08/17/2026
This is a difficult post to make. Please read all the way through before commenting. Read it a second time if you need to.
Yesterday morning during the storm, two people abandoned five kittens, who appear to be just days old, leaving them on our front porch, with little protection from the heavy rain.
Had one of my friends not dropped by to donate a cot for our doggies, the kittens very likely would not have been discovered for a couple more hours.
My friend helped me get the kittens inside & set them up in a quiet room with several blankets to keep them warm.
My first reaction? Anger!! How could those people do this?? Why didn't they knock?? It was obvious someone was there. My car was in the lot. They parked right beside it.
While we do not take cats or kittens at PAWS, we are contacted about them regularly. At the very least, we're able to give people direction, & sometimes we're even able to find real solutions for them.
Yes, we have cameras. Yes, we have footage of who did this. Yes, it was reported to the police.
However, after the anger subsided, I've chosen to not publish the video. The people who did this know who they are. I do not know the circumstances that led them to do what they did, only they know. I honestly hope they feel badly, because, if so, at least that means they cared.
My next emotion was sadness. The severe cat over-population problem is certainly not unique to Union City. It is nationwide.
There are no easy solutions for shelters, nor for the public, who sometimes, at no fault of their own, find themselves with a litter of unexpected stray kittens, & they simply don't know what to do.
Shelters & rescues everywhere are overwhelmed & do way more than people can ever imagine. Even so, they are often blamed for not taking in more animals than they can handle & are accused of not caring.
I've said it before, & I'll say it again. It takes a village.
I reached out to my friend, Jamie, at Mercy Den, a local cat rescue, to see if she had a nursing mama cat. She did not, but offered to bring some milk by for them. When she got there, however, she felt called to take them.
Immediately, Jamie & I both began to search for a mama cat, & when that didn't pan out, we began to ask for volunteers to help with feeding them, which must be done every two hours. Thankfully, volunteers are in place, with back-ups, if needed! We even found another nearby Rescue that might take them once they are weaned!
So yesterday, on our day off from our "real jobs," everything I had planned & everything Jamie had planned was put on the back burner. Our time was instead spent doing what our hearts lead us to do.
The milk needed to feed five kittens isn't cheap. I personally donated to Jamie because PAWS is struggling financially due to rising vet costs, utility costs, etc., & I wanted to help. If you feel led to help these sweet kittens, please reach out to either of us. Any amount is appreciated.
Please do not publicly bash the people who did this. Instead, we ask that you put your energy toward a much more positive use, whatever that may be.
While I will never condone what took place yesterday, I could not stay angry. There is just no time for that, & no room in my heart. Compassion is what this world needs most. ❤️
