RSPCA of SA Inc

A rabbit trap, a cat and RSPCA Foster Care: The tale (pardon the pun) of Tyler

Tyler, a male ginger cat, has certainly been through a lot. He was initially rescued by an inspector after having his leg caught in an illegal rabbit trap. It was clearly a very painful and traumatic experience, however, luckily Tyler managed to heal and is now healthy, happy but ‘kind of’ homeless. What ‘kind of’ means is that he is currently being fostered.

Tyler wasn’t coping at RSPCA headquarters as he was showing obvious signs of stress, so he was fostered out to one of our wonderful foster carers *see below for more information on our Foster Care Program. The home has a five and an eight year old boy, which can be daunting at the best of times, let alone for a cat that had been through what Tyler had! However, he soon got used to his new environment and the acompanying challenges and now he’s ‘one of the boys’. Foster care however is a temporary arrangement, and Tyler needs a permanent home. Tyler is good with dogs and other cats, although he’s equally happy being a loner. He loves playing with toys and loves having a run around outside, and would very happy spending his days in the sun. (Of course we always advise cat owners to bring their pets in at night to keep them and other animals safe.)

Tyler has been looking for a permanent home for months on end, and while we normally don’t push individual adoption cases, we think Tyler is a real trooper and deserves a great new home.

Can you help? You can go to our ‘Adopt-a-pet’ site to get more information about Tyler, and how he can be yours!

CLICK here to find out more about Tyler and lots of other homeless animals!

Could you become an RSPCA Foster Carer?

The ‘Foster Care Program’ is a relatively new program at the RSPCA. Animals are placed into temporary care if for whatever reason (and there are a few) the shelter environment is not working for them. As you can imagine being a foster carer takes a very special person. A great deal of commitment and effort is required, as is always true when caring for an animal. However, due to the animals usually being victims of stress prior to the foster, often you’re receiving a frightened animal, which is of course all the more challenging. As with most animals, with time, attention and care, many of the problems will alleviate, and you’re left with a gorgeous animal. It’s clearly very rewarding for carers watching the animal blossom, and our carers love seeing such a transition.

It’s certainly a very rewarding thing to do, it’s also a great way to test the waters if you think you want a pet, or another pet, but are unsure how the family or your other animals will cope. Of course the best part of it is you’re helping an animal live in a more comfortable, loving environment until they find their permanent companion.

CLICK here to download our foster care brochure

3 comments January 18th, 2008

Woman found guilty of gross neglect.

This week the Society received some good news, in a case that was simply awful.

A woman who neglected her cat, and refused to alleviate it’s pain was fined $3,500 and banned from owning an animal for the next two years.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court found Cheryl Gordon, of Enfield, guilty of two counts of ill-treating an animal.

It was a long and drawn out case. It bgean in November 2006, when ‘Ginger’, a ginger and white cat, was first seen by a northern suburbs vet. What the vet found was nothing short of horrendous. Ginger has a extremely infected wound on her hind leg. What probably began as a small cut or bite was now a maggot infested mess. The infection had basically eaten away at Ginger’s whole leg and it was hardly more than a bone. It’s simply unimaginable to imagine the pain the cat was in. Her breathing and heartbeat was elevated and she was incredibly weak. Added to this, she was also severly dehydrated and emaciated and had a myriad of other problems including infected eyes.

Evidently, the vet wanted to put Ginger down immediately and finally end her long period of suffering. Ms Gordon said she would make another appointment, of course, she never did and the RSPCA were called in to investigate. Our officers seized the cat and put it down immediately.

Clearly, we’re happy with this successful prosecution, but of course deeply saddened that an owner could ever let their pet get to such a dire stage. We once again plead with owners to take their animals to the vet at the first sign of infection, it will curb more expensive treatment should the infection take further hold, but, of course, more importantly it will relieve any discomfort quickly.

Should you be in the position where you feel you can’t afford any vet treatment, there are many options, including surrending the animal to us. We would much rather receive an animal with relatively minor injuries and attempt to rehome it with an owner who is able to provide proper care, than have to seize your pet in horrendous condition.

4 comments January 18th, 2008