Middle of November 2017, I received a call
from Daegu Buk-Gu’s citizen centre staff. The
staff explained a citizen had discovered two kittens in a tied plastic bag, in
a bin on a hiking trail. The person planned to care for the 2 kittens, but both
were feral and unmanageable. Instead the kittens were brought to the centre. Our
cat shelter had been running beyond capacity for quite some time. Some of the
rescued cats were kept at my personal residence (KAPS director) and some staff
too were fostering animals too. It was a very difficult time to accept more
animals. But I received the call and could hear the two
kittens crying in the background. I chose to accept these two kittens. “Well, I’ll have to tell the staff tomorrow…” Me: “Well, we
have to rescue as many as we’re able to admit!” Staff: .........! (inside thought: “Who can stop you when you’re persistent...?”). . . . As director, I am well aware KAPS experiences staff
shortages and the challenge of managing the health of a large cat population. Restricting
KAPS’ animal intake aids the health of the cats already in residence. Each time
KAPS accepts a new animal, we must balance the risks and benefits.
So,
the two cats were kept at my residence until they had completed 3 rounds of
vaccination and both had received desexing surgery. ▲ Day
the cats arrived at the director’s residence
In
the image, you can see the kitten’s big ears. The kittens were not yet 2 months
old at the time of their rescue. The fear of humans and feral behaviour was
equal to an adult cat! The kittens bit…and hissed…and ran
and jumped here and there. Where did
this fear of humans come from? Did you learn this all from a feral queen? Smart
mother… Who in
the world would put you in a bag, tie it and throw it in a trashcan?
Fortunately, these two kittens developed
no health issues. ▲ The
kittens eating food as soon as they felt safe. The kittens were named Bong and
Ji, together forming the Korean word for ‘plastic bag’ (봉지).
I can be blamed for the terribly naming
effort! The kittens grew into strong and
healthy adult cats – though we have no further images. KAPS staff wished to
avoid stressing the two now-adult cats with cameras.
The
two cats have adjusted to their life at the shelter and live comfortably.
Ji is as ever fearful of people
and therefore adoption is, naturally, out of the question. He will live out his
life here at our cat shelter. But
Bong… After living at the shelter and steadily becoming
exposed to more persons, his fear seemed to dissolve.
At
first, he followed only me around. These days he plays with our volunteers and
can easily be approached.
▲Bong,
our September model in our 2019 calendar.
Bong
and Ji, we wish you a long and healthy life!
