Hello,
I would like to make residents of Camden County aware of an incident that occurred over the last few weeks at Homeward Bound Animal Shelter.
In early November, a Facebook post caught my family’s attention, revealing that the local shelter was in urgent need of fosters as they were at full capacity. Eager to help, we decided to foster a cat with the intention of adopting him. We were assured of his good health, having undergone an exit exam, and were sent home with antibiotics as a precaution. Despite raising concerns about our other cats, dogs, and young child, we were reassured that everything would be fine. We also took the precaution of isolating the new cat upon arrival home.
However, upon bringing the cat home, it became evident that something was wrong. He ate a small amount the first night, but the next day, he refused to eat and displayed adverse reactions to the prescribed liquid medicine. Concerned, we reached out to the shelter, but our attempts to contact them proved futile.
As his condition worsened over the following days, with symptoms like lethargy and refusal to eat persisting, we escalated our communication by sending an email labeled "Emergency" to the shelter. Unfortunately, our attempts to seek help were met with silence until we resorted to messaging on Instagram, prompting them to advise us to bring him in immediately.
On November 9, we brought him to the shelter, where they, unbeknownst to us, performed a panleukopenia (panluke) test. Despite the test showing negative results, we later learned that false negatives were possible. We were never alerted to the possibility of this virus. Unfortunately, this poor defenseless cat passed away in the shelter, leaving us devastated.
Days later, the shelter contacted us, revealing a necropsy had shown a large mass on the cat’s spleen. Concerned about the health of our other cats, dogs, and young child, we inquired about potential risks but received vague assurances. Unfortunately, our worst fears materialized when our other cat exhibited sickness, followed closely by our third, leading to a devastating and fatal diagnosis of panluke for our cat. We were now faced with two deceased cats in a week timeframe.
Frustrated with the lack of response and information, we reached out to the shelter multiple times, with someone finally revealing that the panluke was brought into our home by the cat from the shelter. Despite our plea for urgent information, they were hesitant and failed to provide crucial details about the necropsy in a timely manner that could have saved our other cat’s life.
As the situation unfolded, our other cats required immediate veterinary attention, and we were forced to discard various items due to the contagious nature of panluke. Additionally, a Facebook review detailing our experience was mysteriously deleted by shelter staff twice, raising concerns of a cover-up.
In subsequent communications with shelter staff, we voiced our grievances about the negligence and lack of communication that resulted in the death of two cats and the illness of two more. Despite them saying they would look into compensation, they later claimed the shelter did nothing wrong and, even more concerning, have told me that they ARE NOT PLANNING TO ALERT OTHER FOSTERS/ADOPTERS FROM THIS MONTH about potential exposure TO PANLUKE. The cat from the shelter had freedom in the cat room and was not in an enclosed cage. Panluke is deadly to cats and easily contagious.
In summary, the shelter's negligence, disregard for proper procedures, and lack of communication proved to be fatal for two cats and inflicted emotional distress on our family. The heartbreaking outcome could have been prevented with timely and transparent communication from the shelter. I want anyone who recently adopted a cat from them to be vigilant in looking out for signs of panluke in their cat!!
I have visited the Camden County Animal Shelter a few times to drop off food when they needed it. The staff is very kind. They are very helpful and run a tight ship. The facility itself is very clean and maintained. They are always looking for people to volunteer their time. I wish I could but my work gets in the way. Overall, a wonderful place if you are looking to adopt!