A woman's beloved cat got loose and wound up at The Animal Foundation. Marmalade was put to sleep a day later. Marmalade's owner wants the story told so cat owners can prevent this from happening to them in the future.
Marilyn Davenport says it was a windy day when her door cracked open and her 16-year-old cat got loose.
Someone picked up Marmalade and brought him to The Animal Foundation.
Davenport started her search for her cat by checking all the Facebook groups and driving around the neighborhood near Torrey Pines and Spring Mountain.
The next day, she went to The Animal Foundation when she saw a picture of Marmalade online.
She sat in the waiting room for at least 30 minutes before she was called up and told Marmalade had just been euthanized.
"It's hard because he was just super sweet," said Davenport.
The Animal Foundation told Davenport the decision was made because Marmalade had an upper respiratory infection, he was dirty, and he was dehydrated.
Davenport knows he wasn't in perfect condition but she says he wasn't ready to die.
Marmalade was not microchipped and did not have an identifying information on him like a collar or a tag.
Therefore, The Animal Foundation followed their proper protocol and decided to euthanize the cat after going through their standard examination and procedure.
If an unidentifiable cat is brought in to The Animal Foundation from Clark County or the City of Las Vegas, there is no specific hold period required.
If an unidentifiable cat is brought in to The Animal Foundation from North Las Vegas, a three-day hold period is required.
Davenport wanted to tell Marmalade's story to make people aware of The Animal Foundation's policy.
"I know the community doesn't know that," she said. "I know people don't know."
Davenport says she will microchip all her pets in the future to prevent something like this from happening again.
