.
UPDATE, Monday evening January 13, 2013: Tony is headed home with his adopter, and is SAFE.
.
If you’re an animal lover and have been online in the past five days, you may have seen the photo above, of the abandoned Brooklyn, NY Craigslist ‘suitcase cat’ later named Tony after he ended up at at the Brooklyn facility of the NYC ACC . Maybe you’ve read a story about the cat somewhere.
On Wednesday, January 8, a Craigslist post by someone named Shannon, titled Some asshole moved out of my complex and left their cat to die. Help. (Lefferts Gardens), and accompanied by the now-infamous photo of the abandoned cat in a suitcase seen above, said, in part:
“Someone in my community moved out right before the blizzard and just left their cat in the lobby. Predictably, management evicted the cat and she’s just been sitting out in the patio area, freezing, and waiting for her owners to come home.
“She is the sweetest cat in the world. I have seriously never encountered such an affectionate animal. Unfortunately, however, I am not allowed to have a pet by conditions of my lease.
“I called animal control and they said they’d euthanize her within 72 hours if she isn’t adopted, so I’m trying to find a better option than that. The only no kill shelters in this borough are full-up.
“If anyone at all is interested in helping out or has ideas, please get in contact with me, either via email or via phone. I really want to save her.”
The post got immediate attention and the cat’s plight was widely shared, and local rescuers tried to get help for the cat. Despite all that, the cat was picked up by animal control the following day was was taken to the Brooklyn ACC facility and placed on a 72 hour stray hold., leading many to worry for his safety due to the high kill rate at city shelters.
A great deal of confusion ensued in the first couple of days over whether Tony had been adopted, was waiting for an adopter, was safe in the basement of the apartment building waiting for someone to take him to safety, or had gone to the ACC shelter.
A Craigslist update from Shannon on January 9: The Abandoned Apartment Cat – Update 2 (Brooklyn, NY), contributed to the confusion and the drama surrounding the case.
Fortunately, the Manalpan, NJ based volunteer group Homeless Animal Lifeline was able to cut through the confusion and misinformation surrounding the case by maintaining direct communication with a reliable contact at ACC. Michelle from HAL has shared updated information as it becomes available at the Homeless Animal Lifeline Facebook page. HAL is also working to keep Tony off the kill list by making sure the shelter knows that there are options available for Tony, whose situation became more tenuous when he tested positive for FeLV, the feline leukemia virus.
HAL has let their contact know of one firm adoption offer and a firm offer from a sanctuary for Tony. They are also encouraging serious and reliable adopters/rescuers who can take a FeLV positive cat to contact ACC, so staff know he has options.
Below are some updates posted by HAL at Facebook that clarify the details of Tony’s case.:
Brooklyn Cat Update – Regarding Tony, we have learned from the AC&C that Tony has tested positive for FeLV. This means he is in serious jeopardy unless rescued. If you can offer a home to Tony, please contact the Brooklyn AC&C or, if you have trouble reaching a person, contact [email protected] and we will make sure your message gets through.
Update on Tony, Brooklyn cat: Tony is still with the AC&C foster. His status is that there is a potential adopter as well as potential rescue backup with two separate groups. So, we just have to be patient and wait until we hear a decision! However, if you were interested in adopting Tony, apply for adoption! The more options for him, the better! And don’t forget the many other cats at the AC&C who need rescue as well!
Everyone – where we stand is that I have personally told my contact at AC&C that Tony has two viable options right now..a home with [name withheld] or the sanctuary spot. I received confirmation that my contact got the message. [The potential adopter] has tried contacting AC&C as well. The last update I have regarding Tony’s location is that he’s in an AC&C foster home. I am waiting to hear an update and will post the second I know anything new. ~Michelle
Also, please spread the word that this weekend is double donations. If you appreciate the work we do, now is a great time to contribute and help us continue. We are an all-volunteer 501c3 and count on public support. You can donate online at www.halrescue.org by clicking the gold “donate” button. We truly appreciate every dollar and it all goes directly to the animals, not overhead.
He has potential adopter as well as potential rescue backup. He’s not safe until he’s out, so we will keep his story going until we know he’s been picked up.
We will know more tomorrow [Monday]. For now, we know Tony is still in his foster home awaiting a decision as to placement. Should anything change, we will update. In the meantime, anyone interested in adopting or pulling Tony should contact the AC&C so he has plenty of options.
