Did you know that when you find an injured cat on the street, you may be its only real chance at life?
A few weeks ago, we asked you how you proceed when you encounter an injured cat on the street.
Today, we are sharing the course of action we suggest and support in such cases.
First of all, we must analyze the severity of the situation and the context in which it occurs:
If the animal is in a public space and its condition is serious, it clearly must be picked up and taken to an emergency veterinary clinic. If time permits, it would be ideal to take a few photos or short videos to use later, but we will return to this part shortly.
If the animal is on private property, such as someone’s yard, or in an inaccessible space (drain, tree, balcony), it is recommended to contact the police at 112 and report the issue. The police and/or firefighters are required to intervene. Once again, photos and videos capturing the animal will be very useful later, no matter how distressed you may feel.
Before we get to the next step, it is important to understand that its life depends on you and the effort you are willing to put in to save it.
Once the animal arrives at the clinic, you might think the situation is resolved, but now only the first part of the rescue action is over.
Moving forward, regardless of the rescue context, it is advisable to submit a written report via email to the Animal Police and the local City Hall to bring the situation to their attention (you can find contact details on Google with a simple search, depending on the locality). Here, in addition to the detailed story of the case, you will add the videos and photos taken previously and your contact details. Such actions, although they may seem belated or “pointless,” are extremely important for making authorities aware of the countless cases of animals in danger around us and, in the long term, we hope they will be motivated to take concrete prevention and management measures.
Now that we’ve done our civic duty, we can focus on the next issue: how do we pay for the pet’s medical care costs at the clinic? Well, just like us, you will start using various methods on social media and beyond, making posts and even organizing fundraisers. Here, the photos and videos from before, along with those from the hospitalization period and the invoices, will play a crucial role once again. Through numerous posts explaining the situation and its severity, shared across as many animal-oriented groups as possible, you will surely succeed in raising, if not the full amount, at least part of the sum for paying the bills.
However, posts are not just for paying bills; once the cat is healed and the effort to help it has been made, you will surely want to ensure it never ends up in the same tragic situation again. Therefore, through more posts, starting even while the animal is hospitalized, you must begin searching for either adoption or temporary placement (foster care)—that is, if you don’t wish to give it a forever home yourself. You must also understand that from now on, this little soul’s life is entirely in your hands and, practically, you are the only ones capable of changing its destiny for the better. Thus, adoption conditions can be set so that you, first and foremost, are satisfied with the life the pet will have from now on (you can find adoption contract templates in groups or on Google).
This process of finding placement or adopters can take time, depending on the visibility of the posts, the conditions imposed, and many other factors, so you must be prepared to host the pet yourselves for a while if necessary. This might be seen as an inconvenience and can run into numerous obstacles, such as: “the landlord doesn’t allow pets,” “I already have other animals in the house,” or “I have never cared for an animal before.” Most of the time, any of these obstacles can be overcome once we think of all the effort put in up to that point, primarily because all these reasons can have a solution. If space doesn’t permit, give the animal at least a pantry or a bathroom; if even that isn’t possible, ask an association or a clinic for a metal crate or other suggestions, or ask your friends or acquaintances if they want to help.
This is, in broad terms, the path we must follow when we want to help an animal. This is what rescue work entails; this is what our work is all about.
Yes, it is a lengthy process, requiring effort, determination, commitment, and patience, but nothing compares to the feeling of inner satisfaction you feel once the cat has reached its new family. There is a moment when you look back at the first photos taken during the rescue and realize not only that it is alive because of you, but that the animal’s life has taken a remarkably happy turn solely because of you and those who stood by you every step of the way!
Remember, there are no management centers for stray cats, associations are always overcrowded, and you—the one whose heart is breaking right there in front of it—are most often the only one who can save that cat in need!
Concluzie
We want to see you getting involved and we are always here to support you, with advice or with the medical costs, if we can afford it, or even with a shoulder to cry on, because we fully understand the emotional strain that anyone who wants to help goes through.
We dream of a world in which each of us gets involved, we dream of a better world that only together we can create, one by one, cat by cat!
