Someone I know who reads my blog from the Philippines posted an entry on her blog yesterday that I found really disturbing and upsetting. I felt the need to share the story here, to see if I can help her out.
You see, this is a problem involving a very young cat that’s in need of some serious help. I’m sure most people that have read this blog more than once know that I have a soft spot for cats. I have two myself, and one more that I passed along to my mom, to complete her household with warm furry happiness.
The kitten’s name is Boomer. She was named after the character Grace Park plays in the popular sci-fi show, Battlestar Galactica. According to the owner, this cat was abandoned and, even though it seemed sickly, she took it in to try to improve and hopefully save its life. Shortly after she took it in, she noticed that the kitten had an eye infection. After pulling together the money required for a visit to the vet, she took the kitten to town.
This is where things get aggravating. The vet she took the kitten to did an examination and then gave an eye drop prescription. The owner applied the eye drops as prescribed, but instead of improving, the kitten got worse, so she again raised funds and took the kitten to another vet. The second vet looked at the prescription and told her that it was completely improper for those eye drops to be used. They contained a steroid that, instead of making the kittens eyes better, made them horribly worse.
The infection had perforated the kittens eyes, leaving her blind and in constant pain as her eyes, quite literally, are rotting in her head. The owner was told that in order to save the kitten, a very delicate surgery was required to remove her eyes, before the infection spread any further. Yes, because of the first vet’s improper prescription, this kitten, Boomer, is now blinded for life.
If this had happened in the US, the first vet would be bending over backwards to do everything he could to avoid lawsuits and attention from animal welfare organizations. Unfortunately, this happened in the Philippines, where pleas to CARA and other animal welfare groups or more often ignored than not. I have first hand experience with that. I reported cases of animal cruelty to them when I lived there and never even received a response.
So, the only thing to do is to raise the funding for the required surgery, which will, hopefully, save the kitten’s life. She’ll never see again, due to the negligence of a so-called veterinarian, but even blind, she could potentially live a long and happy life. I’ve seen books about blind cats that are very happy and content with their lives, like Homer, from Homer’s Odyssey (@HomerBlindCat on Twitter).
Every cat deserves a chance, especially when that cat was maimed by a human.
The total funds required for this kitten to receive the surgery she needs is 5500 PHP (approximately 125 US Dollars). Between myself and the owner, 2,200 PHP (about 50 US Dollars) has been covered, so I’m hoping that I can bring this to people’s attention, people who are willing to pitch in and get this cat the surgery it needs to live.
That’s 75 US Dollars folks. I’d contribute the rest myself, but I have to pay for textbooks at the end of the month. If you have a few bucks to spare, even if it’s just 5 dollars, I’ve added a PayPal donation widget to simplify the matter for you.
https://giving.paypallabs.com/flash/badge.swf
Any donations made through this widget will go directly to the owner’s PayPal account, not mine. She can be contacted through her Twitter account, @RunningTindera. I’ll be adding this widget to my sidebar, and instructing the owner on how to add it to her sidebar as well. The widget doesn’t seem to work in the sidebar on Blogger, so she added it to her original post instead.
If you want to read the original post (by the owner) about Boomer, please click Here. It’s a bit of a sad read, though, and the pictures or completely heartbreaking, just so you know. The images in this post are borrowed from her post.
If you can’t contribute, but know others who might, please share this story.
Bradley Farless 
Thanks for the help! I was kind of surprised when I saw the donations go over the requested amount. This will go a long way in the Philippines towards providing surgery and care for that kitten. I just saw an update on the cat, so I'm going to be writing another post about it later today.
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gees man, how sad! i just made a small donation. glad the goal has been reached already though.
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That's probably it, yes.
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Ya. I was amazed at how quickly funds came together. I must have posted a link to this entry to at least 12 animal welfare sites and forums though. I'm going to write another post later with an update on Boomer's condition, when I hear about it.
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I surfed the web. You must be mean this guy:Great Shepherd Veterinary Clinic Cruz, Ricardo 72 Oliveros St., Antipolo City (02)6974306 (02)6966282
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glad the money has been raised. Good luck Boomer!
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I just donated $10 so hopefully the cat can have its surgery!
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hello ted! i shared this on facebook like you did so that your friends and mine and our friends together in the Philippines are able to read the article. i hope this sorry a$$ vet get sued.
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I believe that the rules against defamation are based on where the statements are made. If one knowingly presents something he knows is NOT true as being true, then that is defamation. This includes libel and slander. That's why we can criticized things becuase it is our opinion, but we are not free to create facts to fit our criticism or agenda. As for tort reform, I think there is always room for that. The law isn't set in stone but always morphing. The worse I heard was one from Massachussetts where the mother of a carnapper sued the owner of the stolen car. The car was stolen in a parking lot, and during the chase the thief got killed by accident. The mother claimed that the car owner SHOULD HAVE MADE IT HARDER FOR HER THIEVING SON TO STEAL THE CAR. Well, the mother lost but the case was still heard in court.BTW, here's my blog on animal rights and welfare:http://www.onlovinganimals.blogspot.com
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Shoveled another 3 inches last nigh in Bergen County. Just snow showers for us today, Saturday. Yeah, big political mess with the weather mess!
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Yes, he should, but likely nothing will happen to the guy, unfortunately.As for the kitten, it's always a gamble when you bring them in from outside, because you don't know what sort of sicknesses they've picked up. It's hard to resist doing it though, because they're so small and weak and usually could benefit greatly from being adopted into a good home. This kitten had this eye infection before being brought in, so if it had been left out it most likely would have been dead by now.The amount of donations has gone up. Just 10 more bucks and the kitten can get the surgery.
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By the way, how are things over there in NJ? I'm in NYC and we're still seeing the effects of that storm and the less than acceptable response from the sanitation department. There are still mountains of garbage everywhere and it snowed again yesterday and might again today.
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People here in the US will sue for anything and everything. We only have to look at the woman that spilled hot coffee on herself and sued because it was hot, and somehow even won. That was a huge failure of our legal system.The Philippines models their legal system after ours, and I think it's not beyond reason that a business owner would try to press a lawsuit, or threaten to press a lawsuit, to have damaging information about their business removed from public sight. There are so many businesses in the Philippines that if one develops a bad reputation it could mean the end of someone's livelihood, and in most cases, the average person would back down because they wouldn't have the monetary means to defend themselves in court, regardless of whether they're right or not.Fortunately, I'm not in the sphere of legal jurisdiction for the Philippines, so I can publish that without fear of repercussion.
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Thank you, Brad. There was mention in the write-up about how a case like Boomer's will have the owner hold the vet accountable if his case happened in the U.S. Well, this is true. The reason for that is the litigious nature of our society ( I am in New Jersey ). Sometimes, that gets to be too much but it has made a lot of good as well. Certain, we have all been advised not to take the law into our own hands. In this case, if the account is true and there are records for it, then we should not be afraid of being sued. The grieving party is not calling the guy names anyway. They would just be telling their story which is verifiable.
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You're right. I should have. I'm not in the Philippines so I can't be sued by anyone there anyway. It was a guy by the name of Cruz from Good Shepherd Clinic in Antipolo. I've heard other stories about this guy too, and none of them good.
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You should name the vet. Help protect other animals and pet owners from suffering a similar fate.
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Ya. It breaks my heart to look at the photos of that kitten. I must have posted links to this post to a dozen different animal welfare sites. I'm gonna keep spamming Twitter with it too. Can't hurt to try. Poor thing is in constant pain.
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omg, poor kitty. =(
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