Repeatedly Shunned, Maligned, and Bandied About from One Place to Another, Harvey Is Now Fighting the Most Important Battle of His Life

Harvey Shortly after His Initial Arrival at Yorkshire Cat Rescue

"...without her (his fosterer), I couldn't spend the rest of the time I have let feeling loved and safe."
-- Harvey

To say that Harvey has been put through the wringer would be a decidedly gross understatement. His seemingly endless string of miseries began in December of 2016 when his longtime owner died unexpectedly.

Since none of that unidentified individual's surviving relatives wanted any part of either him or his continued care, that left him all alone, homeless, and bereft of any visible means of support.

While none of those deprivations, whether taken singularly or cumulatively, would have been sufficient to constitute an automatic death sentence under most circumstances, the same most definitely cannot be said for the machinations of those individuals and organizations who, with flagrant disregard for every known moral and juridical precept, have outrageously appropriated for themselves a carte blanche authority to determine which cats live and which ones die.

Considering that he already was twelve years old, just about every shelter in the so-called civilized world would have taken one look at him and dismissed all notions of attempting so much as a half-hearted effort to rehome him. Rather, a jab of sodium pentobarbital administered tout de suite, encasement in an airtight trash bag, and a hurried trip to the city dump in the back of a smelly garbage truck would have been all that he would have received from the entire lot of them.

As the Chinese are fond of saying, however, even a blind cat occasionally stumbles over a dead rat and Harvey's Glück im Unglück came when he, one way or the other, wound up at Yorkshire Cat Rescue (YCR) in Keighley, West Yorkshire. "We never give up on any cat who needs us," the charity proudly proclaims on its web site but it did not take long for a desire to do right by the brown, gray, and white tom to morph into a test of both its mettle and resources that continues to this very day.

Initially, that task looked to be deceptively easy in that a new home was secured for him shortly after his arrival at YCR. Unfortunately, Harvey did not hit it off with the cats who already were in residence there and he accordingly was unceremoniously given the bum's rush. The specifics have not been spelled out but that dénouement would tend to indicate that he had spent the vast majority, if not indeed all, of his earlier days in a one-cat household.

After another brief stay at the shelter he was adopted in early 2017 by an unidentified woman in Leeds, thirty-three kilometers southeast of Keighley, but that arrangement also ended in failure when she reportedly became ill and could no longer care for him. "But he really is completely lovely -- just so desperately unlucky," Samantha Davies of YCR lamented afterwards. (See Cat Defender post of August 31, 2017 entitled "With His Previous Owner Long Dead and Nobody Seemingly Willing to Give Him a Second Chance at Life, Old and Ailing Harvey Has Been Sentenced to Rot at a Shelter in Yorkshire.")

Harvey's streak of horrendously bad luck continued in earnest once he was returned to YCR for the third time in that he was forced to languish there in utter misery until he was placed in foster care in November of 2017. Whenever it rains it pours and that ad hoc arrangement did not work out either so it was back to YCR in February of 2018 for his fourth impoundment within the brief span of fifteen months.

The only tidbit of information that has been revealed concerning that debacle is that he did not get along with the woman's "other pets." Even YCR's willingness to pick up the tab for his food and veterinary care was an insufficient inducement for her to reconsider her hastiness. (See Cat Defender post of March 12, 2018 entitled "Much Like a Nightmare That Stubbornly Refuses to End, Harvey Continues to Be Shuttled from One Home to Another at the Expense of His Health and Well-Being.")

Every bit as poignantly, the callous and uncaring manner in which residents in and around Keighley have treated Harvey does not reflect highly upon them. Most damning of all, those who pulled the welcome mat from underneath him knew bloody damned well that in doing so they not only were inflicting tremendous psychological grief upon him but very well could have been initialing his death warrant at the same time.

Not Surprisingly, Harvey Found Conditions at the Shelter Unbearable

That is especially the case considering that YCR's meager resources would appear to be already stretched to the breaking point. For example, on its web site it states that it rescued eight-hundred-seventy-seven cats last year of which it subsequently found homes for, amazingly, eight-hundred-forty of them.

Additional cats arrive every day and the shelter accordingly surely must operate at near capacity just about all the time. On top of the cost of sheltering, feeding, and placing the homeless in new abodes, it additionally spent £106,862 last year on their veterinary care.

