Even Though She Is Every Bit as Loving as She Is Lovely, Momoe Has Been Languishing at the Toronto Humane Society for More Than Two Months

Momoe Lost Her Home and Is Now Facing an Uncertain Future

"Momoe would do best in a home that can give her a quiet environment to relax in during her golden years and with an owner who has lots of time to hang around with her and (to) provide her with the attention she needs."

-- the Toronto Humane Society

"This world is not a just or kind place," Midnight Louie, a private dick of the feline variety who operates out of Las Vegas, philosophically observed in the late Carole Nelson Douglas's 2011 novel, Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta. A good example of that harsh reality is to be found in the terrible plight that has befallen a beautiful female with white fur, a brown and white face, and black tail named Momoe.

Although at eight years and four months of age she is hardly a spring chicken, she nonetheless has plenty of life left in her and much love, devotion, and companionship to offer. Sadly, she has been incarcerated at the Toronto Humane Society (THS) at 11 River Street ever since December 10th. Needless to say, the recently concluded holiday season could not conceivably have been a very merry time for her.

It has not been divulged how that she wound up in such dire straits but the vast majority of cats at shelters were dumped there by their callous owners who simply had grown tired of them. Others had either become lost or were stolen before eventually winding up on death row.

Elderly cats, such as Momoe, sometimes outlive owners who have neglected to make any provisions for their continued care. Other owners leave their cats in the lurch when they enter old folks' homes.

For her part, Momoe is described as a sweet and personable "social butterfly" who loves cuddles and chin scratches. Consequently, there can be little doubt that she would make the perfect companion for some extremely lucky individual.

Yet, even after this passage of time she is still without any prospects. The Stolperstein very well could be the public's steadfast refusal to adopt elderly cats and that ingrained prejudice has condemned countless numbers of them to not only lengthy periods of incarceration but, even more outrageously, premature graves. (See Cat Defender post of  May 27, 2016 entitled "Snubbed by an Ignorant, Tasteless, and Uncaring Public for the Past Twenty-One Years, Tilly Has Forged an Alternative Existence of Relative Contentment at a Sanctuary in the Black Country.")

Lingering concerns about Momoe's health also could be hindering her from getting on with her life. For instance, after she was impounded the THS found and removed a mass from an undisclosed location on her body.

The nature of that growth has not been specified but presumably it was benign. Even so, such growths can return at almost any time and for that reason the THS is searching for an adopter who would be willing and financially able to have her health monitored on an ongoing basis by a competent veterinarian.

Momoe Richly Deserves a Second Chance at Life

What, if any, financial assistance that the charity would be willing to provide such an individual in meeting her veterinary needs is unknown. Nevertheless, the organization doubtlessly has its own practitioners who should be capable of administering to Momoe's needs either gratis or at a sharply discounted rate.

It likewise is not known what role her health may have played in her being abandoned. It is an infuriating thing to even contemplate, but many owners get rid of their cats as soon as they become either ill or injured.

Many of these unfortunate felines are even suffering from terminal conditions. (See Cat Defender posts of September 3, 2010 and August 26, 2015 entitled, respectively, "A Pretty Norwegian Forest Cat, Already Suffering from Kidney Trouble, Is Abandoned to Die of Thirst in a Schließfach at the Hamburger Hauptbahnhof'" and "A Myriad of Cruel and Unforgivable Abandonments, a Chinese Puzzle, and Finally the Handing Down and Carrying Out of a Death Sentence Spell the End for Long-Suffering and Peripatetic Tigger.")

Cats that are not only extremely old but blind as well are routinely found wandering the cruel and merciless streets of this busy and congested world. (See Cat Defender posts of September 12, 2015 and May 4, 2017 entitled, respectively, "Pops Finally Secures a Permanent Home but Concerns about Both Her Continued Care and Right to Live Remain Unaddressed" and "Seventeen-Year-Old, Sickly, and Blind Orakel Is Abandoned to Fend for Herself in the Unforgiving Streets of Breitenfurt bei Wien.")

Elderly and deaf cats routinely wind up at shelters. (See Cat Defender post of January 9, 2023 entitled "Flossie Endures a Rollercoaster Ride of Adversity in Order to Settle into Her Fourth Home and to Begin a New Life at the Age of Twenty-Seven.")

Old cats who are without teeth and thus unable to even masticate most of whatever meager sustenance that they are able to scavenge also are routinely dumped in the street. (See Cat Defender post of March 23, 2015 entitled "Old, Sickly, and on the Street, George Accidentally Wanders into a Pet Store and That, In All Likelihood, Saved His Life.")

Sooner or later, just about all elderly and sickly cats that have been abandoned end up starving and fatigued. Some of them even have been known to collapse in the street. (See Cat Defender post of September 5, 2017 entitled "Written Off More Than Once as Being All but Finished, Frank Is Living Proof That Old Cats Not Only Have Value but Considerably More Life Left in Them Than Most People Are Willing to Acknowledge.")

Not all of the myriad of ailments that bedevil the lives of senior felines are physical in nature. For example, some of them suffer from cognitive decline.

A Forlorn Momoe Stares Out the Window Wishing That She Were Free

Others are afflicted with emotional issues, such as loneliness, separation anxiety, and a quite understandable fear of a hostile outside world. Others that have spent their entire lives with one owner and in a one-cat household are unable to adjust to new living arrangements that often include other cats, dogs, and children. (See Cat Defender post of October 27, 2020 entitled "Noble and Courageous Harvey Who So Desperately Wanted to Go on Living Is Instead Unforgivably Betrayed and Killed Off by His Foster Mother and Yorkshire Cat Rescue.")

