Furrever Friends Rescue and Volunteers, Inc.

UPDATE (10/2/11):  Pretty Princess has found a home! A kind and compassionate person heard our pleas for help on behalf of Pretty Princess, and has adopted her.  Princess went to her new “forever” home this afternoon.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about Pretty Princess.  Your efforts paid off!

=========================================

DEPTFORD, NJ: CAT ABANDONED BY HOMELESS FAMILY AT PET SUPPLY STORE, LEFT OVERNIGHT IN BOX

A two-page letter attached to her carrier tells her story: Hoping that a new family would be found, “Pretty Princess” the calico cat was abandoned at the front doors of a pet supply store by her humans after they lost their home.  But unless an adopter comes forward, this 6 year old cat – originally rescued from a dumpster as a three-week-old kitten – will be sent to the local county shelter.

In the early morning hours of September 27, Pretty Princess was discovered in a pet carrier outside of a pet supply store.  The store is unequipped to take in animals, and their policy mandates that cats and dogs left on their doorstep be picked up by the local animal shelter.  Instead of contacting the shelter, however, store management woke up Suzanne Pomeroy, a volunteer with Furrever Friends Rescue and Volunteers, Inc. (FFRV), with hopes they could help.

But the foster volunteers with FFRV are currently overwhelmed with dozens of homeless kittens and special needs cats.  Pretty Princess has nowhere to go.

A detailed note left with Pretty Princess expressed that she was not taken to a shelter for fear that she might be euthanized. Volunteer Suzanne Pomeroy explained “I am sure the person who left this cat did not realize that discarding a pet like this is not only inhumane and dangerous, it is also illegal.”  The harsh truth is that retail stores cannot take in abandoned animals, and Pretty Princess may end up at the shelter anyway.

The most recent reports available indicate that Gloucester County Animal Shelter euathanizes 82% of the felines that enter its doors.  Pomeroy and the other volunteers feel it is critical for Pretty Princess’ survival that they find placement for her.  Although overwhelmed with caring for the cats currently in their program, FFRV volunteers are scrambling to find a safe place for this calico.  With dozens of calls coming in each week from people desperate to surrender their pets, the volunteers face the daily reality that they cannot help them all.

Jennifer Andersch, a founding member of the nonprofit, stated that Pretty Princess is being boarded at a vet for a few days while FFRV searches for a solution. “Although healthy, she appears to be in shock, confused and in mourning for the loss of her once happy life,” she said.

The note also indicated that Pretty Princess had brothers, but gives no information on where they may have been abandoned.

To obtain advice on how to find a home for an unwanted pet, or to adopt Pretty Princess, contact FFRV at www.furreverfriends.org, 856 845 8554 or info@furreverfriends.org. Donations can be made online or sent to: FFRV, PO BOX 141, Woodbury, NJ  08096

A $200 reward is being offered for the safe return of a lost cat that was adopted from Furrever Friends.  The cat, which answers to “Gertrude” or “Gerti,” is a female tortoiseshell with a beige nose who was last seen in the Lakewood Manor Apartments complex off Lakeland Rd. in Blackwood, NJ, on Saturday, Feb. 12.

If you have seen this cat in this vicinity anytime since Feb 12, please call 856-845-8554, or email info@furreverfriends.org.

UPDATE:  Gertrude was found safe and sound on March 17, and returned to her home.  Thanks to everyone who worked toward Gertrude’s safe recovery!

In the early morning hours of Feb. 27, Furrever Friends volunteers came across a lost pug while working to rescue a stray kitten. The little dog, severely underweight and very hungry, got itself caught in one of the team’s humane traps. One of the volunteers recalled seeing notices for “Sasha,” a lost pug in the area, posted on the online bulletin board Craigslist. Sure enough, when comparing the photos posted with the pug they had caught, the team realized it had a match!

The next morning, Sasha and her owners had an emotional family reunion at Delaware Valley Veterinary Hospital in Mullica Hill, NJ. Sasha had been missing since December 1, 2009… meaning that in addition to surviving traffic, bitter-cold temperatures, a lack of food and assorted other hazards, Sasha held on through three record-breaking blizzards during the harshest winter in the region’s history. Sasha’s fighting spirit helped her make it home… with a little help from Furrever Friends.

Rescued Pug

Last summer, FFRV volunteers found five friendly house cats abandoned by a small patch of bushes and poison oak behind a local strip mall. Despite risks such as a curious skunk, a black widow spider, rats and poison oak exposure, the volunteers rescued all five. Read more…

This January, a compassionate cat-lover adopted three of the five cats… one of whom is visually impaired. Thanks to her, they will now have the safe, loving “forever” home they deserve (she reports that all three are doing very well). And thanks to our rescue and foster volunteers, none of these five cats will ever again be in such a miserable, life-threatening situation; among other things, they were spared exposure to this winter’s record cold and snow! This is exactly the type of happy ending FFRV seeks for all the cats it rescues.