S P C A

Although I commend Tompkins county SPCA for remaining a no-​kill shelter, I can not say that I support their adoption practices. While frequenting a local classified section I came across an ad from an individual in desperate need of someone to watch her not-​yet-​adopted kittens (under 10 weeks) while she went away for Thanksgiving break. As I had the space (and pet sit for a living) I offered to care for the kittens in my home. Surprisingly, during one of my visits to the SPCA a few days later, I overheard a conversation between the front desk volunteer and two visitors. The younger of the visitors turned out to be the girl looking for care for the kittens; the volunteer seemed opposed to adopting these kittens to the girl, and was noting that she’d somehow «lost» another cat in the past. Who would be caring for these kittens while the girl was away? To my surprise, she said she’d already arranged care with a professional pet sitter, when in fact she hadn’t replied to my offer of care at all. I approached the volunteer when the girl had gone back to get her kittens and informed her of the situation. She seemed alarmed, but in the end the girl was still allowed to adopt both kittens, who stayed with me over the break (better safe than sorry, I figured).
I was fairly shocked that the SPCA chose to adopt to a teenage girl who admitted not only to losing pets (not through death) in the past, but who blatantly lied to them regarding the welfare of the animals over the holidays. I hope this isn’t a constant with the SPCA, and that they better screen adoption applicants in the future.