This website was created as a warning to the Public. Have a look at my website journalizing my experience with KittyKind and what I witnessed as a KittyKind Adoption Representative/Volunteer/Foster home. Take a Journey of a Thousand Lies with me as I take them to Court for Breach of Contract. Learn how enablers and cliques treat whistleblowers and how you can protect yourself from them. Before conducting any transactions with this dishonorable group read my website.
BACKGROUND:
Before becoming a volunteer for BeingKind (later changed to KittyKind), I thought they were a Rescue Group that could help me get some orphaned/throwaway/stray cats adopted. I walked into the lion’s den like the Fool in the Tarot deck: totally unprepared for the shysters I would be rubbing shoulders with on a daily basis for the next 7 years.
The way things worked out with KittyKind intake was that I would take the cat I was surrendering to the vet for a check up. I would be sure the cat was spayed or neutered and up to date on all vaccinations. I would bring the medical files along with an intake fee (at that time it was $65) and I would fill out forms giving information about the cat(s) personality, medical history and how I found him/her.
My Beginnings as a Volunteer
I volunteered, fostered and was an Adoption Rep for KK during 1999 - 2007. I willingly spent money on vet care for those fosters totaling about $15,000 for which I never asked for reimbursement. During 2004 I did ask for reimbursement for $25,000 and was constantly told I’d get it. Then Marlene Kess got busted for attempting to bury 200 dead cats in her backyard in NJ.
Suddenly, no one knew I was even fostering for KK – even less about the money for which I was constantly promised reimbursement by KK’s then President. Her right hand person claimed no knowledge of the situation although she drove me home with many cats on quite a few occasions.
KittyKind forgets how many of the cats that came in covered with feces, fleas, ear mites, heavily matted coats and overgrown claws I groomed so that they would be presentable for adoptions or fostering.
KittyKind forgets about the diabetic cats I fostered giving them regular blood sugar level monitoring and insulin shots.
KittyKind forgets about the many sick cats who I gave subcutaneous fluids to because they were dehydrated.
KittyKind forgets about the many sick cats who I gave medications (under the guidance of my vet and their vet) until they were well enough to adopt or foster out.
KittyKind forgets the many cats I transported to the various vets for them; the many cats that I took to my vet at their suggestion when their vet was closed and the cat was in a state of emergency.
As a volunteer for KittyKind from March 1999 to sometime in 2007 my work included the following:
- Fostered sick cats and kittens that needed hand feeding, medication for upper respiratory infections as well as eye infections
- Bottle fed new born kittens
- Fostered healthy cats and kittens providing a clean place for the cats and kittens to stay until notified of available cage space or foster homes
- Delivered cats to new adopted homes or to foster homes; traveling from Coney Island often as far as Queens and the Rockaways for deliveries, screenings and sometimes trouble shooting.
- For the animals in my home I fed them; gave them fresh water and clean litter boxes; provided bedding; toys and cages.
- Cleaned dirty ears, administered medication for ear mites, clipped nails and tended to cats and kittens with fleas, ringworm, coccidian and sometimes Calici Virus and Distemper.
- Transported sick cats from the Petco store on Union Square to the KittyKind vet on 86 street.
- Acted as adoption rep on weekends, screening prospective adopters and their homes for acceptable homes.
- Provided trouble shooting for KK at store and when foster care providers and adopters complained about cats adopted with conditions such as ringworm, cardiomyopathy, ear mites and cats that needed to be picked up for return to KK.
- Did house calls on behalf of KK for a developmentally challenged multi cat foster care provider: Another KK victim. This involved dropping off food; picking up kittens for adoption at Petco and reporting conditions at the home and of the cat’s health to Ms. Kess. It also involved listening to the Young Lady’s complaints about being overwhelmed and ignored.
- Provided desktop publishing services to from 1999 to 2003.
- Started Database for KittyKind.
- Created adoption manual that was later used to generate their website.
- Created Forms for Intake; Adoption; Fostering.
- Cleaning cages at store: fresh water; fresh food; clean litter boxes; clean bedding.
- Took cats to my vet for euthanasia and/or cremation when they were suffering from Encephalitis, heart failure, kidney failure, pneumonia and cancer.
- Took cats to my vet for treatment for diabetes and pancreatitis as well as calicivirus which was misdiagnosed by Marlene Kess as an upper respiratory infection and another misdiagnosis of Coccidia misdiagnosed as diahhrea as well.
- I was given kittens which turned out to have distemper. Marlene Kess claimed it was fading kitten syndrome – my vet diagnosed distemper not once but twice.
- My signature and contact number was given to foster homes and new adoptions for emergencies and I sometimes had to go out in the middle of the night or on a heavy rain day to pick up cats for return to KK. This meant I often had to make decisions without being able to reach Members of the Board who at that time included only Marlene Kess, Ann Marie Troiano and Hilary Harris. The present Board was not active and many of them didn’t even know me.
- I was asked to pick up cats from foster situations or to deliver cats to foster homes. In some cases, I returned to Petco only to be told that there was nowhere to put the cats and I would end up fostering them.
- Sometimes I set up traps in the Petco store for cats that had escaped from the cages and had to be recaptured
Promotion to Adoption Representative
While still cleaning cages; bathing cats and kittens that arrived covered in their own excrement or full of fleas and helping with weekend adoptions, I now was promoted to Adoption Representative where I learned a LOT about Vagueness and “twisting the truth”. I was often on the receiving end of all of these but I also saw how they treated and responded to people who asked questions about the cats they wanted to adopt. Do you realize that people will agree to almost anything once the Screening gets into full gear? There must be a Psychological label for this: People act as if they’re on a job interview and must get a perfect score on their Adoption Application. They’ll even adopt a cat that no one wants because they were told “he’s been here the longest”. This is Sentimentalism at its finest.
