Conan Hysteria and a Challenge

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Mary wrote:
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I am just shaking my head in disbelief at how this online rescue
attempt has snowballed into hundreds of posts, and so many people
actually clamoring to adopt, or aid in the adoption, of one cat.

Nobody is doing any of that now. We're just being sad that he has
been in a cage for over a week because Monica is on a power trip
and turned down three wonderful adoptors.

I read your entire post and find it really depressing. Your assumptions
are way off base with regard to how many people do what for their
local shelters, and your take on this entire chain of events is
misguided
at best.

This cat was on his way to a good home--a local home--when Monica
Towle persuaded Dan Mahoney to lie to us and put him in a cage in
a kennel for over a week. It's upsetting to those of us who have come
to care about this cat. If they all look alike and are alike and "what
is
all this HYSTERIA about and etc," then what is clear is that you are
too jaded to be of any help.

No, I don't think I'm jaded. At least I hope not. I admit my
assumptions could be way off base, because I have found it impossible
to keep up with every post and every player.
What I *do* see, are a whole bunch of extremely compassionate and
generous people concentrating on one cat. I can imagine what could be
accomplished, and how many *other* cats could be helped if those
resources were spread out, and not concentrated on one cat.
Sherry


Well good for you. I am a pragmatist. Ideas are nice, but I tend to like to
address
the concrete reality, decide what is wrong and take effective steps to fix
it.
Finding someone local to get the cat, sending money for him to do so, and
finding a wonderful home, also local, was my solution. I did all of those
things.
The only reason this problem for this one little cat is not solved is
because
Monica Towle is a hard-hearted asshole and Dan Mahoney is a lying sack
of ****. Am I upset about that? You bet, when I think of that little cat and
how he must feel. I understand human nature--it's why I generally like
cats better. Monica may revel in having "bested" me or whatever, as long
as she gets off her miserable, sanctimonious ass and gets this cat out of
that goddamned cage.

As for what you call a "frenzy" and "hysteria," much in the way Philip the
Half-dead refers to others who can still actually summon compassion
and concern for anything but themselves: I have seen nothing like that
here, and your choice of words tells me that I probably should not
waste my breath on this. If I have to explain the difference between
compassion and concern and "hysteria" to you you're likely never
going to get it anyway. Do what you do what you do--but as far as
this cat goes, you're either part of the solution or you're part of the
****ing problem. Find something better to do than sit there and
condescend to those of us who have tried hard to make a difference
for him.

"PawsForThought" wrote in message
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Meghan Noecker wrote:
On 4 Jul 2005 23:26:54 -0700, wrote:

What I *do* see, are a whole bunch of extremely compassionate and
generous people concentrating on one cat. I can imagine what could be
accomplished, and how many *other* cats could be helped if those
resources were spread out, and not concentrated on one cat.


If you get involved in a story, you want to know how it ends.

A lot of people were involved in this story, whether it was offering a
home, working on a flight, offering to donate money, calling the
shelter, or just thinking good thoughts. Some people donated to their
local shelters in honor of Conan.

But all of those people cared enough to want to know what happened to
him.

To have somebody come in (or somebody change the plans) and then go
silent on the issue is pretty frustrating.

Imagine going to the movies, paying your money, spending 2 hours
getting entrenched in the story, and then the movie cuts off with no
ending. Chances are, you'd be upset. And you wouldn't want a refund.
You'd rather just see the end of the movie. That is much more
satisfying.

Well, here we have a real life story, and the ending of this story is
more important than some fictional story. We have invested, our time
and emotion into this story, only to have it taken away.

Most people here just want to know what happened. What *really*
happened. We'd also like to know if this is a tragedy or a happy
ending.

It was looking like a tragedy, then a happy ending, and then we
weren't sure. Then we kept seeing various happy endings tossed in the
trash.

I really believe that most people just want to know what happened, and
they want to see an ending to the story, in other words, Conan getting
a permanent home. Until that ending happens, I doubt many people will
be satisfied.

Very well put, Meghan. I think you hit the nail right on the head. I
think knowing that this kitty is finally in a forever home would put a
lot of people's minds at ease, instead of playing guessing games. What
I don't understand is why it has to be so cloak and dagger. Why not be
up front and let people know the progress of the cat.

As to other cats in shelters, I think a lot of us are involved, in one
way or another, with our local rescue leagues/shelters. We may not all
post about it, but that doesn't mean we're not doing anything for other
needy and deserving animals.

just my 2 1/2 cents,
Lauren


And, the "what about the other cats in the shelters" comment,
along with the "others do this without calling attention to themselves"
comment are the last refuge of those who want to find a way to say
that mobiizing to help Conan had to be a bad thing. However,
horse**** still smells like horse**** no matter how you package it.