That is especially the case for long-term and unsocialized cats who have grown old and sickly. (See Cat Defender post of July 24, 2017 entitled "A Rescue Group in British Columbia Compassionately Elects to Spare Grandpa Mason's Life and in Return for Doing So It Receives an Unexpected Reward Worth More Than Gold Itself.")

As if all of those disabilities which so tragically afflict elderly cats were not sufficient in themselves, some owners think absolutely nothing of dumping in the street those that have been cruelly declawed as well as those than can barely even walk due to arthritis and other ambulatory difficulties. Quite obviously, individuals who commit such dastardly deeds do not even believe in giving elderly cats so much as a sporting chance of surviving on their own.

Aside from hellish, short-term existences on the street, many cats, elderly and young alike, are condemned to die protracted deaths locked inside apartments and houses with the corpses of their deceased guardians. (See Cat Defender posts of July 27, 2013 and July 13, 2019 entitled, respectively, "Instead of Killing Her Off with a Jab of Sodium Pentobarbital and Then Burning Her Corpse, Ian Remains Steadfast at His Guardian's Side Long after Her Death" and "Susi Is Knowingly Left All Alone in an Empty Apartment to Slowly Die of Starvation and Untreated Hyperthyroidism after Her Owner Is Confined to an Old Folks' Home.")

Overall, the alternatives for elderly cats who have been either abandoned to their own devices or dumped at shelters are almost nil. (See Cat Defender post of November 22, 2020 entitled "Slow Deaths Trapped Inside Apartments, Precarious Existences on the Street, and Swift Executions at the Hands of Veterinarians and the Operators of Shelters Are About All That Elderly Cats Can Expect in Return for Their Years of Love and Devotion to Their Ungrateful Owners.")

C'est-à-dire, happy endings are about as rare as hens' teeth for them. "There is no such thing as an old cats' home, unless you consider being dropped off at an animal shelter with a murderous overpopulation problem or abandoned on the street to be a nice retirement package," is how that the always sagacious Midnight Louie summed up the plight of the elderly members of his species in Douglas's earlier 2010 novel, Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme.

As for what, if anything, that the THS is going to be willing to do for Momoe in a positive vein is concerned, that remains to be determined. "Momoe would do best in a home that can give her a quiet environment to relax in during her golden years and with an owner who has lots of time to hang around with her and (to) provide her with the attention she needs," Zoomer Radio, 740 AM out of Toronto, reported it as stating on February 6th. (See "Zoomer Radio Pet of the Week: Momoe.")

It thus would appear that Momoe has grown accustomed to having a guardian that largely stays at home with her as well as to residing in a residence that does not contain any young children and possibly even other felines. That in turn would seem to leave little doubt that she must be extremely lonely and miserable confined to a cage at the THS.

The Mummified Remains of a Cat Found at the Toronto Humane Society

There is, however, some confusion on that point in that the THS, as opposed to Zoomer Radio, states on its web site that she is currently in foster care. If so, that certainly would be far better for her.

Her safety that the THS is a far more troubling matter. For example, when agents of the Ontario SPCA (OSPCA) of  Newmarket, fifty-six kilometers north of Toronto, raided the shelter on November 27, 2009 they discovered the mummified remains of an unidentified cat that had been lured into a baited trap in the ceiling and left there to slowly wither away to nothing but bones.

"It sends chills down my spine," Kevin Strooband of the OSPCA told the Toronto Star a day later on November 28th. (See "Humane Society: 'It Seems Like a House of Horrors'.")

The shelter was subsequently padlocked for seven months but it later was allowed to reopen during the middle of 2010. Although it has not made the headlines since then, one cannot help but wonder if it has genuinely mended its grossly negligent and evil ways.

"...l'oeuvre a été incomplète...nous avons démoli l'ancien régime dans les faits, nous n'avons pu entièrement le supprimer dans les idées," a member of the Convention Nationale, which governed France between 1792 and 1795 following the overthrow of Louis XVI, admitted to Bishop Myriel of Digne in Victor Hugo's 1862 masterpiece, Les Misérables. "Détruire les abus, cela ne suffit pas; il faut modifier les moeurs. Le moulin n'y est plus, le vent y est encore."

Much more importantly, cats do not belong in either cages or at shelters under any circumstances. Secondly, they should not be bandied about from death houses to fosterers to failed adoptions and then back to cages at shelters over and over again. They are sentient beings with minds and emotions of their own, not sacks of potatoes, and such cruel behavior inflicts far more harm than good upon them.

The best possible dénouement for Momoe therefore would be to get her out of the clutches of the THS as soon as possible and into a loving home with a responsible owner who is committed to unstintingly respecting her inalienable right to live out her life to the very last second.

Anyone who therefore would be willing to give her a much deserved second chance at life and happiness can reach the THS by telephone at (416) 392-2273. The charity's e-mail address is adoptions@torontohumanesociety.com and her profile can be found on its web site at www.torontohumanesociety.com.

Momoe's identification number is 5113591.

Photos: Zoomer Radio (Momoe in a cage), the Toronto Humane Society (Momoe staring out the window), and Chris Young of the Canadian Press (the mummified cat).

N.B. On February 26th, the THS placed a hold on Momoe's profile and by March 5th it as well as her photograph had completely disappeared from its web site.

Although it is far from clear what those actions signal, more than likely she has been adopted and thus has escaped, at least for now, death row with her life. If that is true, it is indeed a welcomed turn of events for such a preeminently deserving female. (9 March 2023)