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Cats left at North Carolina shelter with heartbreaking note: 'My mom can't take care of me anymore'

Copyright Source: Yueke Mon, Jul 8, 2024
A North Carolina animal shelter discovered two sibling cats on its premises with a "heartbreaking message."
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue in Asheville found the felines left in the shade, Fox 5 New York reported.
The note was written on top of the carrier in which the cats were found.
The letter reads, "My name is Baby, my mom can’t take care of me anymore. Please find me and my sister our next home. Thank you."
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue shared the story to send a message to the cats' owner.
"They are safe with us, and thank you for trusting us with your cats you so clearly loved," the shelter's post shared.
"We understand you didn’t have another choice, and we hope you are okay," the post continued.
Many commenters appeared to support the shelter.
"Thank you for using compassion instead of judgment. I’m glad these sweet babies will have a chance with a new family," one Facebook user wrote.
"Thank you for being kind in your remarks to the person who left the cats with you," another user commented. "Too often people say how could anyone leave their pets like this. But this is the best thing for the pets and for the people too."
After coming across the note on the cat carrier, the team at Brother Wolf Animal Rescue was emotionally affected.
"When we saw the note, it hit us hard. A few tears were shed," Brooke Fornea, director of marketing and guest experience at Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, told Fox News Digital.
"Our hearts absolutely broke for both the cats and the person who had to leave them behind," she added.
The intention of sharing the discovery on social media was to allow the previous owner to find "some closure" and know the cats were being taken care of, according to Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.
While the story may seem sad, it does have a happy ending.
The sibling cats have been adopted by a new family.
"We have already heard they settled in right away and seem very happy," Fornea shared.
It is not out of the ordinary for some abandoned pets to be found with notes from the previous owner.
In January, McKamey Animal Center discovered a dog named Lilo with a tearful note attached. A good Samaritan had found the pup walking around with a leash still attached, Fox News Digital previously reported.
The rescue later shared that Lilo had been reunited with her owner, who was reportedly a homeless woman with two kids.
"While we can't share a lot of the details with you yet, we are actively working with the family to set them up with a safe haven, shelter, and resources," the animal rescue wrote on Facebook.
Two months later, the shelter shared another update about Lilo on Facebook.
"[We] have gotten a serious reality check over the past few weeks about what a complex challenge it is to be homeless in our community, how much negative stigma is surrounding the term and how much of an uphill battle it can be," the updated post stated.
"We are keeping our fingers (and paws!) crossed that the family will have a permanent place to call home as soon as next week."
At the time, the McKamey Animal Center continued to help Lilo's family with the necessary resources to care for the pup.
NEXT: Rare white squirrel spotted in North Carolina: Why some US towns are used to the fair-furred rodent
A Cary, North Carolina, resident snapped a photo of a rare white squirrel this week — a photo that generated interest as many people who commented on the local news station’s Facebook page said they had never seen one of the creatures before. "What a beautiful white squirrel. They are rare. I don’t think I have ever seen a white squirrel before. That one is so beautiful," one person commented. "Absolutely amazing," another person said. But about 272 miles to the west, white squirrel sightings are a common occurrence. In fact, a colony of more than 1,000 white squirrels inhabit the town of Brevard, which has a population of 7,755 humans, according to Katy Rosenberg, director of the town’s White Squirrel Institute. Rosenberg said Brevard likely has the largest colony of white squirrels in the U.S. "This is the first time I’ve heard of a white squirrel being seen in Cary," Rosenberg said. "Though they are rare, colonies of them are popping up in other areas and other states. We’ve seen them in Florida, South Carolina, and Michigan." Rosenberg said the sightings could be the result of people capturing the unusual squirrels and taking them to another location. "I get phone calls all the time about people wanting to buy a white squirrel so they could breed and sell them, and that’s obviously not what we do," Rosenberg said. In Brevard, that would be illegal. In 1986, the Brevard City Council voted to approve an ordinance declaring and establishing a sanctuary for squirrels, especially the white ones, stating that it "shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, kill, trap, or otherwise take any protected squirrels within the city from this section," according to the City of Brevard's official webpage about white squirrels. The white squirrels found in Brevard are a color variant of the native species, the eastern gray squirrel, according to Rosenberg and the city's website. The Brevard white squirrels aren’t albino, but rather leucistic, which is a condition characterized by a lack of pigmentation from a recessive gene, the City of Brevard website states. They are unique in that their coats are mostly white with a distinctive head patch of dark fur — and they have dark eyes. "Biologists recognize no known species of all-white squirrels in the world," the city's website reads. But Rosenberg said they otherwise behave just the same as gray squirrels – gathering acorns, making nests, and raising their young. "They do all the squirrel stuff," Rosenberg said. "They mix and mingle with our gray squirrels. They don't see differently. People often ask if they get along with gray squirrels. It's about territory, not about color," she added. The origin of the Brevard white squirrels goes back to a 1940s circus caravan accident from which the unique squirrels had escaped — and a 10-year-old girl named Barbara Mull, Rosenberg said. "Her Uncle Harry brought them to her," Rosenberg said. "He had a friend who had a pecan grove down there. Apparently, a circus had gone through the town and there was an accident. These white squirrels got loose," she added. The white squirrels apparently found a tasty residence in the man’s pecan orchard, and Uncle Harry helped the man catch them, according to Rosenberg. "The guy gave them to him, and then he came up to visit Mull in Brevard and gave her the squirrels," Rosenberg said. The original squirrels' names were Snowball and Frisky, Rosenberg said. She explained that the squirrels ended up getting loose again after Mull’s family moved and started reproducing with the local squirrels. Rosenberg said the town continues to celebrate and honor the distinguished white squirrels with a big festival in May and other fundraisers. Pisgah Penny, Brevard’s official white squirrel ambassador, makes an appearance at all the events, Rosenberg added. On Feb. 2, the ambassador squirrel also helps Punxsutawney Phil predict whether there will be an early or late spring — and, as an added bonus, what team will win the upcoming Super Bowl. "[Penny’s] predecessor and her uncle actually, Pisgah Pete, had an 85% success rate predicting the winner of the Super Bowl," Rosenberg said. "Penny didn’t do so well with the prediction this year," she added. The White Squirrel Institute was founded in 1997 by biology professor Robert Glesner as part of a student project at Brevard College. The Institute was created to raise awareness, but also to boost tourism. Since Rosenberg stepped into the role of director, the mission has shifted to raising money for conservation efforts, she said. White squirrel "adoptions" can be made through the institute’s website www.whitesquirrelinstitute.org.

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