On July 27, I posted signs on the Vashon Highway for a found short-hair tortoiseshell cat. A kind Islander found this cat injured on the side of the road in front of Kathy’s Corner plant nursery on July 26. She took the cat to Fair Isle Animal Clinic where it was found to have a severely broken hind leg. VIPP was contacted, and we took photos to post on the VIPP website, on VashonAll and in The Beachcomber. We also posted large-format posters along the Vashon Highway near where the cat was found. On July 30, I did a door-to-door campaign to find the owner. What I discovered that day was that all of the posters stapled legally to telephone poles had been removed. Why were these posters removed?

Does someone have a beef with signs? Does someone have a beef with VIPP? Does the owner not want to claim this cat? Whatever the reason, it would be more responsible to contact VIPP rather than removing the signs with no explanation.   

Sadly, this has undermined VIPP’s attempts to find the owner of a cat who needs surgery to amputate its leg. We will continue to try to find the owner, but in the future if you feel compelled to take down a VIPP sign designed to reunite a pet with its owner, please call VIPP first at 389-1085 or contact cats@vipp.org or dogs@vipp.org. 

— Terri Fletcher, VIPP volunteer