An Arizona man didn’t have the $400 for his injured cat’s vet care, and the Humane Society clinic he visited wouldn’t take his mother’s credit card information over the phone or wait for . So he did what he thought was the best thing for 9-month-old Scruffy: surrender ownership to the organization so she would receive treatment. He was told that he could adopt her back later on. A lack of resources meant that Scruffy, whose injuries were not life-threatening, was euthanized instead.

The cat’s owner says that he rescued the kitten from the streets and raised her from a young age, and credits her for helping him stay off heroin. He works for room and board, but kept Scruffy fed and had her spayed. The clinic refused to take a credit card over the phone, citing fraud concerns, and wouldn’t hold the cat overnight and wait for the owner’s mother to wire him money the next day.

“The Humane Society took that cat with every intention of treating the cat and putting it in foster care,” a spokeswoman told the Arizona Republic. “It was never intended for that cat to be euthanized.” But there weren’t enough resources at the Society’s second-chance clinic. Only two out of the three cats transferred there that day could be treated, and Scruffy was the third.

Outpouring of help for Phoenix man who lost kitten [Arizona Republic]
Man learns cat was euthanized over money [Arizona Republic] (Thanks, Michelle!)

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