06/09/2026
I will cut people off from receiving help.
There is a person who lives in White Cloud that my organization has been helping for almost a year. We will call her Debra because I don’t believe in doxxing people. She doesn’t drive or have a running vehicle. She bred Siamese cats for a couple of decades and survived on the income although her story would be she was doing a community service by breeding ‘special cats for special needs kids’. She finally sent her prized female cat to he spayed last year. She continues to keep unaltered cats for the purpose of potentially breeding them. She has also taken in strays. We have fixed a total of 6 cats. My volunteer does all the transport between White Cloud and Byron Center.
In early May, we fixed one of Debra’s strays who she claimed to have a home for. We also fixed another one of her Siamese cats; a two year old male. The cat did not enjoy being with us, but we did not notice any health issues nor did the spay neuter clinic that did his neuter. She texted me with concerns about his health as he was peeing blood and not eating and extremely lethargic a couple days after getting home. I told her it sounds like he needs to see a vet.
She ended up texting and calling me numerous times late Saturday evening saying that we had hurt her cat, that we caused this, that we needed to fix it, that he was fine when she sent him to us. Understanding that she was distraught about the health of her cat, I brushed it off, even though it was frankly out of line. Screenshots are in the comments.
She ended up getting an Uber to take her cat to the ER Vet in Grand Rapids on that Saturday evening. When I called her on Sunday morning, she said the cat had been diagnosed with FIP. She was sent home with a couple days worth of the antiviral necessary and an Rx for more. I worked at my shelter for several hours on Sunday and then I drove up to White Cloud with a bag of fluids, prescription food to force feed, and about $250 in cash, which was all that I could find around the shelter in donations. I felt horrible about her cat. I also offered to have him hospitalized at our expense.
When I arrived at her home, her cat was actively dying. This was the first time I had been to her home myself. It was as expected. A dilapidated trailer on a piece of land with garbage and broken down vehicles. I didn’t take a picture of it because I also believe in respecting people’s privacy. She opened her bedroom window and called me over. The smell of cat urine was overpowering, and I could see that the room was just full of trash and disgusting bedding. At that time, I was still planning on continuing to help Debra with the stray cats outside and whatever other Siamese cats inside her trailer she would allow to be fixed. I offered to drive her and her cat down to Grand Rapids ER Vet so that he could be euthanized. She declined and he wouldn’t have made it anyway. He died 15 minutes after I left.
We didn’t give her cat FIP. She has corona virus in her house and among the cats she breeds. Getting neutered sent him spiraling. I will not accept responsibility for things I don’t cause. I go above and beyond and in this case I absolutely did. She half ass apologized.
Fast forward to this week when she messages me saying she has arranged for some mothers and kittens to be brought to her and wants us to come get them. She had live traps for several weeks prior to this, during which time she trapped zero cats. In fact, they were just sitting out in the grass and the rain when I came to her home. She is at home 24/7. So I had my volunteer take the traps back so that we can move on to other people. I responded that I could help with spay neuter, but we are not able to take in any more cats or kittens at this time. She said the one adult cat she had found a home for a couple months ago fell through, and asked me to take him. I did tell her I would take that cat. Her response?
“ Well if you’re not going to take them all why come for one?”
It was at this point I’d had enough of Debra‘s tone, attitude, and entitlement. And I didn’t hold back in my reply when I told her she lives in squalor, the cats in her trailer are suffering, and she needs to take accountability for her life. Yes, I knew full well what response that truth bomb would elicit. I received a detailed message about all of her physical ailments from the age of 14. Interestingly enough, those ailments didn’t prevent her from getting pregnant, raising a child, and breeding cats for 20 years in order to live off the income. If you want to live in filth and squalor, that is each person‘s prerogative. But when you are making animals, children, and elderly people live that way, then we have a problem. Calling it out doesn’t make me a villain and her my victim.
Don’t bring crap and entitlement to the people who work in rescue. Nobody is asking you to kiss our ass. We are expecting common courtesy, cooperation, and respect. Gratitude is a nice bonus.
If there is anyone in the Newaygo area who is willing to help this person, she’s been relying on only us for all of this time. If you’d like her information so that you can help her, please message our page. There are a lot of strays and kittens and the usual mess of a rural area.
