January 2000 Rescue in New York

One of the larger rescues that UMCCRL participated in occurred in January 2000 in upstate New York.

At the end of 1999 a woman passed away at her home in upstate New York. Emergency personnel discovered a large number of Maine Coon cats in the premises and contacted the local shelter.

Shelter personnel, the United Maine Coon Cat Rescue League, and other concerned cat fanciers and rescue workers visited the premises. The cats definitely appeared to be Maine Coons. They were loose in the house and a number of them had upper respiratory infections which were not life-threatening and which subsequently responded well to treatment.

UMCCRL assisted the shelters with efforts to care for, foster, and place the cats. Each cat's health and temperament was assessed so that appropriate placement measures could be undertaken as soon as possible. The cats were a little frightened and confused, but their temperaments otherwise seemed OK. Their physical condition was generally good. Most of their coats evidenced care and grooming, and their weight was good. They appeared to have been reasonably well cared for. Preliminary tests of a number of the cats for feline leukemia (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, "feline AIDS") were negative. No means of identifying individual cats was available, and some of the cats were unaltered. Therefore they could not be placed with papers, and any cats that could not be altered before placement were placed with neuter/spay agreements.

UMCCRL alerted the on-line Maine Coon community of the situation on January 7, 2000 and posted regular updates of the rescue efforts over the next several days. A story about the rescue also ran in the local newspaper. By the end of the following week, all of the cats had been placed.

Many donations were received, which helped defray the costs of caring for the cats and for veterinary attention they were given prior to placement. UMCCRL thanks everyone for their generous outpouring of support during the cats' time of need. It helped ensure a happy outcome for the many cats involved!

Related Photos and News Stories

• Rescue photos taken by the folks at the Montgomery County SPCA.
  
  
• A news story about this rescue, "Cat-astrophe averted," appeared in the local newspaper, The Recorder, on January 8, 2000.
  
  The newspaper published a follow-up story, "Cats retrieved in Fort Plain have all found new homes," on January 12. 
  

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The United Maine Coon Cat Rescue League is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit, volunteer organization in New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) made up of breeders and fanciers of the Maine Coon Cat. Your gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. UMCCRL was chartered to educate the public on spay and neuter, and proper cat care; and to provide rescue, foster care, and placement for homeless Maine Coon Cats.

The logo kitty was derived from a photograph provided by the
Wayne County Humane Society, Wooster, Ohio,
and used with their permission.

Photos are Copyright © 2000 - 2004 their respective owners.
All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2000 - 2004 United Maine Coon Cat Rescue League.
All rights reserved.