05/27/2026
One of the hardest parts of rescue is trying to explain that “saving kittens” is not as simple as just picking them up and posting them online. 🖤🐾
Recently, someone reached out asking us to help a group of approximately 7-week-old kittens. I explained that before we can safely intake kittens, we first have to secure an available foster home AND make a plan for the entire colony — including trapping and TNR for mom, dad, and any other feral cats involved.
Because if we only remove the kittens and do nothing else, the cycle simply repeats itself over and over again.
At first, the finder understood this. She agreed to wait while we worked on finding placement and putting together a plan.
Then one night, she messaged me frantically saying she had caught three of the kittens and needed someone to take them immediately. I reminded her that I still did not have a foster lined up and that rescue was already completely overwhelmed, but asked if she could please keep them safely inside temporarily while continuing to try catching the remaining kittens and allowing us time to coordinate TNR.
She agreed.
The next day, she messaged saying she had already given the kittens away to someone online and no longer wanted anyone coming onto the property to TNR the colony. She became extremely rude and told me I “needed to learn how to be a real shelter” because I could not instantly produce a foster home overnight.
The original litter she reported was SIX kittens. She only caught three. That means there are still more kittens outside, along with unfixed adults continuing the cycle.
What hurt the most was that when I continued expressing concern for the remaining cats and kittens, she essentially told me to stop caring and stop contacting her. She told me:
“Be a true Shelter for real stray cats and their kittens 🙏🏾🇺🇸✍🏽💚🕊️ You couldn’t find a foster for them fast enough so life goes on. They’re gone now.🐈⬛”
All I responded was that I care deeply about the cats and that every single thing I do for rescue is pro bono. I do not get paid a single dime to rescue animals. In fact, most of the time I spend my own personal money helping them.
But none of that mattered to her, and at that point the only thing left I could responsibly do was refer the situation to Animal Control so hopefully the city can intervene with the remaining colony — because unlike independent rescuers drowning during kitten season, the city is actually funded and paid to handle animal issues. I am not.
And this is exactly why rescue becomes so heartbreaking sometimes.
Because once kittens are randomly given away online, nobody truly knows where they end up. Some people absolutely have good intentions, but others do not. Free kittens can end up:
• Used as snake food
• Used as bait animals
• Harmed or neglected
• Abandoned once they are older
• Left unfixed and reproducing themselves within months
And even in “good” homes, those kittens still need:
🐾 Vaccines
🐾 Deworming
🐾 Flea prevention
🐾 Spay/neuter surgeries
🐾 Emergency vet care
🐾 Lifelong responsibility
Free kittens are never actually free.
At the end of the day, I do not hate this person and I understand that people panic when they suddenly find themselves trying to help outdoor kittens. Most people are not prepared for how overwhelming these situations become.
But this is exactly why rescues everywhere are drowning during kitten season. There are simply not enough fosters, not enough funding, not enough low-cost veterinary resources, and not enough community-wide TNR efforts to keep up with the number of cats reproducing outdoors.
Independent rescuers are not government funded. Most of us are unpaid volunteers trying to save lives between work, family responsibilities, medical issues, and our own personal finances. We are human beings doing the best we can with limited space and resources.
Please remember that rescue is not a magic wand. We cannot responsibly intake endless animals overnight without fosters, funding, supplies, and a long-term plan to stop the cycle at the source.
The answer is not anger at rescuers. The answer is more community involvement, more TNR, more fostering, more education, and more people willing to help before situations become emergencies. 🖤🐾