##
Tony is one of the lucky cats – though he doesn’t seem so – because the heartbreaking photo of him, abandoned and curled up in a suitcase, inspired hundreds of people to try to save him. If the lines of communication between rescuers and the shelter can remain open, he will likely be saved, though there is no counting on it until he is physically safe in his adopter or rescuer’s hands.
The NYC ACC publishes a kill list every night, leaving dedicated rescuers to scramble to network and save as many of the cats as possible.
Homeless Animal Lifeline, which is doing their best to save Tony, hopes that people sympathetic to his case will find it in their hearts to save some of the other cats who do not have the benefit of his notoriety.
As of this writing, Tony’s Petharbor listing remains active. The listing includes his ID number and the phone number for the Brooklyn ACC facility.
Homeless Animal Lifeline Facebook page
Homeless Animal Lifeline website
Pets on Death Row – Urgent Death Row Cats at Facebook is a valuable resource for networking cats available for rescue or adoption from the NYC ACC.
Tony’s networking thread at Pets on Death Row at Facebook
UPDATE, Monday evening January 13, 2013: Tony is headed home with his adopter, and is SAFE.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Homeless Animal Lifeline (HAL) is an ALL-VOLUNTEER 501c3 organization whose volunteers donate their time not only networking to save lives and helping the community’s animals, but also in providing hands-on care of special needs cats who would not be here today if not for their work. They rely on public support to keep the organization going.
To donate online go to www.halrescue.org and click the gold “donate” button. Otherwise, donations can be mailed to HAL, PO Box 237, Manalapan, NJ 07726.
In addition to cash donations, HAL welcomes the donation of items from their Amazon Wish List. HAL volunteers spend hundreds of dollars a month on basic supplies such as food, litter, paper towels, garbage bags. They use approximately 100 lbs of litter PER WEEK!
Homeless Animal Lifeline participates in the Amazon Smile program.
HAL did not ask us to include their donation links here. We chose to do so, as we have done for many small rescue groups.
Kathleen is right. A few rescues, including Anjellicle, were working tirelessly behind the scenes (quietly and without the Facebook fanfare and drama) to save these cats along with the thousands of others they save from situations like this and from this shelter every year). But you select one out of town rescue who has NO idea how the city shelter works, who appoints themselves ministry of (mis)information, who spent most of the two days using fake profiles to start fight after fight on the pages of the rescues who were actually taking steps to save these cats, posts misinformation about their status in order to be “first on the scene” with updates (putting the cats in even greater risk) to take the credit and real donations (for what? They will be out of pocket nothing for this cat as another rescue will be pulling him, treating him and supporting him until appropriate placement for an FELV cat can be secured).
Its great that they “corrected” their misinformation as soon as they were told they were incorrect (often blocking the very people who corrected their misinformation for being “distracting”, and then turning around and posting the info that they blocked the “distractor” for as “recently verified”.
Kathleen is right. Of all the rescues that are actually stepping up to actively help these cats (as in get them to a secure location, not just posting on Facebook), why are you focusing on the group that was botching the information because they were misinterpreting what the rescuers were telling them, racing to post anything before proper info was actually verified and doing little more than grandstanding and creating drama over this?
Totally agree with Kathleen and Tara. I also called them on their patting themselves on the back and was blocked for it. For what? They did nothing to save this cat. Nice story on HAL and they do pull from NJ shelters but not NYC ACC. I also find it poor reporting to mention the sanctuary that will take Tony if he is not adopted but not by name. Aslans Cats in Verbank, NY takes care of dozens of FeLV+ cats. If Aslans gets Tony THEY are who donations should be sent to. (They could use donations if they don’t. The special care for leukemia positive cats can be expensive.)
Tara, Jacquie and KJ – STFU and let it go. HAL is not getting donations for Tony.
Are you aware that HAL does care for leukemia and FIV positive cats, along with epileptic and CH cats? In addition to all the information being verified by the ACC source before being posted?
It’s about the cat and getting the cat saved. Something that a lot of people forgot about in this debacle.
HAL turned this into an ad campaign for donations. Inappropriate to say the least. And, no, we will not shut up. You can’t delete or block comments here that you don’t like.