Mary wrote:


And, the "what about the other cats in the shelters" comment,
along with the "others do this without calling attention to themselves"
comment are the last refuge of those who want to find a way to say
that mobiizing to help Conan had to be a bad thing. However,
horse**** still smells like horse**** no matter how you package it.

What I think I'm smelling is a direct quote that nobody ever actually
said. I certainly never said start quote others do this without
calling attemtion to themselves end quote.

I don't recall that specific quote from anyone else, either.

Sherry

wrote in message
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Mary wrote:


And, the "what about the other cats in the shelters" comment,
along with the "others do this without calling attention to themselves"
comment are the last refuge of those who want to find a way to say
that mobiizing to help Conan had to be a bad thing. However,
horse**** still smells like horse**** no matter how you package it.

What I think I'm smelling is a direct quote that nobody ever actually
said. I certainly never said start quote others do this without
calling attemtion to themselves end quote.

I don't recall that specific quote from anyone else, either.

Sherry


When you don't read the posts, what do you expect. Your good
buddy Lyn has made this claim as has your best friend Cheryl.
You know I like you Sherry, regardless of how much you ****
me off at times. But THIS time I do not find your comments
helpful. We had a little one-cat problem and together formed
a nice solution. Find someone to get him, send the money to
get him out and transported, find a wonderful local home. It
was all done--until Monica Towel convinced Dan Mahoney
to betray us. Now the cat has been in a cage for over a week
when he did not have to be. It is simple, and it stinks no matter
what spin you give it.

CatNipped wrote:
People go off on one or two week
vacations all the time and leave their pets in a kennel. As long as the
kennel is clean and well-run and the pets are cared for properly, then the
pets are perfectly fine. That being said though, I think it is a bit
mean-spirited to withhold all information on a cat with whom so many people
have become emotionally involved, or to deny that cat a forever-home simply
because of group politics (if that is the case).

I agree on both counts. I'm fuzzy on the reasons some people were
turned down. I just have to assume there's stuff we don't know.
This isn't applicable to the Conan deal, but the outpouring of concern
alone I can't help thinking about 300 neglected dogs we ended up
seizing. It made media headlines, even made the national news. People
clamored to adopt those dogs. They fought over them. They came from
nearby states on adoption day. The phone rang about them constantly,
and we got over $40,000 in donations for those dogs. One newspaper
story mentioned they were so matted they had to be shaved, and it was
early spring, still very cool weather. The next week we got enundated
with dog sweaters, some hand-knitted!
It was wonderful to see that. But it made me wish for just a *fraction*
of that concern and generosity on an everyday basis, for the regular
dogs/cats.

Sherry

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CatNipped wrote:
People go off on one or two week
vacations all the time and leave their pets in a kennel. As long as the
kennel is clean and well-run and the pets are cared for properly, then
the
pets are perfectly fine. That being said though, I think it is a bit
mean-spirited to withhold all information on a cat with whom so many
people
have become emotionally involved, or to deny that cat a forever-home
simply
because of group politics (if that is the case).

I agree on both counts. I'm fuzzy on the reasons some people were
turned down. I just have to assume there's stuff we don't know.

Bull****. I have the entire correspondence between Monica and the
San Diego guy, and Meghan has told us all with regard to why her
sister was turned down. Do not give credit where credit is not due.


This isn't applicable to the Conan deal, but the outpouring of concern
alone I can't help thinking about 300 neglected dogs we ended up
seizing.

Yeah, yeah, we get it. Blah blah blah.

Mary wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...


Mary wrote:


And, the "what about the other cats in the shelters" comment,
along with the "others do this without calling attention to
themselves" comment are the last refuge of those who want to find a
way to say that mobiizing to help Conan had to be a bad thing.
However, horse**** still smells like horse**** no matter how you
package it.

What I think I'm smelling is a direct quote that nobody ever actually
said. I certainly never said start quote others do this without
calling attemtion to themselves end quote.

I don't recall that specific quote from anyone else, either.

Sherry


When you don't read the posts, what do you expect. Your good
buddy Lyn has made this claim as has your best friend Cheryl.
You know I like you Sherry, regardless of how much you ****
me off at times. But THIS time I do not find your comments
helpful. We had a little one-cat problem and together formed
a nice solution. Find someone to get him, send the money to
get him out and transported, find a wonderful local home. It
was all done--until Monica Towel convinced Dan Mahoney
to betray us. Now the cat has been in a cage for over a week
when he did not have to be. It is simple, and it stinks no matter
what spin you give it.

Mary: CERTAINLY you just made the most self serving SPIN to date! Wow.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am just shaking my head in disbelief at how this online rescue
attempt has snowballed into hundreds of posts, and so many people
actually clamoring to adopt, or aid in the adoption, of one cat.

