Photo of Fussy from Palette Studios
This rescued cat from Pawssion Project has not found her "furever" home yet even after joining over six adoption drives.
Fussy, a 2-year-old cat seeking care in the non-profit organization’s shelter in Bulacan, was rescued from being impounded in 2020. She has been part of Pawssion Project’s online adoption drives back when COVID-19 restrictions were still strict.
Pawssion Project started to actively involve her in physical adoption drives in 2022 so she can have higher chances of finding hoomans who will take her home. While most of the cats in her batch have been adopted already, she has yet to find her own home.
“[I]t may also be because she just hasn’t found the right human for her yet. Fussy is a very sweet cat. She likes to be carried. She is cuddly but she also has this quiet energy. So she’s that cat you won’t notice right away in adoption drives unless you really look around,” Kay Villagracia-Alba, volunteer and one of the heads of Pawssion Project's cat adoption committee, told ABS-CBN News.
Despite being harelipped, Pawssion Project never considered Fussy’s physical appearance as a reason why she hasn’t been adopted yet.
“We never really thought of it as a reason why she hasn’t been adopted yet even after six adoption drives. If anything, it makes her remarkable, kasi once you see her, you remember her face, eh, because of that uniqueness,” Villagracia-Alba said.
Compared to dogs, the number of cats adopted is lower, Villagracia-Alba said.
This prompted them to work “twice as hard” in promoting cats for adoption and sponsorships as they are often “overlooked” and “misunderstood because of their reserved energy.”
“Compared naman before, our cats are now more seen, they are getting more support, and we hope this continues and improves overtime,” she said.
“Many other cats at the shelter who, like Fussy, are just waiting for a family to take them in. So there are a lot of Fussies at the shelter that is why our adoption program is ongoing. It never stops,” she added.
“Beauty beyond breed”
While people are becoming more aware of pet adoption, Villagracia-Alba said there are still those who get disappointed when they learn the pets up for adoption do not have breeds.
“[I]t’s heartbreaking because we know that our rescues, they’re just as beautiful as the pure bred ones,” she said.
“We also hope that more people choose to see beauty beyond breed. And that there comes a time when we wouldn’t have to justify why aspins and puspins are just as beautiful… We can’t help but feel bad for our rescues kasi we know, we just know, and we witness how beautiful they are and how much love they have in them that they just want to give,” she added.
Villagracia-Alba expressed hope that people will start to learn the importance of adoption, especially from local shelters, pounds, and streets as this saves not only a stray’s life but also provides humans with “healing” when they’re the ones in need.
“Rescued animals have so much gratitude in their hearts because they know that they were given a chance. So, if you adopt rescued animals who have been abused, hurt, abandoned, have experienced cruelty, the second you give them a chance, and they feel that second, nararamdaman nila ‘yon,” she said.
“Even when they just met you, they start to heal and they do it for you. Mag-hi-heal sila, they do it for you, they’d fight for their lives,” she added.
She also said that despite being abused and abandoned, animals will welcome people who want to live a life with them, no matter how traumatic their whole life has been.
“They’ve been through a lot. Their lives were hard. And a stray’s life, who scavenges for food and fights for their safety every day, just imagine how hard that is. But when you meet these rescues… they will welcome you. They will even let you hold them, in spite of what they have been through, and they will choose to trust you. And that’s gratitude. That’s grace. That’s a stray’s heart,” she added.
“They spend the rest of their lives showing gratitude to you, teaching you, inspiring you, grounding you, loving you. Sometimes even to a point where that love starts overflowing that you find yourself giving it to another animal in need… Fussy and Bella are rescues. They are all those things,” Villagracia-Alba said.
Bella is a rescued cat from Pawssion Project who was adopted but was returned to the animal shelter a few days later.
Call for help
Villagracia-Alba urged the public to be kind and be responsible pet owners, asserting that “pet abandonment is never the solution.”
She also pointed out the importance of having pets neutered or spayed as an overwhelmed household contributes to adding more strays in the streets.
Republic Act No. 8485 or the “Animal Welfare Act of 1998” states that torturing, neglecting, maltreating, and killing animals are unlawful and that anyone proven to violate the law could be imprisoned or fined.
Fussy, Bella, and other dogs and cats at Pawssion Project are up for adoption. Interested applicants can fill out application forms available at Pawssion Project’s social media accounts.