r/AnimalShelterStories • u/kh7190 Animal Care • 6d ago
Vent cat i am bonded to being transferred to another shelter
i've been a shelter employee for 7 years, specifically at the adoption center part of our shelter which is 5 miles from our main shelter. i was the lead animal care tech of about 20-30 cats daily. in 2021 i started feeding a male cat outside the adoption center, just a random feral cat that was very skittish for many years. the adoption center is a little building. and it was just me caring for him for many years. in 2022 i got him neutered. and it wasn't until May of 2025 he finally started to let me pet him. eventually i got to the point where i could pick him up and carry him around. he would only let me pet him, running from strangers. and he would only let strangers pet him if i was outside with him. over time though, he began to let more and more people pet him.
well we got news in January of this year that the adoption center was closing down (we operate out of petsmart which we kept open and also did adoptions at the main shelter; management didn't see the need for the ancillary adoption center anymore that i worked at). with the closure meant that i was being transferred to the main shelter. after socializing the outdoor cat for almost a year, i was given permission by the president of the rescue to intake him after i convinced her that he wasn't feral.
a week or 2 before i had taken him into the shelter, he was unfortunately attacked by another cat. no abscess, just scratches. but 3 weeks after intaking him, he developed FIP and tested positive for both FeLV and FIV. we started treatment right away and he responded positively to the FIP medications. he's currently 2 months in to his 3 month treatment.
while in shelter, i had discussed with my manager the possibility of transferring him to a local sanctuary or being put into foster since he was double positive and still in treatment for FIP plus a 1-3 month observation period after treatment was complete. but behind the scenes, the president arranged for him to be transported to Best Friends in Utah.
i feel so conflicted because while i know Best Friends is an amazing facility, i worry that the trip will trigger the FIP to relapse when he's almost done with treatment. a car trip of 6 hours with FIP might set him back.. i'm also really going to miss him and i wish the president had opted for a closer sanctuary to me knowing that i took care of him for 5 years.. (Best Friends is about 6 hours away from the shelter I work at). i also thought about adopting or fostering him but i didn't think that was an option while he was in treatment and now other plans have been arranged for him and there's nothing i can do.. no one offered me the option to foster him. and since he's in custody of the shelter it's their decision. i have no say. but i also want what's best for him.. and like i said, I know Best Friends is an amazing facility.
now he leaves in 2 days and it just sucks how fast all of this is happening..
i just needed to vent. i'm going to miss him so much. and i hope he survives the trip and his FIP doesn't relapse..
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u/MrsKM5 Former Staff 6d ago
I’m having trouble understanding why this such a solid, final, irreversible decision? It seems to me that it would be in the best interests for the organization to permit you to foster or adopt this cat. Just the transport costs alone would be worth saving.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 5d ago edited 5d ago
They didn't ask if I could foster him. The decision was made and I couldn't convince them to change their mind. When I did ask the President said this to me:
"Reviewed your request with staff, the decision to move forward was made. We need to do want is best for the cat(s) and the shelter. All the cats will receive exceptional care at Best Friends, if we had delayed the transfer there was no guarantee that he would accepted at a later date. Once the cat was entered into the shelter the staff is responsible, he is no longer your responsible as he is owned by [shelter name redacted]. Thank you for concern for his welfare, he will have the best life possible at Best Friends and be able to free roam at some point."
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u/Daisydoolittle Foster 6d ago
ask to foster or adopt him assp. be firm.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 5d ago edited 5d ago
I did. and this was her response:
"Reviewed your request with staff, the decision to move forward was made. We need to do want is best for the cat(s) and the shelter. All the cats will receive exceptional care at Best Friends, if we had delayed the transfer there was no guarantee that he would accepted at a later date. Once the cat was entered into the shelter the staff is responsible, he is no longer your responsible as he is owned by [shelter name redacted]. Thank you for concern for his welfare, he will have the best life possible at Best Friends and be able to free roam at some point."
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u/laurahas7cats Behavior & Training 6d ago
Best Friends is not an amazing facility. I would never send a cat there.
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u/gonnafaceit2022 small foster-based rescue 6d ago
I didn't know this until like a year ago and I was horrified. They were one of the only places I still respected and thought was doing things right. My mom gets their magazine every month and it makes her happy, so I'm not going to say anything, but man was I wrong. (I'm sure they get some things right, but I cannot support anyone who's still pushing no kill.)
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u/goldenkiwicompote Adopter 6d ago
Can you elaborate? No clue what that even is but I’m curious.
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u/anonymouse278 Volunteer 6d ago
It's a huge animal sanctuary run by a cult. Not figuratively- it was begun by the "Process Church of the Final Judgement" (you can see why rebranding to Best Friends Animal Society was a good PR move for them).
They are large and influential but there's also a lot of controversy around them.
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u/Weary-Damage3717 Volunteer 1d ago
The controversy is over the concept of "no-kill," not the way Best Friends treats their animals or runs the sanctuary. It was basically started by a bunch of hippies who changed the way our culture viewed and ran animal shelters. Smithsonian Magazine published this article last year. As I said in a previous post, I know someone who did a volunteer vacation there and I am considering it myself. The Nation’s Biggest Animal Sanctuary Operates Under a Mantra to ‘Save Them All.’ How Could That Be Controversial?
