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Last week there was a dead kitten that’d been hit by a car in my road right next to a house with two other small kittens bouncing all about in the front yard. After seeing that they were always outside, I knocked on the door to ask whether or not they belonged to the renters of the house. The disinterested young man told me they were his, but if I could "catch that little black one" then I could take him if I wanted. I told him I wasn’t necessarily looking to adopt even more cats, just making sure they had a home and were being looked after.
After noticing the kittens whenever I drive to work, I’ve observed they are never inside, they seem to live outside without a shelter, even on rainy days like today, they huddle together against the door jamb trying to stay out of the rain. I approached to pet them, one ran away, and the other started eating from a pile of indiscernible rain soaked scraps on the pavement of the porch. I feel a strong almost magnetic obligation to take them away, but they are not mine to take. I don’t want to cross any boundaries, and I also can’t figure out if I’m being over sensitive…is this considered neglect, or is it simply a choice some people make when it comes to caring for animals…not to allow them indoors? I don’t want to insult the owners by knocking on their door again and asking to take their kittens. I just find it hard to believe they’d even be missed. Any points of view or opinions on this matter would be much appreciated!Mostly for outdoor animals shelter is an legal requirement, I’m British so I don’t know the exact details of animal wellfare where you are but mostly shelter is needed, also do the cats have a regular supply of drinking water? Do they have an reasonable amount of food? If you’re worried you should try getting in contact with your nearest animal wellfare organisation and tell them that you believe the way the animals are being kept is neglection, also mention the dead kitten as the owner possibly caused the death of the animal through neglet and hasn’t done anything to protect the remaining kittens, (did he even remove its body?) If all else fails ask the owner to give them up to an animal shelter if possible.
A lot of cat owners are damned (unspeakables) about their cats. If he doesn’t want them, then you can at least give them a temporary home. (I will not elaborate as to what I would do to someone like this…)
Go get them, winter’s coming on & they can’t stay outside in the cold.
Use Petfinder to find the closest private adoption groups for cats. Contact them, see if they can take the kittens. You may be able to join the group and formerly foster the kittens until a home is found. That way, you can keep in mind "they’re not mine, I’m only a temporary home" (if you can do that).
Also ask around at work and see if someone is thinking of getting a cat. Contact friends and relatives. You may get lucky.Thanks all for the support and suggestions…here’s an update:
I picked the kittens up the same week I started this thread. They had fleas, a bad case of ring worm, and were starving. They received care and vaccinations at the vet, and I had them for almost two weeks before placing them both in a permanent country home. This had a happy ending! I often foster and re home cats and kittens, so this task was less daunting than actually taking them from someone’s yard. I’m glad I did, though. Yay!
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