Just days before CatCon 2016 commences in LA, Ruth, better known as @squish_duffy_fergie for her Persian Cat profile on Instagram claws her way to a whole new level of crazy cat lady. She pounced suspiciously quickly on a plea from a fellow member of the cat community, Karen McGill, best known as @sunglasscat for her profile dedicated to her special needs rescue, Bagel who has to wear sunglasses to protect her lidless eyes.
Days after the death of Karen’s father, she reached out via social media for help with her other special needs rescue, Sir Sorbet, a Himalayan with ongoing health issues. In the hectic midst of traveling back and forth across the states and working, Karen noticed Sir Sorbet seemed to have an Upper Respiratory Infection right before having to travel again for her father’s funeral. Ruth, posing as Karen’s friend offered to “help” by taking Sir Sorbet to the vet and caring for him while Karen was out of state. Over the next few days the two ladies kept in touch via text messages regarding the condition of Sir Sorbet. During discussions Karen inquired about the vet bill, and still posing as a friend, Ruth told Karen not to worry about the bill; instead to get her head above water and buy her margaritas upon her return. When Karen insisted that not paying the bill was not an option, Ruth told her it was under $300, but wouldn’t provide the exact amount, and again insisted Karen not add the bill to her other worries. Since she refused to tell Karen the actual amount, Karen stated that she would be paying her $300 for her cat’s vet bill.
When Karen attempted to make plans to pick up Sir Sorbet to take him home, Ruth refused. Yes!!! Ruth conned Karen into believing she was her friend and wanted to help, and instead STOLE Sir Sorbet! Ruth then posted her version of evidence for her justification of the catnapping. While she claims neglect and abuse, her evidence were screen shots of her own testimony and a cropped picture of a vet discharge paper basically showing that Sir Sorbet indeed had an Upper Respiratory Infection and the directions for the prescribed antibiotic needed. Not shocking, since this is the exact reason Karen asked for help in the first place.
We animal people view our pets as our children, so Ruth essentially offered to babysit a child with a cold, for a fellow mother in a time of need and then KIDNAPPED her child. As if this all isn’t terrible enough, she then solicited tons of cyberbullying toward Karen by posting unsupported slanderous accusations about her. She even commented that she would be deleting any comments that were not in her favor. As if there’s not enough of a stigma surrounding so called Crazy Cat Ladies… We can now all thank Ruth for taking that stigma to whole new level. She really dug her claws in deep, applying deception, kidnapping, theft, and slander giving a terribly different connotation to the word CatCon.
Seriously, this is possibly the most biased thing I have read. Have you ever met Karen? Have you ever met Ruth? Just based on what I have read in your blog post I can probably accurately say the answer is no. Karen started the whole cyber bullying situation by posting on Bagel and Sorbet's Instagram pages that the cat was stolen. She then got her hoards of fans to start berating Ruth. She never once clarified the situation or showed any proof of what she was saying was true. She blocked people who questioned her, and deleted comments immediately when the drama tide she started turned on her. She has since made her account private and from what I have seen has yet to provide any evidence that what she is saying is true. She gave up financial responsibility of Sorbet, Ruth has vet bills to prove just that. Just days before she wrote how she literally had no money after taking time off work and could barely survive if she didn't work 6-7 days per week. And this financial situation isn't a new thing, when she was at a cat lady meet up a few years prior she talked about how broke she was, while getting drunk before she had to get to work. And for the four plus hours she was at the event she had Bagel stuffed in a shopping bag without access to food, water or a litter box; only pulling the cat out when it would bring herself some attention. Maybe others have brought up similar stories of her bizarre and abusive treatment of Bagel at various events.
ReplyDeleteKaren's behavior at other events has shown how unstable she is. And I'm sure she does love her cats, but she isn't able to properly care for them. Yes the situation is sad, but Karen is not a responsible caregiver for Sorbet. Sorbet is a special needs cat, so if she is going to have to leave him alone for an extended period of time he should have been boarded at a vet clinic where he could receive the care he desperately needed.
Ruth has done nothing but taken a cat away from an abusive situation. Her saying don't worry about the vet bill was out of kindness, as she and many others in the COI community know that Karen does not have the money. That doesn't prove malice or guilt.
I'm sure nothing I have said will change your mind in anyway, as it is clear you are a rabid fan girl but I hope some people who read this will use there minds and think before they continue harassing Ruth on her Instagram page. She has never exploited her cats for attention like Karen constantly does with Bagel. Ruth is a very caring woman and always does what is best for her cats. I'm sure she did what she thought was best for Sorbet, something Karen needs to think long and hard about.
