Saturday, June 29, 2013

Shooting at a different shelter


so a week ago I was up in the Portland area and I decided to stop in the "Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland" or ARL for short..  I was in the area, I had no major commitments for the rest of the day and I had my camera with me.  So I thought I would do one of my favorite things to do.. Photograph some kitties.

I stopped in and said hello to the staff at the desk, they asked me if I was here to adopt, and I said no, and you could see they were visibly disappointed.  After that I was pretty much left alone, which is good on a personal level, but I found it a little odd that no one wanted to discuss things with me, maybe try to convince me to adopt.. that sort of thing.  I mean how many people go in saying they are not going to adopt but fall in love with someone.

The main entrance is just to the left of this first cage
So I looked in cages.. There were a few kittens up for adoption.. those were in front of the front desk which on the picture above me is behind me, to the right is a small area of merchandise as well as the cages fitted in..


Kittens are always fun to look at, but shelter cats.. there are always beautiful shelter cats, and they make for much better photos.

One major down side to this shelter is that I did not feel comfortable entering cages.  As I said, the main entrance door was right next to that cage.  Down the hallway in the larger room was another door that was open (it had chain link fence in it, but it was still open) and I feared what might happen if while juggling the door to the cage and my camera the kitty said "I am out of here!"   So for the most part I did not open cage doors (OK I did it once.. and it was SOO worth it.. )  I am sure that if I had said I was interested in adopting things would have been different..


But there is a lot I do like about what they do.  They also do "meet your match" like the shelter I volunteer for, but they put it right out there.  Once you know if you an an orange kitty, you simply have to find cages with orange name tags.. no guessing.  They also keep personal items for each individual cat near them..


And then there was this.. (which touched me since I'm fostering a blind kitty)
Hello Garret
I kind of fell in love (OK fine, I fell in love like 10 times, I'm so glad I wasn't there to adopt, how would I choose??) This little girl had "No Volunteers" on her cage, meaning she tends to get a little over excited and they feel it would be best if only staff members dealt with her.  I wasn't sure what that meant for her in terms of interaction, but she totally wanted to be my friend..



Some more beautiful kitties for you to see, including one who had very dramatic reverse ear tufts - aka the fur was very long on the back of his ears.. Tomorrow I'll show you photos from the community room they also have..


13 comments:

  1. they are all so beautiful,I hope they get forever homes soon,xx

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  2. And THIS is why I can't go to shelters. I'd come home with a squillion more kitties.

    Spay and Neuter!

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  3. OOoooohhhhh, we agree with our friends at Katnip Lounge. Our Mumsy even got leaky eyes just looking at the pictures. We wish we could bring all them home with us.
    Hugs!

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  4. So many beautiful cats! Last time I visited a shelter just to check out the shelter (not to adopt), I came home with a senior kitty, who I love dearly. No more shelter visits for me!

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  5. There are some AWESOME adult kitties there! I guess "Executive" means "up in your stuff?" Which sort of describes two out of three of us here.

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  6. I love how organized the shelter is. And such beautiful kitties.

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  7. Those Private Investigator kitties are gorgeous.

    Was the PI to indicate it may be months before you see them again once you take them home?

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  8. Oh they are all so adorable! I hope they find their furever homes very soon.

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  9. What gorgeous kitties! The mom says she woulda wanted to take them all home!

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  10. Such beautiful kitties! We like those cage cards very much ... very descriptive! Oh, and we have a few of those "Executive" kitties at our shelter, too. :)

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  11. Oh my CAT! Seal point, tortie point with such sad eyes, Himalayan! We are EVER so glad Mommy was not there with you. For REALZ.

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  12. What a nice place! Is it very big? And the problem is always that all the kitties are beautiful!

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  13. Seems odd these folks wouldn't ask why you came if not to adopt. Looks like a pretty good set-up, though. We like how they put up the info on the cages. If our mom had gone there, she would have wanted to bring some of the kitties home for sure. Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

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