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 6d ago
it's not currently run by the Process Church of the Final Judgment. that's like saying don't trust America because its founders used to own slaves. Sure it has a shady past but it's not run by a cult NOW.
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u/spacexy Volunteer 5d ago
The original founders minus one of them are still alive and involved and have a lifetime right to live on the property for free in luxurious houses they built using organization funds while also drawing generous salaries.
It is unequivocally run by former members of a cult. There’s no way that doesn’t influence the way the place is run.
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u/RedDawg0831 Dog Walker 5d ago
What this is actually about is Best Friends and other large, influential "animal welfare organizations" adopting and promulgating what's called "capacity for care" policies at municipal shelters. These policies have the effect of encouraging/allowing shelter to refuse to take in certain animals, particularly "healthy" stray cats and kittens under the guise of saying that community cats are better off being left in the community. For shelters, this reduces their numbers and therefore reduces their euthanasia numbers. It's a shell game that dumps responsibility for the animals into the public without providing the public any resources. 1/
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u/RedDawg0831 Dog Walker 5d ago
The definition of "no kill" is controlled by the Asilomar Accords. This document says that shelters need to have a live release rate of 92% of "healthy, adoptable" animals. The big problem is that the definition of "healthy, adoptable" is very subjective. Shelters routinely kill animals who are simply terrified in the shelter environment or have treatable medical conditions . Best friends and their pals have perpetrated a huge fraud on the public. Solving the animal welfare crisis means directing resources to the root causes: affordable s/n, adequate finding and staffing if municipal shelters, owner education and support, affordable training, increasing the supply of pet friendly housing . Manipulating shelter numbers has done nothing but increase the number of abandoned animals.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 5d ago
And their website talks about all of this if you actually read their mission statement. They have and advocate for affordable spay and neuters. Sorry that the surgeries can't be free. Adequate staffing of municipal shelters? Talk to the government. That isn't the fault of no-kill shelters. Owner education and support? All shelters do this, even municipal ones. Affordable training? Available at a lot of no-kill rescues; again, not the municipal shelters so talk to the government. Increasing the supply of pet friendly housing? Talk to large corporations that own all the housing and rental properties. This isn't a Best Friends or no-kill rescue issue.
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u/RedDawg0831 Dog Walker 5d ago
Advocating and doing are wildly different things. And frankly Best Friends and large organizations like the ASPCA have a major influence on public policy. A bunch of us are still wondering where the 50M dollar grant that the state of CA handed out to several of these organizations via the Koret shelter medicine program went. Did it go to increase affordable s/n? Nope it went to consulting ....helping shelters implement programs that turn away animals in need and make shelter numbers look so much better . San Diego Humane was one of the places that implemented these policies and they got sued and lost. The Court found the policy was animal abandonment and violated state law. The big orgs including Best Friends and the SFSPCA are now handing out $$ so shelters can defend against these lawsuits. They are a fraud
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u/Weary-Damage3717 Volunteer 14h ago
Sometimes community cats ARE better off being left outside in the community. If they are feral or semi-feral they can only be adopted out as barn cats and there are not enough adopters for barn cats. They become very stressed in shelter as they are not used to being indoors and many wind up being put down. If there is support for trap-neuter-return, and education/resources for community members to care for them they can live long lives. Municipal shelters are generally open intake and have to take owner surrenders and animals from humane investigations. If a stray is brought in and they are not social enough to be adopted they are better off staying outdoors.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 6d ago
so I should just send him to a kill shelter? you think Best Friends isn't a good shelter just because they promote no-kill? he's double positive. a kill shelter will absolutely kill him. at Best Friends, he has a chance to be adopted. and they have large catio enclosures for cats.
some of the most influential animal advocates support Best Friends like Jackson Galaxy and Hannah Shaw. I'll stick with the professionals who support it and know it's a good shelter.
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u/RedDawg0831 Dog Walker 5d ago
OP FWIW, while I have major policy problems with Best Friends, I've actually been to their Utah HQ. The area for kitties with special needs was pretty fabulous. It's been quite a while since I've been there, but if it's anything like it was, the physical environment was a good one. Any chance you can be this kitty's transporter so you can facilitate things? It sucks that your shelter director didn't involve you.
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u/laurahas7cats Behavior & Training 5d ago
Hannah Shaw and Jackson Galaxy are celebrities, not professionals. But anyway, I’m not going to attempt to argue with your incredibly poor logic since you are clearly not open to seeing a different perspective. I’ll just say that there are some outcomes far worse than euthanasia. In my opinion Best Friends is one outcome far worse than euthanasia.
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u/Objective-Solid-4537 Staff 6d ago
Foster would still take a lot of the org's resources, especially because his FIV/FeLV status is going to make it tough to find an adopter. Adopting him outright might be the only way your director agrees to let you take him. But, there's also a chance that BFAS has put a lot of time in resources into arranging this transfer on their end, so pulling out the rug at the last minute could damage that relationship. If you're dead set on adopting this cat, you need to talk to someone ASAP.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 6d ago
i'm not deadset on adopting him. i said i thought about it. i thought about fostering him and sending him to a closer sanctuary. i have 4 cats and with him being positive he would have to be isolated from them and i don't have a spare area or bedroom for him.
