The Caldwell Co pound in NC is a cat killing machine. In 2014, the pound killed 94% of the 1448 cats it impounded. The facility’s website states that owners can look for their lost pets on Petfinder (and emphasizes the pound staff does not want owners calling the place). But when I clicked through to Petfinder, it said no animals were listed. The website does have 3 cats listed as adoptable but none have photos. They’re doing the best they can, prolly.
When the family of a lost cat named Burley found out their pet had been impounded by the Caldwell Co pound the day before Good Friday, the staff had already gone home for the long holiday weekend. Burley’s family went to the Caldwell Co pound when it reopened on Monday to inquire about him and were shown paperwork on 5 cats – 1 of whom matched Burley’s description. When they went to look at the caged cats, 3 of the 5 cats were missing, including Burley.
Burley’s family believe he was killed by staff at the Caldwell Co pound. But the director told a local news reporter that he thinks the cat escaped his cage somehow and then the building. Somehow. No word on whether the other 2 “missing” cats were also in on this great escape.
Burley’s owners consider him family and believe the people paid to protect him killed him in violation of the mandatory holding period, then fabricated a story to cover up their wrongdoing. I can’t help wondering about the 1354 cats killed by the Caldwell Co pound last year. How many of them had owners who wanted them back, just like Burley? How many were held for the mandatory holding period – is anyone monitoring that? Where are the other 2 cats who were discovered “missing” along with Burley? How many owners of lost cats in Caldwell Co suffered heartbreak, never knowing what happened to their pets, and are now contemplating what tragic ends they may have met at the pound?
Caldwell Co taxpayers must demand better from their pound. As it stands, they are funding a cat extermination facility.
(Thanks Clarice and Arlene for the link.)