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> Residents booked into the Last Post byloving owners find a pur-fect
Maybe I'm just in a grouchy mood today, but any owner who "books" their
cat into a retirement home doesn't sound too loving to me! I wouldn't
dream of getting rid of any of my cats only because they were old, they
live with me "as long as we both shall live"!!
I'm not impressed, although it made interesting reading -- no flames
intended at the person who entered the base note, thanks for sharing it
with us. It's the "loving owners" who deserve the flamethrower.
Jan who_loves_her_cats_at_any_age
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| The radio station I listen to in the morning on the way to work had the
manager on and what they do is let people check there animals in, so
that when the owner dies or if anything happens to them, the animals
will be cared for and not put down.
That's why the average age of the cats are fairly old (not kittens)
because they are from loving families who can no longer keep their
cats. He said that some of the other reasons that cats are left there
are allergic children, elderly people having to move into housing that
doesn't allow pets and more.
In it's incomplete form, the idea isn't too clear, but it really is a
wonderful sounding alternative!
Michelle
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| Sorry I left everyone dangling, I had to leave quickly Friday
and couldn't do anything yesterday. Here's the rest of the story:
The Last Post was founded in 1982 at the behest of Pegeen
Fitzgerald,a New York radio talk show host and animal rights advocate.
Fitzgerald's N.Y. city apartment had become a favorite drop-off
point for cats whose owners had become too old or too ill to care
for them. At first, Fitzgerald and he late husband (and co-host),
Edward, kept the pets or found homes for them. Eventually, though,
as the numbers grew, she decided to set up a special place for them.
Fitzgerald persuaded the Millenium Guild, an animal welfare
group, to spend about $100,000 for the premises. Before she died
this past January, Fitzgerald set up a foundation that contributes
to the hospice; the rest of the $30,00-a-month upkeep comes from
donations.
Boibeaux says that there are quite a few trust-fund kitties
(one owner left a $2 million bequest to the home), but most are
hardship cases. "The owners often can't even give us the $50 or
so it costs to get them through the first couple of weeks here."
Instead, he says, owners often donate furniture or bed linens.
The Last Post could accommodate far more than it's maximum of
325 cats, but fitzgerald was adamant that the surroundings be pleasant
and home like. "If you overcrowd them,"says Boibeaux, "they get
cranky and crabby, especially on rainy days when the can't go outside.
Keeping the numbers down leaves them free to do what they want,
and they really don't have anything to fight about. They're no
different from people when it comes to this: It's hard for them
to adjust to a rest home."
But adjust they have. "There's nothing keeping them here.
The door or window is usually left open at night so they can take
off. But they don't. In my 4 1/2 years here, we've had almost
1,900 cats, and there's only one I cant't account for. He just
dissapeared. To this day, I think someone made off with him."
BE back later to finish this---Promise!!!
Debbi
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| I'M BACK!!!
As at all retirement homes, death visits the Last Post regularly.
"We all get very attached to the cats," says Boibeaux, whose original
ambition was to be a veterinarian. "It's hard when one dies, not
just on the owner if he or she is still alive, but on us. We lose
one or two a month usually, but every now and then it will get bad.
I had to take two weeks off last year; I was shell-shocked. We
had lost too many cats in a row, and I had to get away." The cats
that depart for the Happy Mouse-hunting Grounds (mostly from old
age, but occasionally with the aid of a vet) are given a brief service
at a nearby pet cemetery and are creamated.
But there are welcome callers too. The grounds include
accommodations for human visitors. And for owners who can't make
the trip, Boibeaux has installed a speaker telephone so they can
at least cahat with their pets. "We bring the cat into the main
office," says Roger Garner, 34, who was Pegeen's chauffeur and is
now the maintenance man at the Last Post, "and hold the phone up
to its head."
And there are other visitors too-- the raccoons and opossums
that come in from the woods late at night. "They wander in and eat
the cats' food," repots Boibeaux. "The cats don't care. For them
it's like having friends over for dinner."
Written by Michael Neill, S. Avery Brown
in Falls Village, CT.
I assume that the home is in this village, I would like to find
it and see for myself. It's not far from here (Westfield) but I've
never heard of the place!! Maybe I'll take a ride sometime soon.
This place seems like a good idea, maybe we should find someway
to support it or something like it. It's better than bringing them
to the vet or the SPCA.
Debbi
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