others mentioned that the user, once she left the cats at the shelter, lost all her rights to learn about the felines, as once someone signs the rights over, the establishment is not obligated to tell their former owners about them.
“Your parents chose to surrender their cats to a shelter, and no matter how great a shelter, all animals experience stress and problems.”
While many feel sad for what the OP had to go through, this also served as a cautionary tale for people wanted to take their pets to a “no-kill” shelter and to be more informed about what could happen in the future.