Yes, I have met Karen. No, I have not met Ruth. So right off the bat, 3rd sentence in, you are indeed not accurately speaking. As for your other claims about all of Ruth's evidence, I can actually accurately say that you haven't seen the text messages or the actual vet bill. Financial responsibility was never given up, and lying to a vet does not prove the surrender of ownership. I can only imagine reacting out of complete emotion upon finding out someone who posed as my friend had stolen my cat. Yes, Karen did initially post that her cat was stolen. She posted a true story. It looks like she then decided to take the higher road and not be hateful and name call over social media unlike Ruth. It seems that maybe she decided to be mature and maybe instead spend her time investigating the proper legal steps involved in a catnapping. I just recently had blood work done, and the results did not prove positive for rabies. I'm also not a fan girl in any sense of the word. Thanks for your list of inaccuracies, and I hope you enjoy your stay in the ivory tower in which you currently reside. It seems to afford you a judgmental view of those less fortunate than you. It also must be pretty high up there to provide such a clouded view.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly are one to talk about a clouded view. As you stated you have only met one of the persons involved, I on the other hand have met both. Your claims that Ruth stole a cat to get more fame are also incorrect, she has over two times as many followers on Instagram as sunglasses cat (Bagel) and 75 times as many followers as sir sorbet, she doesn't need any help in that regards. Ruth has posted a vet bill, before and after pictures of Sorbet in a very bad condition and has offered to share the texts and emails to anyone who asks. She has not stolen a cat, she has rescued a cat from a deplorable situation and I don't understand who people like you can't see that. The welfare of a living being is the most important part of this situation, and you are ignoring that fact. Karen posted something so she would get attention from her followers. She deleted the post when people started questioning her. If she was truly concerned she would have immediately contacted the police. I have doubts that she has even done that, as she is the negligent party. Like other fans of Karen's, you have ignored the majority of what I posted, as I initially stated you were likely to do. You say you have seen the texts, show us the proof or everything you say is just here say. I do have sympathy for Karen, it's awful when a parent passes, but no matter your life circumstances, your pets still need to be properly cared for. My father was in a terrible accident and I have to leave immediately for two weeks, trust me my cats were well taken care of that entire time and I made sure of it. My special needs cat was boarded at a vet clinic so she would be properly cared for during my absence. And I'm a student, so there is no extra income, I took on debt for that. You don't know my life so don't presume you do. But my animals come first, and if I couldn't take care of them properly I would make sure to find homes for them that would. And my cats are very thing to me, but their health and happiness is most important. Karen is not financially or emotionally stable enough to care for the amount of cats she currently has. And I know that because I have met her, and read many accounts of her acting out and talking about how she can barely survive financially.
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank you for your list of inaccuracies, how you avoided the majority of my points because it went against your clouded, one-sided view of the situation. I want what is best for the Sorbet, as a supposed animal lover yourself you should want the same thing.
Have a great day.
I find it interesting that all of you animal advocates, and you possibly a future vet, have personally seen Karen abuse and neglect her animals yet you've done nothing about it. If she is such a terrible pet owner, why have the combined hundreds of thousand of you and COI community followers done nothing??? Unlike you, I don't view people's or animals' worth, value or moral composition by their amount of followers, so that point is irrelevant in this case. My only point there was this it is interesting that she stole Sir Sorbet, who is partly the same breed as her other celebrity cats, with the justification of his neglect and abuse. While no one seems to have ever even reported Karen for all of this other neglect and abuse that you all allege. I've seen all of the same posts you've seen. It sounds like I have seen more than you have in terms of the evidence in this case, but I'm unable to disclose any of that at this time. If Karen wasn't doing the best thing for Sorbet, why did she reach out for help when she realized he had a URI... which by the way has been an ongoing health issue of his? Why didn't she just leave him and hope for the best is she's that neglectful? She reached out for help with the understanding she would be picking her cat back up upon her return and paying his vet bills. This much I know to be fact. I understand that you can't know the timing of Karen's interactions with the police or the fact that Ruth refused to disclose Sorbet's location. I'll also state again, that I'm not a "fan," and I hope I better acknowledged your points this reply. I know most of my acknowledgement is in question form, but that's because I really do wonder these things about the points you make. I too want what is best for Sorbet. I too have taken on quite a bit of debt over the years for my pets. I can't always afford the highest quality food on the market, or the newest toys for my cats, so maybe they would be best off with someone of wealth. However, I love them very much and I would be absolutely heart broken if someone stole my cat because he/she thought a better life could be provided. I myself by far did not grow up in the best situations all of the time. That in no way means I would've preferred being taken by child services. I wonder why Ruth didn't go through the proper channels. I wonder why the whole situation was handled like this. The deception and criminal acts just seem completely unnecessary. If Ruth didn't lie to the vet, would a vet discharge and return an animal in the terrible condition described? Everyone also overlooks how much Karen has improved Sorbet's health since she first rescued him. I'm really not looking to argue with anyone. I just wonder how one decides they get to play God for anyone's life. This is just far too similar to so many cases of a mother being down on her luck, having her children taken from her against all of their will, and far worse things happening because of that. I'm not saying for a second that I don't want the best for every animal out there, but there are far too many unanswered questions surrounding all of these allegations. I would actually really appreciate if you wouldn't mind answering the ones you can for me. If my view is that clouded, please help me clear it up some if you can. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI really wish you would stop putting words in my mouth. I never said I found a person or animal's worth or moral character by the amount of followers they have. I base it off of what I have witnessed with my own eyes. You were the one who brought up stealing a cat based on its breed and popularity. I was just pointing out that your theory had some major flaws. Karen's behavior I noticed was erratic and concerning, but it wasn't worthy of a call to authorities. And at that time she made it seem that bagel was her only pet, at least that is the only cat she talked about so I don't know how her other cats were treated. I can't speak for others who have also noticed and shared situations where she has treated her cats in a concerning ways. Yes I'm going to school to be a vet, and at the clinic I worked at for four years you don't usually see the abuse taking place, just the effects of it. And yes you call the authorities and a lot of the time nothing is done unfortunately. Animals rights laws still have a very long way to go and aren't always top priority.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that vet, and I don't know if authorities were contacted, but I do hope they were.