It's a good thing. He's a lucky cat; no matter how many people don't
like the methods implemented, he has the ultimate second chance.


Thank you Sherry for highlighting the most important aspect of this saga. I
truly do not understand the absurdity that continues to expand and
intensify. From my perspective what truly matters is that one cat of
thousands was rescued, is now in a place where he is very well looked after
and pampered, is no longer at any risk whatsoever of being killed or
languishing in a shelter cage, and has several very dedicated people working
at finding him a wonderful permanent home which for them translates into a
good match for *him*. That, for now, for truly caring and compassionate
people should not only be enough but reason to be happy and relieved.

I have no knowledge, except for what was and has consequently been posted,
of what "the plan" was. At the time of my involvement in this issue, I read
with incredulity Mary's "we can't save this cat" post. It was impossible for
me to understand why after all of the very public effort put into rescuing
Conan, a group of people was giving up because of bruised egos, speculations
about conversations, and lies about shelter policy. My involvement began at
that point, thus everything that had happened prior to that was not relevant
to me in terms of a successful rescue and, under the potentially ominous
circumstances, a waste of time to analyze and ponder over. If those in
whatever way involved have issues with others, it has nothing to do with me.
I neither asked anyone to lie nor could I have done so. Giving me that kind
of power is ridiculous as well as insulting to whomever I am supposed to
have convinced. I did not know the details of any concrete "plan" beyond the
possible scenarios that had been posted.

As to the "secrecy", please people - have an objective look at the frenzy
going on since the issue of Conan's return to the OC shelter and subsequent
rescue came up. Look at what happened and is continuing to happen when a
positive update is posted. No matter what facts are provided, nothing is
believed. The critics make up their own version of things to fuel the fire,
so why bother? The anger about a plan that did not come to fruition is so
pervasive, the truth doesn't seem to matter to those involved and is not
heard. It is more important to vent this anger by attacking those who are
doing the right thing, rather than allowing us to do our work without
harrassment and threats, having patience, and letting this matter lie until
his permanent home is found. I have been called a Nazi both outright and in
a not-so-cleverly disguised manner by Mary. If she only knew how ludicrous
this is and how utterly ignorant this makes her look generally, but even
more so given who I am and where my energies go in terms of human rights and
animal welfare work. She took photos from 2 personal albums and inserted
them into another album without permission. Personal contact information was
disseminated without permission. Speculations are going on about how many
cameras were used, whose car it is, how much Conan is suffering, etc. Is it
any wonder that we made the decision to do our work in the background as
much as possible? No matter what we say, it is not believed and distorted
versions and lies ensue and expand ad nauseam.. Being the target of
unwarranted and completely untrue accusations is unpleasant, but in the
larger picture, really irrelevant. We *know* that Conan is safe, happy, and
healthy.

Every moment that the squabbling goes on, every moment wasted posting
nonsense and speculation, a cat is being killed somewhere because
insufficient resources are channeled into reducing pet overpopulation and
into keep them alive until adopted. Every moment, there is an opportunity to
choose to make a difference.

M.

...snipped....

"cmtowle" wrote in message
news:Jczye.1869760$Xk.336019@pd7tw3no...

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am just shaking my head in disbelief at how this online rescue
attempt has snowballed into hundreds of posts, and so many people
actually clamoring to adopt, or aid in the adoption, of one cat.

It's a good thing. He's a lucky cat; no matter how many people don't
like the methods implemented, he has the ultimate second chance.


Thank you Sherry for highlighting the most important aspect of this saga.

Bull****. The most important "aspect of this saga" is that Conan would
be with Greg where he should be had you not intervened. Because
of you and the duplicity of Dan Mahoney, Conan is still in a cage and
has been for over a week. Spin it any way you like, that is the truth.

"cmtowle" wrote in message
news:Jczye.1869760$Xk.336019@pd7tw3no...


Every moment that the squabbling goes on, every moment wasted posting
nonsense and speculation, a cat is being killed somewhere because
insufficient resources are channeled into reducing pet overpopulation and
into keep them alive until adopted. Every moment, there is an opportunity
to
choose to make a difference.


Mmm hmm. We were poised to make a difference in Conan's life--
had the great new home, the means of transport, and Dan's
promise to pick him up and take him there--when you intervened
and made sure this little cat would remain homeless and caged
now for going on two weeks. You do it one cat at a time, Monica.
Your behavior in turning down several good homes for this cat
after you convinced Dan to break his promise to us is all people
need to know in order to know exactly what you are. You cannot
lie your way out of that, or spin it, or finesse it. It is a simple fact.