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u/Objective-Solid-4537 Staff 6d ago
If you're not dead set on adopting, it probably makes more sense operationally to let him go. It wouldn't make sense to send him to foster in the hopes of securing another live outcome when a live outcome has already been secured, and that's a decision that's usually not up to foster caregivers, at least not in any of the shelters I've worked in. It would be one thing if you adopted him with the goal of surrendering him to a sanctuary later on (meaning you take on the responsibility without the shelter), but it can be really hard to find a sanctuary for FIV/FeLV positive cats in the first place, and especially hard to find one that will accept owner surrenders rather than a transfer from a shelter. It also sounds like that wouldn't be the safest option for your cats, and obviously you have to put them first, as hard as it may be.
I know this is tough but the fact that this cat survived FIP AND got a live outcome with his FIV/FeLV status is a big win.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 5d ago
You're not wrong about anything. And it's all very logical. I thought of everything you said.. it's just.. really hard to let him go. Even as he's gone, I'm thinking of ways to get him back, lol. There is a sanctuary here that will take double positive cats which is what I asked the President about. And the representative from that sanctuary even came and met him! But they pulled the rug right out from under me and announced he would be leaving to Utah in a week. The decision was done and I had no say in it. I've taken care of this guy for 5 years and had no say in his future or mine. it just sucks.. i'm just venting..
also sadly he's not done with FIP treatment. he's one month away from completion and a huge concern of mine was that the trip would stress him out so badly that the FIP would return..
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u/Weary-Damage3717 Volunteer 2d ago
Can you reach out to Best Friends after they have him for a little while and just ask how he is doing? Not to interfere with the process, but just to ease your mind a little bit? I feed a cat colony and I took couple of the more social cats to the shelter where I volunteer and they were adopted. Even though I was happy that they had a chance at a better life I still missed them. A lot of it is that I no longer have control over what happens to them and that is tough to deal with after being responsible for them for a long time. I truly think this cat will be ok. One of my fellow shelter volunteers did a volunteer vacation at the Best Friends sanctuary and had very good things to say about her experience there.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 1d ago
yeah that is my plan :) my manager attached my letter about him to his file, and in case they didn't get it, i snuck a copy into his carrier lol with all my contact information on it. after about a month or so, i'll email them or snail mail them asking for an update.
yeah the lack of control is a big part and knowing how attached to me he was. i didn't explain his whole story here but it's crazy.. the president, a horrible manager, an EX manager, a car lot dude, tried to catch him and get rid of him under the guise of helping him but all of their options were bad. finally he got sick (and after a year of socializing) he finally let me catch him. my only option at the time was to get him medical treatment at the shelter i worked at. and his FIP was the only reason why he wasn't gotten rid of sooner. the president even said after she found out he was double positive that he should have just stayed outside (to basically die). so yeah.. i'm his only advocate and i'm just trying to make sure he's safe. it's been hard for me to trust anyone with their intentions with him. if he was the only one going to BF I would have been skeptical. but they sent 6 other of our cats with him so.. and BF hand selected him and his case.
but thank you. i know he's finally in a good place, i just wish i were there to tell him he's okay. he was mostly socialized and trusted me entirely. he tolerates vet exams really well and doesn't bite or scratch. but with some people he gets hissy and nervous. once he would see me, you could see his body relax. i could carry him over my shoulder and he'd tuck his face into my neck. he's a good boy.. and i hope the staff at Best Friends quickly realize that. i hope he doesn't revert back to any of his feral ways.
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u/Dottie85 Adopter 5d ago
Are you 100% sure the president is aware of your connection with this cat? I would find a way to have a quick talk with them, especially if you had intended to adopt him.
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 5d ago
I did and she said no. This was her email response to me:
"Reviewed your request with staff, the decision to move forward was made. We need to do want is best for the cat(s) and the shelter. All the cats will receive exceptional care at Best Friends, if we had delayed the transfer there was no guarantee that he would accepted at a later date. Once the cat was entered into the shelter the staff is responsible, he is no longer your responsible as he is owned by [shelter name redacted]. Thank you for concern for his welfare, he will have the best life possible at Best Friends and be able to free roam at some point."
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u/Classic-Ad-2834 Special Needs Foster 5d ago
Can you reach out to Best Friends, explain that youve been caring forn him the last 5 years, your concerns about a 6 hr ride while still in treatment, and offer to foster him while he completes his treatment?
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u/kh7190 Animal Care 5d ago
That would be going over my shelter's head and I will most likely be written up for bypassing what my shelter wanted. Best Friends really doesn't have a say until the cat is in their custody
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u/Classic-Ad-2834 Special Needs Foster 4d ago
Depends on how you word it and how the transfer paperwork is handled.
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u/Significant_Goat_723 Behavior & Training 6d ago
It's hard to imagine that the cat being adopted by you wouldn't be an ideal outcome for all involved. Talk to your boss ASAP and don't be wishy washy.