Despite two failed adoptions and a fostering arrangement that did not pan out, YCR to its eternal credit in both this and the world to come refused to throw in the towel on Harvey. "He is one of a kind and utterly lovely," the charity wrote February 16, 2018 on Facebook. "He is just quite specific about his demands -- no other pets, no noisy kids, all attention and love on him. That's not a bad deal, is it?"

Fortunately for long-suffering, weary, an beleaguered Harvey, his fourth internment at YCR proved, mercifully, to have been a brief one "We are so happy to say that he has found a permanent fosterer and a retirement home," the charity announced February 26, 2018 on Facebook.

Following that bit of welcomed good news nothing further was heard of him for a very long time. "Hello! I'm Harvey! Some of you may remember me," YCR stunned the world by announcing like a coup du ciel February 19th of this year on Facebook. "I'm an old boy who had to go into long-term foster care due to a benign brain tumor and yesterday was the one-year mark when I went to stay with my new mommy."

As it just so happened, he and his fosterer had another reason for celebrating. "Not only is it one year since being in my new home, but it's also my mommy's birthday today!" the posting on Facebook continued. "Please join me in meowing a huge happy birthday to her and say thank you, as without her, I couldn't spend the rest of the time I have left feeling loved and safe."

To commemorate both milestones, Harvey's foster mother reportedly quaffed a glass of Merlot while he settled for chicken. "Pure bliss," the article concludes with him exulting.

Since the posting of that brief update, nothing further has appeared online concerning him. It accordingly can only be hoped that he is still alive and in good health.

Several key issues nonetheless remain unresolved. Although it is highly commendable that the unidentified fosterer was willing to have taken in Harvey it nevertheless is troubling that she has not seen fit to make a firm commitment to him.

She could easily do so by formally adopting him and taking over the financial responsibility from YCR for his food and veterinary care.  It is, after all, a real pleasure to be able to pay for the care of a cat that one dearly loves.

Harvey Resting Up for the Battle Ahead of Him

Apparently even YCR is taking things a day at a time in that its original adoption notice is still to be found on its web site. (See "Twice Returned Cat Seeks Loving Home.")

Of additional concern is the petit fait that no details have been disclosed concerning what type and quality of life that he has with his new guardian. "We feel he might be a little too vulnerable to be roaming the street or fields on his own," Davies stated in 2017. "So we'd love to find him a home with a safe and enclosed garden, because he does love the outdoors and a cat at his age should be able to enjoy life -- even if he sometimes forgets where he is."

Aside from not knowing whether he has access to a garden, it would be good to know how much time that his guardian spends with him. Considering his advanced years and health woes, it is disquieting to think of him as being left alone in an empty apartment all day long while is guardian is either at work or play.

His forgetfulness is believed to be caused by a small, benign brain tumor although at last word the veterinarians had been unable to locate any such growth. Other than that, he is said to be unsteady on his feet and to easily become agitated and confused.

With him now being fifteen years old, it would not appear that he has too much longer to live but that realization should serve only to make his remaining days all the more precious and sacred. With human nature being what it is, however, it is doubtful that his fosterer and YCR are going to allow him to complete his journey on this earth. Most disturbing of all, YCR has been hinting at having him killed off for some time.

With shelters and sanctuaries not being viable alternatives for him since he does not get along with other cats, that pretty much narrows down his options to fosterers and would-be adopters who do not have any other pets. With decision day rapidly approaching, it is going to be interesting to see if YCR honors its creed and remains steadfast by Harvey's side regardless of the time, effort, and cost that is going to entail or does it, like all other shelters surely would do, sell him down the road of convenience and expediency.

In his case, the solution to that moral conundrum should be a no-brainer. The tumor, if it does in fact exist, should not impact all that much on his life expectancy and his mental lapses can best be dealt with through patience and forbearance.

Being otherwise healthy, he still has much in the way of love and companionship to offer. Plus, he sans doute has much in the way of unfinished business to complete as well as dreams of his own to chase down.

"The value of old age depends upon the person who reaches it," novelist Thomas Hardy once astutely observed. "To some men of early performance it is useless. To others, who are late to develop, it just enables them to finish the job."

So, too, is it with cats. It accordingly is Harvey, and most definitely not YCR, who should be allowed to determine when and under what circumstances to ring down the final curtain.

Photos: Yorkshire Cat Rescue.