Again, your claims that you have more insight into the situation yet won't provide this proof, we are just supposed to take your word for it.
It isn't just about the amount of money you have, but with multiple special needs cats, you need to be able to afford vet care or you really shouldn't have them as you can't care for them properly. Upper respiratory infections are common in Persian and other flat faced cats but they can turn very serious rather quickly so if she couldn't afford for the cat to be seen immediately then she has no business owning the cat. That may sound harsh, but Sorbet's quality of life is in definite question.
I don't know why it was handled the way it was. I don't know why Karen didn't just call the authorities instead of making posts on Instagram to rile people up and cause upset in the COI community. I don't know if Karen has even contacted the authorities. I don't know if Ruth or the vet she took Sorbet to have contacted animal services, but I sincerely hope they did. Ruth paid for vet services, in some counties once you have fed and provided financial responsibility for an animal that means you are the owner of the "property" (not that I think animals are property). I don't know the exact rules for the area they are in. Karen couldn't afford the vet bills, so pleaded for help, help was given and Ruth saw the terrible condition Sorbet was in and couldn't in good conscience return a sick cat to a negligent owner.
DeleteI don't see any evidence supporting or even suggesting Ruth lied to the vet. I don't know why you keep bringing that point up.
She rescued a cat from a bad situation, she takes her own cats to that vet so I'm sure they know she is a good, capable and stable owner. Why wouldn't they release the cat back into her care?
Karen may have improved Sorbet's situation initially, but based on the photos I've seen, it doesn't appear to be the case any longer, which is sad.
As much as I love my cats and I call them my babies, they aren't. Unfortunately animals don't have the same rights as humans so this case isn't like human children being taken from down on their luck mothers.
No one is playing God, that is a very dramatic statement to make, but then again your post was pretty heavy in the dramatics, I mean the title alone and stating Ruth gave crazy cat ladies everywhere a bad name. Pretty inflammatory remarks for someone who doesn't want to argue. You were looking for an argument, as I'm sure you couldn't be under the impression everyone who read this would agree with you. But that's beside the case, you have your own opinion, as do I, so we will have to just agree to disagree.
There are many unanswered questions on both sides, and you and I aren't going to be the ones who answer them. This situation shouldn't have been broadcasted on the Internet, it should have been handled like adults privately but it wasn't so now it's out there for everyone to see and form opinions on.
I don't doubt you also had good intentions when writing your blog, but you don't know all the facts and it's a very one-sided piece of writing. That is why I think your vision is clouded. Just like you think my opinion, way up in my ivory tower where I judge people less fortunate than me, is clouded. And I'm fine with that, I don't expect you to agree with me. I just wanted to offer another opinion, in case anyone reads your blog. I hate seeing animals used for attention and I hate seeing neglected animals. They are sentient beings and deserve respect and love. Sorbet hasn't always gotten that. He definitely deserves better and I hope Sorbet lives a much better life in the future.
I agree with your opinions on the proper treatment of animals. I guess I look at all Karen did for both Bagel and Sorbet, how she brought them to far better health than they were in while in shelters when she adopted them. She didn't know Bagel had special needs when her daughter adopted her as a kitten. I'm not even saying that perhaps she bit off a bit too much by adopting Sorbet. Nonetheless, this was handled terribly. Pet theft is part of the CA Penal code. Sometimes parents bite off more than they can chew when surprised with twins or triplets. Does that give someone the right to kidnap one if its born with special needs and more difficult to handle? Anyhow, this could have been handled way differently, and the whole thing is very sad. As for all of evidence I've seen, I'm sure soon enough it will be disclosed for everyone.
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