Really pushing things. Or, not?

Please don't do it.

This idea is obviously a kind and considerate one - you must really want the cats to go to a home vs living in a shelter.

But the idea to take on a new pet is a decision that needs to be thought about and prepared for. A cat can live for 10, 15, 20 years! The animal shelters around me make a point of not adopting out cats/kittens during the month of October. You can like... *reserve* one but they won't let you take them home until November. That's because people get dumb ideas for Halloween...


If you want to help get the kittens adopted why not put up a sign at your house and give away a contact number for the shelter? You could even pass out little fliers with the treats.


I'm really surprised that someone at a cat shelter would come up with this idea. Usually they are super careful with who they adopt to.

It would be really sad if someone took home a kitten and mistreated it or it got lost on Halloween or something. Unfortunately, a lot of people wouldn't go through the trouble of returning an unwanted kitten - they just dump them outside.

This is an absolutely horrible idea. Things are bad enough with all the abandoned pets that result from Christmas and Easter. This idea contributes to that very same problem. Also, tell your friends they may as well close down their shelter, because they are incompetent. I'd even go so far as reporting them to the local SPCA. This giveaway idea is something that should have never crossed their minds,because it completely circumvents most of the safety precautions that are supposed to be in place at public and private shelters to protect the welfare of animals from abusive or fraudulent adopters.

More importantly, they know they are attempting to do wrong. As you point out, it is your neighbor proposing the idea to you. If they really thought it was such a hot idea, they'd do it themselves, not attempt to get a third party to do it.

Wolfman said:

Well, I guess they're really desperate. My sister also has some involvement with the shelter, and they have to put cats down every month, there are just no takers. The even have abandoned rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets, it's worse than I thought. I haven't ruled out giving it a go, ever heard of the phrase, "Free To Good Home"? Something like that. Or should we just let the little kitties get gassed? You decide.

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I feel for the situation, BUT if your friend is going to randomly be passing out kittens, the kittens may be going to homes where they'll be abused, or to people who will say "What the heck is this? I don't want a kitten" and chuck the poor thing out into the street where it will either a) be killed very quickly by a car or other animal or starvation or b) will grow up to be wild, unspayed/un-neutered and reproduce a few batches of six or seven more wild, unspayed/un-neutered babies, hence compounding the problem for the future.

If nobody is taking the kitties now, trying to force the issue (I mean we have to know that it will be the kids whose parents aren't with them and would never have said "yes" who will be surprising their parents by bringing home a live animal) isn't going to suddenly make people step up to take on the responsibility of a pet.

Now, having the kittens there with "Free to Good Home" as you say would probably be kosher. But again, if there already aren't responsible takers, probably there won't be any on Halloween either. Just a lot of kids pulling their parents' arms going "please please PLEASE" with the parents pulling them back and saying "You'll forget all about this in an hour" and being right, or else non-parent-attended children giving Mommy the surprise of her life by presenting her with a cat. However, if even one kitten is taken via this manner and happens to go to a home where people will be responsible for it, get it fixed, get its shots and so on, then that will be worth it and as I said, simply putting up the "Free to a Good Home" sign certainly can't hurt, provided I guess that these only be available to children attended by parents (my opinion and the only way I'd do it, personally).

I agree that unwanted pets is a huge problem. But taking on a pet one is not actually prepared for, based on a whim, is a huge PART of the problem. People simply don't spay/neuter these animals, realize it's pain to scoop their poop and feed them, and turn them out to run around wild and reproduce unchecked. Taking on a pet because it looks cute in that moment and then just realizing you can't handle the pet IS the major problem here, IMO.

Here on my block, for some insane reason a huge number of people get cats, then have them be outdoor cats...and don't spay them. I had a cat continuously come to my house about two years ago. He looked well-fed, but he was crying and looking for food. I opened my door to him and he proceeded to spray noxious hormones ALL OVER my house. I went to the store, bought a collar and attached my name and phone number to it and asked to be called, and put him back outside. Eventually I did get a call, from a very defensive woman who stated that she was "planning on getting him fixed soon". I asked her how old the cat was and she told me he was TWO YEARS old. At what point were they "going to" get him fixed? Yeah, right. I mean I didn't say that, obviously. I was pleasant and I told her I was glad he did have a home and she gave me her phone number and asked me to call if he showed up at my house again (rather than, you know, keeping him as an indoor cat or anything... ) It did happen again, I called, the car came into my driveway with a screech of wheels and she yanked the cat out of my arms and was off. I didn't see him again, but I did see, a few months later, the remains of an orange kitty that had gotten run over by a car, who knows whether or not that was him. I have seen, since I moved here, probably six or seven auto-killed "outdoor" cats on one of the two intersecting streets around my home. People think the animal is cute so they grab it, then don't bother to get it fixed, don't feel like scooping its poop so they turn it outside, it gets into fights (I hear these CONSTANTLY in evenings outside my window), spray everywhere, procreate and so on.

By the way, this is in a moderately moneyed (upper middle-class), very low crime rate area. These ARE the good homes everybody wishes for animals...but even in "good homes," people don't necessarily want a decade or more of responsibility (up-to-date shots, spaying, food, litter box, potential illness of the animal) and what initially looks cute, somehow seems to get old when that cuteness gets much bigger, no longer has gigantic eyes and is expensive, needs sheltering any time the person goes on vacation, costs a lot of money, may not be as friendly as one would like/may scratch or bite, and so on. If not, then we probably wouldn't have such an issue with abandoned animals. And abused animals.

Yes, having to gas a kitten is sad. Having to gas a the now grown-up version's several litters in a row is an even bigger problem. I'm not saying I have the answer, I don't, but trying to give an animal to someone based on an impulse on the person's part probably isn't the solution...IMO. It makes things worse and is largely responsible for terrible animal abuse, animal neglect, animal abandonment and lack of medical care, including shots, spaying and neutering that keeps the problem going and in fact, compounds it exponentially.

Speaking as an animal rescuer with many years of experience: there are worse fates than being euthanized at a shelter. I understand the desperation and have spent many nights mourning the losses of beautiful, healthy, friendly animals who should have had their whole lives ahead of them - but I've also seen the truly ghastly fates suffered by many animals who wound up in the wrong hands. I doubt any shelter in a U.S. state proper, as opposed to a protectorate, would be legally allowed to give animals away to any random passersby who wanted one, even if the idea crossed their minds to try. We've been known to joke about such tactics but no one would actually do it.

If you want to help - and I applaud the desire to do so! - I would suggest having signs and fliers on a table near the candy, and/or perhaps a donation jar.

Best wishes to everyone involved.