They say no good deed goes unpunished and here is a perfect example. I can’t even begin to address the outright lies in the posts, but will say this is about Tony and making sure that his life is saved. HAL volunteers were very confused with the various posts of different status updates regarding Tony and took it upon themselves to see what was happening with the cat. We never expected it to lead to attacks of this nature from fellow rescuers. We were shocked to find out that he was sitting in AC&C when so many pages, including Anjellicle Cats, had him marked as “safe.” We posted on our Facebook page his ID number and facility location. When learning his FeLV status, we posted that as well. All of the info came directly from an AC&C employee, not other rescues. I actually met Jacquie on Facebook when giving her the AC&C information on Tony’s status. Everything was done with the intention of saving Tony’s life. That is all. Our page is relatively small, but filled with caring, active people who “shared” the information and started conversational threads about the situation. There was no “fanfare” — it was a group of people coming together to try to save a life. That’s what rescue is about. Donations were not accepted for Tony; we have never requested or accepted donations for a cat who is not in our possession during our entire 10 years of operation. We are an all-volunteer group, run on a shoestring budget, with the majority of vet bills and supplies paid for out of the pockets of volunteers. We have rescued cats off of death row in NJ and NY, including the NY AC&C, and care for many special needs cats. To diminish the hard work of our volunteers because the group was rightfully mentioned in an article is extremely mean-spirited and shines a very poor light on the rescue community. We wish you well with your rescue work – it is a team effort, not a competition.
Well said, Michelle. And I agree. But (always) this article makes it appear HAL single handedly saved Tony. And I’m not saying you wanted donations for him but to solicit donations on his threads was tacky, like you were literally trying to cash in on the publicity.
Where were donations solicited on his threads? Link?
My name is Karen. I am not affiliated with HAL. I chose to add donation links to the post, which is something I have done for many organizations and will continue to do for others. HAL did not ask me to publish the post and did not ask for donation or other links to be placed here.
I did not set out to write an in-depth piece, and did not intentionally give anyone the snub.
I am sorry to see that the cat seems to have been forgotten in all of this. I did not make the post hoping to incite warfare between supporters of differing groups.
Please, everyone, refrain from attacks upon one another, especially personal insults and digs directed toward anyone but me.
Jacquie, as the author of this piece said in her comment post, we
did not ask for anything to be included with this article except for the
link to the Urgent Pets On Death Row Facebook page – a page we are not
even affiliated with. We did not approach the author to write an article on
this situation, but are very appreciative that she did. As far as our involvement
in helping Tony, we are the ones who let people know that Tony was in the AC&C
and kept them up to date as to his status. You know this is true because you areOne of the people who was getting updated information from me. This is not seeking publicity, this is the truth as to what happened. The fact that the group you like better didn’t post that information is not the fault of the HAL volunteers. I sincerely hope the next
news about Tony is that he’s safe. This will be my last statement in this forum on this matter. I hope we can all move on and appreciate the work of other rescues, rather than try to bring each other down.
people these days. take a cat indoors for goodness sake! don’t leave them out in the freezing cold weather! bring them in were its nice and warm, and dry. not out side! if you get a cat, please take care of it. if you cant take care of the cat, why get one in the first place!
Jacquie, the fact that our double donation fundraiser was taking place at the same time we were working on Tony does not mean we were “cashing” in. The fundraiser started before anything with Tony occurred. We chose this weekend to do it because our volunteer made handmade jewelry for us to be used as a thank you gift and it was ready to go as I finally had time to sort it out and photograph. I hope that explains the situation for you. As I said, we work on a shoestring budget, so the thought that someone would think we were “cashing in” on anything never even occurred to me. We’re small potatoes 🙂
If the editor/writer was going to remove comments, then all of the comments should be removed. Just proving the bias of the writer/editor (regardless of what was said above). Just amazing.
Tara, I’m from Brooklyn and started volunteering for animal rescue in NY. I’m aware of how all you big city folks work 🙂
Also, all the info we relayed came directly from the NY AC&C, not other rescuers.
Tony is home and safe, so let’s be happy!
You write an article based on a story that went viral and your only source is one rescue’s facebook page. And you are surprised there is backlash?
I have not removed a single comment. 🙂
She’s safe! Homeless Animal Lifeline, with the help of a wonderful rescuer named Trudy, was able to reunite Tony with the second cat, Angelina. They are now both officially adopted together!
Jacquie, not only did HAL help Tony, but also helped the second cat as well. Pats on back are well deserved for all the involved volunteers, as well as the wonderful adopter who opened her home to two FeLV cats! Since you were very concerned about donations, I would be happy to give you information on how you can donate to their new mom for the vet bills she has incurred. A very happy ending!