And sometimes you must say no.

This was my personal Facebook post on Sunday evening.   



As the weekend winds down and my migraine is getting progressively worse, my feelings and emotions this weekend have ranged from happy (that one of our kitties was adopted this week), to mainly horrified, sad, heartsick, and finally (still horrified, sad, and extremely heartsick) but absolutely beyond a doubt mad as hell. 

Saying “no” is one of the really hard parts of rescue. I respond to many emails and phone calls each week where, unfortunately often the only response I can give is “no, I’m sorry, we cannot take the cat/kitten you found, we are at capacity” and then all I can offer is a courtesy posting and adding the cat(s)/kitten(s) to the wait list for our adoption program, or help with spay/neuter. Why? Because if you take in more cats that you can care for with a quality standard of care (nutritious food, clean water, sanitation [clean living environment], veterinary care, and loving care), then you have not truly rescued and you put all the animals in your care at risk.

I cry myself to sleep countless night each week because my heart feels like it’s breaking; because I have had to say no, I’m sorry, we are full right now. You want to help every cat and kitten in need, but you can’t – it’s not feasible. You can only help the ones you can properly care for, and as a result, you have to say no.

Therefore, not only is saying no very hard, SAYING KNOWING YOUR LIMITS AND SAYING "NO" IS TRULY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF RESCUE.