SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. —
Taija Nelms is readjusting to life without her 14-year-old cat "Duey."
He was more than just a pet to her. “Ever since I had him I just loved him since he was the last thing of my godfather and to think now that he's gone, it's hard," Nelms said.
Duey was an indoor-outdoor cat so his absence Thursday night didn’t worry Nelms.
Her concern began when he didn’t come home. “I went out and searched for him from 9 p.m. to 12 in the pouring rain,” Nelms said.
Friday morning, around 9 a.m., SCRAPS (Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service) dispatch received a call about a cat found in the street, looking unwell.
“Is it injured or is it sick?," Dispatch asked over the phone.
"He looks sick," The caller said.
"He looks sick?," Dispatch confirmed.
"Yeah, he can barely move," the caller said. "There’s something wrong. I took him in my maintenance room and gave him food and water.”
SCRAPS said Duey was brought in just before 11 a.m.
SCRAPS released a statement saying Duey was "actively dying on the exam table."
On Friday, September 29 at 9:01 a.m. call came in to SCRAPS answering service indicating a cat was laying in the roadway and not moving.
SCRAPS revealed more details in the following statement:
"At 9:38am a SCRAPS Animal Protection Officer was dispatched to the scene and picked up the cat.
At around 10:37AM the 14-year old cat was and brought in by the APO to SCRAPS.
The cat had no collar, tag, or microchip present which would have signified ownership — and therefore deemed unlicensed.
Upon being notified that a sick cat had been brought to the facility, our licensed veterinarian conducted a thorough medical exam on the cat, ran blood/lab work, and diagnosed the cat to be suffering from severe dehydration and end stage kidney failure. The cat was assessed to be actively dying on the exam table during the medical exam.
Due to this medical assessment and with no indication of an owner, the decision was made to humanely euthanize the cat the same day to ease the cat’s suffering.
The owner later contacted SCRAPS inquiring if their cat was in our lost and found shelter. We have provided the owner with the medical background, and they have claimed the animals’ remains.
SCRAPS continues to ask for the community’s help by licensing, tagging and microchipping your pets. The return rates for animals that are licensed/microchipped are significantly higher than those animals that are not.
Additional Background: Medical emergencies in animals can occur suddenly and without warning. When no identification or a way to identify an animal owner is available, decisions about animal welfare and medical care in SCRAPS custody are made by the licensed staff veterinarian and SCRAPS Director. There is a 120 hour holding time for cats with identification before being placed for adoption, and no holding time for cats without identification to be placed for adoption."
SCRAPS would not provide additional details beyond this statement Tuesday.
Without a microchip, SCRAPS said it euthanized Duey the same day to ease his suffering.
Reports show Duey suffered from kidney failure and severe dehydration, but that information didn’t sit right with Nelms.
“If they did all this blood work, it should be shown 'there's poison in his blood, this is what happened.' None of that was provided. None of that was given,” Nelms said.
She says Duey was healthy before he got lost Thursday.
As an animal rescuer, she says Duey would have shown signs he was in pain.
“Pawed me, scratch me, bit me, he’s very vocal with his paws.”
Spokane County Communications Director Patrick Bell told KREM 2 if the cat was healthy and unchipped, he would have been put up for adoption, but that wasn’t the case with Duey.
Nelms says she understands the importance of microchipping her animals and that’s why her other cat and dogs are microchipped.
She said out of respect for her late godfather, she did not choose to microchip Duey. Duey has been cremated, but Nelms said to properly begin healing, SCRAPS can begin with an apology.
She said she knows there are other stories of people like her and she wants to make sure this doesn't happen to more animals. She is continuing to advocate for more information from SCRAPS.
Councilman Michael Cathcart told me their responsibilities will be to make SCRAPS a more accessible organization and help with connecting them to the public.
At this time, those representatives will not have oversight on euthanasia or medical practices.
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