Andrea Adopted!

Andrea was adopted into her new home today! She is now the little sister to two handsome orange tabby boys. Her new mom was so happy to finally have Andrea join their family. It was only moments before Andrea started exploring her new home and playing with her favorite toys she brought along. Andrea seems to be settling in very well, we think she will be very happy.

Andrea Update

Andrea's latest blood panel and urinalysis came back mostly normal. We do think she has some neurological damage based on the way she walks but don't expect it to slow her down. She did have two litterbox accidents last week which could easily be attributed to everything she has gone through, but we need to be sure this won't be an ongoing problem. The veterinarian has recommended we wait a few more weeks before placing her for adoption. New photos have been posted to her album. Thank you for supporting the CAWS animals and making it possible for Andrea to have a second chance at life.

Andrea's Story

Community Animal Welfare Society rescued Andrea, a cat from a West Valley shelter with an extraordinary story.

Andrea is one of numerous cats who were to be euthanized due to lack of space. She was placed in a gas chamber along with several other cats, and the gas was turned on. When the shelter employee opened the chamber door afterward, Andrea was still alive. But her ordeal did not ...end there. She was gassed a second time sealed in a black plastic bag, and placed in a 37 degree cooler (this is a common shelter procedure). About 45 minutes later, when two shelter employees were placing in the cooler a 14 year old dog that had been euthanized because of ill health; they heard a small meow coming from the bag. A moment later, there was a louder meow.

The employees opened the bag to find Andrea staring at them, wide eyed and terrified but very much alive. The shelter employees considered trying to euthanize her again, but they simply could not allow this strong spirited cat, who had already been "killed" twice, tied up in a bag, and placed in a cooler, where she had vomited and defecated, to be euthanized or traumatized any further.

As soon as she was lifted from the bag, Andrea started purring and rubbing against the employee who was now determined to save her. After getting permission, a shelter employee rushed Andrea to Orchard Animal Clinic, which works with CAWS. Andrea is now safe and appears to be in good condition.  She will need some additional veterinary care before she will be ready to be spayed and adopted out.

While this story about an animal’s tremendous will to live is extraordinary, the practice of euthanizing animals in a gas chamber is all too ordinary. It is very disturbing to realize how many other animals have survived the gas chamber, only to be gassed again or, worse, placed in a plastic bag alive and left to suffocate in a cold cooler.

CAWS will be filing a GRAMA with the West Valley City, and we are reviewing options for filing a complaint regarding inappropriate treatment of this cat by the shelter. But it must be recognized that the animal shelters have the very difficult task of dealing with the unwanted animals in our communities. Ultimately, the practice of euthanizing animals is a tragic result of pet over population caused in general by people who do not spay or neuter their pets or abandon them. The choice by a municipality to use a gas chamber as the primary form of destroying animals is another issue, brought again to the forefront by Andrea's story, and that should be addressed by our communities.

CAWS encourages you to make a difference. Adopt or foster an animal from a shelter to save it from death. Volunteer or donate funds to a no kill organization like CAWS so they can rescue more animals. Contact your City Council or local animal shelter to see if the shelter uses gas as a general practice and object to the use of gas to dispose of animals. At the very least, request that they switch to more humane practices. Even better, organize a group of people in your community to take action. The goal must be to change the thinking of governments that allow such mistreatment of animals; they surely don’t deserve to be victims of such cruelty. Do what you can to help today.