Hello AV Town Council and anyone else who is reading this:
I want to introduce you to a sweet little 8 week old kitten named Pete (formerly West #av241935). Pete was rescued from AVAS on Saturday, June 22, 2024 along with 6 other kittens, all estimated to be 8 weeks old. All of them under 2 pounds.
But this email is about Pete, the most critical one who didn't survive.
When I got this kitten, he weighed 1.21 pounds. 1.21 pounds for an 8 week old kitten is severely underweight. He was cool to the touch, dehydrated, emaciated, pale gums, eyes sunken in, with uncontrollable diarrhea. He was placed in a carrier with other kittens by the AVAS worker and so his condition was not noticed while I was at that shelter or while we were in the car heading to their temporary location (my house). But that person who loaded him into this carrier? She HAD to have noticed his condition. I'd love to put her name on this email however I can't make out her signature. It was when they were all let out of the carriers at my house that his condition was discovered and my daughter and I immediately went to work to help get him better.
Pete arrived at AVAS on either June 1st, June 4th, or June 6th, based on the tight paper collar that I removed from his neck. I use those dates as I am unsure which little collar was his. We removed the collars as quickly as possible because of how tight and uncomfortable they all looked with them on. I kept them all though, and those are the date ranges written on them, some faded but still visible if held under a light.
This kitten did NOT come into the shelter in this condition. If he had, he would've been dead within a few days of arrival. This means he deteriorated under the care of AVAS in the days he spent at the shelter (21 days, 18 days, or 16 days depending on which intake date was his).
I don't know the protocol of how AVAS workers take care of the animals in their care. I don't know how feeding schedules are or if workers take the time to ensure that everyone in their care is eating. I don't know that you have a vet on staff or that you even have a technician on staff. But the fact that this kitten was left to deteriorate in a cage is appalling. He was so skinny and frail, cold... and his meow was heartbreaking.
Pete had to be euthanized at an emergency vet clinic where me and my daughter spent 7 hours of our Sunday. There was nothing they could do for him.
Do you understand how excruciating it was to have to hand him over, so weak and frail, while he meowed at us?? He was so delicate and just the most precious little thing and his little meow was so raspy and sad. It makes me sick to my stomach to think he would've spent another day in that shelter without knowing a human's touch, or to be held close and have his sweet little head kissed. He would've been dead by today, Tuesday June 25th. The day AVAS opens back up to the public. He would've been another number of the "dead at the shelter" stat on AVAS's disposition report and then tossed in a barrel like trash, sent off to a rendering plant in San Bernardino.
Instead he is buried in our backyard under a Mesquite tree, next to flowers with a little marker my husband is making for him.
Another problem that I found with this kitten was the paperwork. I received the correct papers for all of the kitties except this one. His paperwork showed a black and white kitten with a dark chin. That paperwork belonged to a kitten named West. The picture was not Pete. Pete was grey and white and had grey markings around the left side of his little mouth that stretched across most of his nose with a tiny bit of grey on his chin. So the paperwork was not helpful with regards to Pete's weight, his intake date, or whether Pete was medically assessed upon intake OR whether he was given a FVRCP vaccine like the rest of them were on the 21st of June (as their paperwork states). HOWEVER, if AVAS simply got the picture wrong and the information on this paperwork is indeed Pete's record, well then they gave this kitten a FVRCP vaccine on June 13, but I am unable to determine his exact date of intake as it is nowhere on this paperwork. It would be irrelevant though because if Pete is 8 weeks old as of June 21st, which is what the medical notes say on this paperwork, then he was given the vaccine when he was about 5-6 weeks old (based on an an arrival of June 1, June 4, or June 6th) which is too soon for a kitten to even properly absorb the vaccine. Regardless, if someone administered a vaccine on this kitten anytime around June 13 or after that date, they would have noticed his condition as this emaciation and lethargy does not happen overnight... and I hope they would've notified a tech or a vet or whoever is there to medically assess kittens... which makes me think either:
A) He never got the vaccine, which would've been the best for him considering he weighed
1.21 pounds and was CLEARLY emaciated and lethargic requiring someone to bring attention to his condition... OR
B) someone gave him a vaccine and didn't take the time to concern themselves about his condition... which is beyond my comprehension.
I don't understand why someone would work in an animal shelter setting and not be in tune with the animals under their care or even just give a damn about them. They don't ask to be there! They are relying on human beings to do right by them.
This is atrocious. This is animal cruelty!
I made a promise to this little kitten that I would not let his death be in vain.
These animals are living, breathing, creatures. These are God's creatures. They feel pain and sadness. When they are sick, they feel that sick, the same way you or I feel that. I cannot imagine this kitten sitting in some cold cage, not having someone take the time to syringe feed him water or pedialyte, mashed up food. vitamins, or MEDICINE!! THIS KIND OF QUALITY OF CARE SHOULD BE IN AVAS'S BUDGET!!
Or at the very least, euthanize him to put him out of his misery. I know that's a standard there... why wasn't this little kitten given that same merciful treatment??? I have attached a picture of Pete. I want his little sweet little face to be known to the entire Town Council and anyone who is reading this.
AVAS needs to do better.