Friends Of Cats
Ripoff! This organization does not stand by its mission statement. I was an employee for three years and saw many people severely overcharged and profit was made even though this in non-profit

I worked for Friends Of Cats, a non-profit organization for three years. I have seen so many things that are corrupt with this organization that I felt compelled to let everyone and anyone considering adopting a pet from this shelter that there are some things to be aware of. Also, this report is being submitted to warn all those who want to relinquish their cat to this shelter.

First of all, I would like to say that this is a wonderful cause and it is a private organization. This organization was started back in 1927 and for years its mission statement was upheld and completely honored by all who ran this shelter. However, that all changed when a woman named Barbara Auckland took over as shelter manager in 2001. She and her head med-tech, Robin Johnson, who had been employed there for several years took what originally started out as a good cause to help homeless cats, into nothing but a realm of complete greed.

I want everyone to know that Friends Of Cats is not at all what it represents itself to be since these two selfish individuals run this shelter. The mission statement claims to take in abandoned cats and homeless cats and ensure their health until they are able to find permanent homes. This is not at all the case 90 percent of the time.

Let's start with the relinquishment program, and you will see the point I am going to demonstrate on how much selfish greed is really involved here. To relinquish a cat, there must be a space available, as this is a private shelter, and they can only take in as many cats as there is a quarantine space for. All cats are subjected to be in quarantine for at least five days to ensure that they are healthy enough to be released into the population of other cats.

There is a relinquishment fee of $80 to help cover any shots needed and to continue to support the cause. However, there are guidelines. Any cats five and under are $80. Then if they are over that age, the fee increases, as understandable because the cat is older. There is also a program called "Lifetime Care" where fees begin at $1500 and could go up to $10,000. This program is for cats who are to live in the retiremnent area of the shelter and/or cats that were willed to the organization.

Backing up now, if you recall the mission statement I mentioned above, you will see its relevance now.in the office, when people called about relinquishment of their cat, I always had to check with Barbara or Robin to see about space. I also had to check with them to make sure they wanted this cat. Yes, the truth is revealed to let all know that they DO NOT HELP ALL ABANDONED CATS, even if there is space, as the mission statement implies. This is a matter of a very selective process.

Many times if someone wanted to relinquish a cat that was black or black and white, I was told to tell them we had "no space available". Many times, if the cat was five years old, I was told again to say, "no space available". However, if someone called and said I have a five year old persian or a 8 year old Himilayan, then, age didn't matter, nor color, because the cat was a SPECIAL BREED. Friends of Cats also claims not to recognize breed. I cannot tell you how untrue this is!

Now, we get into the money factor. As I mentioned there is a regular relinquishment fee of $80, and Lifetime Care fees that range from $1500 to 10,000. These fees are not the problem, as these programs are actually listed and described in the FRIENDS OF CATS information tri-fold sheet available at the shelter, and also these programs are mentioned on the website.

However, there is a SPECIAL little program called "IMMEDIATE CARE" that is conveniently not listed anywhere on the website and in the information sheet. Why? This is a special way to "BUY YOUR KITTY A SPACE INTO THE SHELTER". Often times, I was not only told to say we had no space, when in fact, we absolutely did, but I was also told to offer the cat a space in the IMMEDIATE CARE PROGRAM.

There is no such area at this shelter for the IMMEDIATE CARE PROGRAM CATS, and the fee is $1500. This fee is imposed on those who have cats that aren't what is considered special or young enough to take in. I said one time to Barbara, shelter manager, "wow, that is alot of money, will people pay this"? She said, "if they want their cat in here bad enough they will, it's called BUYING YOUR WAY INTO THE SHELTER". Those were her exact words.

Can you imagine having to go through the stress of giving up your animal to begin with and wanting to do the right thing by relinquishing the kitty to a no-kill shelter, and then being told the fee is $1500. I have had so many people cry on the phone to me saying thier only choice would be to put their cat to sleep due to their not being able to afford this outrageous price. Keep in mind, that many times these cats were perfectly healthy, and maybe 4 years old and over, and were of no threat to cost the shelter enough money to impose this type of fee.

Also, wrong color cats were offered this fee as well. Now, here is the clincher, this organization is non-profit, and many times when people would PAY this fee of $1500, the cat was adopted out for $80. So, now you can see, there is not only a fraud based non-existent program offered for $1500, but a major profit made as well.

Also, I would like to stress that adoption procedures are corrupt as well. Many times, if Barbara or Robin simply did not like an applicant, even though they passed the pre-screening adoption questionairre, they would be DENIED. There are so many more things that go on at this shelter that I would literally take up ten pages to reveal it all if I could. I just wanted to relay the most important stuff in this report, and that is, a non-profit organization who actually DOES make profit, and turns away the very beings they started the organization for due to age, color and breed.

PLEASE, if anyone out there knows how these people can be stopped, and someone who has a heart can take over and run this shelter the way it should be, then do it, or let me know, because it sickens me that this continues to go on. No one, not even the board of directors has done anything about this. Yet, so many people including former volunteers, employees, visitors of the shelter have been affected by the greed and the poor treatment that these women inflict on those of us who truly care about the organization and the cats it is supposed to be there to protect.

FRIENDS OF CATS..."YOU CAN'T BUY LOVE, BUT YOU CAN ADOPT IT"... Is a slogan available on t-shirts, merchandise, and on the shelter van. However, more it would read more correct if written like this..."YOU CAN'T BUY LOVE, BUT YOU CAN BUY YOUR WAY INTO THE SHELTER IF YOU HAVE MONEY"... Anyone else, let perfectly healthy cat be euthanized because its too old, wrong color or the wrong breed. Friends of cats??? Hmmm... No, they are not FRIENDS OF CATS. They are friends with all that is GREEN

Allison Chaynz
San Diego, California
U.S.A.

Company: Friends Of Cats
Country: USA
State: California
City: El Cajon
Address: 15587 Olde Highway 80
Phone: 6195610361

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