After volunteering for over 7 years it was a nasty Wake Up Call to realize that Marlene Kess, President of KittyKind, was nothing but a con artist! I had often noticed her taking money from the Donation Jar for Pizza; Coffee and Soup. I once told her that, “it doesn’t look good when we say that every penny goes to the care of the cats and people see you helping yourself for coffee and food for yourself.” She must have realized she was wrong to do this because she wasn’t so blatant about it afterwards.
At one point in my early association with her Marlene claimed that the woman responsible for the jar and buying cat supplies with that money (Dorothy) was in the habit of using the money to go to the casinos and gamble. Marlene told me to arrive early and remove large bills from the jar: all $5; $10 and $20 were to be given to Marlene and Dorothy would come in to find a couple of singles and loose change. This was done according to Marlene, “to keep Dorothy honest.” Actually, I found out later that Dorothy often put her own money into the jar to meet the costs of the cat food and supplies. Other volunteers did the same.
Marlene’s eyes glowed when she saw incoming cash: Intake Fees; Donations; Outside Tabling and Adoption Fees. Any KittyKind Income by other sources (barcs event in June; Penny Harvest and other undisclosed sources) were kept secret. What other accounts and issues were kept secret?
- What happened to the sick cats in her Manhattan apartment? Were they tossed into dumpsters in the middle of the night when they died?
- What money was used to buy that house in NJ? (Receipts for Construction on that house show payment by KK.)
- There was another personal loan of $3,000 Marlene tried to renege on – had to go to court for that too and got my money back
- KittyKind originally tried to claim that the $25,000 was a gift from me but could not produce any paperwork to back up their lie so they changed tactics
- Looking back Marlene Kess probably never planned on paying me back since the Petco grant was nowhere near the amount she was running up at my vets
- Foster cats were denied and abandoned until the last day of court when they offered to let me Adopt them at their going rate. The Judge almost sneered at them and told me I could keep them if I wanted to. I did keep them so that they wouldn’t wind up like the other 200 or more cats in Marlene’s house
- KittyKind claims that they are No Kill, yet they abort full term cats. I chewed out by Cathy Christel for talking to a Foster Caretaker who refused to surrender a cat that was almost ready to deliver. Ms. Cristel demanded to know why I told the woman not to abort the cat. I had never said that but Cathy was set on the belief that I had so I didn’t bang my head against that wall.
One Example of Promises made under dire circumstances: Emergency Vet Care
On the night of a predicted Blizzard, Marlene Kess sent me home with a very sick cat. The cat had her face pressed to the bars of the carrier and would let out a low moan every few minutes. When I arrived home I called Marlene and told her that this cat was in very bad shape. I was afraid of even having her in my apartment even though she was in a separate cage.
“Put her in your closet, “ were Marlene’s instructions.
“What?! That’s awful, she could die in there!”
“Then take her to your vet.”
“There’s a blizzard predicted and it’s already 6pm.”
“Well, I don’t know what else to tell you.”
I called my vet and told him about the emergency, he let me bring the cat in. He immediately became concerned and took the cat’s temperature.
“This cat is burning up, her brain is on fire. She’s dying slowly and painfully.”
I called Marlene and described the situation to her. She wanted the Doctor to give the cat Supportive Care. She had to locate Barbara who was the cat’s “owner.” She could not locate Barbara and time was moving along with the cat in extreme pain. My doctor finally lost his patience with Marlene: Supportive care for a dying cat in Pain?
I made a decision and had the cat humanely euthanized. Days later, Barbara gave me the cold shoulder and Marlene claimed the vet just wanted to close up for the night and that’s why the cat was euthanized. No one reimbursed me for the office visit or for the disposal of the body. No one even mentioned it.
Another time Marlene sent me home with a litter of adorable kittens. They seemed healthy but a day later one stopped eating and began vomiting. He went from being lively to being totally weak and listless. I told Marlene, who told me “take him to your vet.” Imagine my shock when the vet said to bring them all down – they had distemper. My heart broke. My vet told me, “they must be humanely euthanized, they seem healthy now but when the distemper takes over it’s a painful death.” Such heartbreak is not something you want to go through. I was sick in bed for a week over their deaths. No one reimbursed me for the office visit or for the disposal of the bodies. No one even mentioned it. This was the KittyKind way: When there’s an outbreak of Distemper and Cats for Adoption are suddenly a whole new group; they pretended they had been adopted out. Many times I was told, “don’t say anything” after I found out about such an event.
When I turned on the TV the news was showing a picture of a large house in NJ. The prompter promised a “house of horrors” story. I almost choked when I saw them filming Marlene Kess sauntering up the driveway to this house! I had to sit down when they explained that there were plastic bags on the property containing the carcasses of over 200 cats. The inside of the house was deplorable, sick cats were roaming around with healthy cats. Dear God! She had been trying to persuade me to move in with her as her roommate!
I called Marlene immediately. She was upset and wanted details of what I saw since she had no TV. At the time she didn’t deny anything. The phone call was brief. I don’t remember much of what was said, I just couldn’t believe I knew this person who took home many sick cats every weekend when they weren’t adopted at Petco in Manhattan .
More secrets come out (more information and links to be posted soon)
The bill for construction: Marlene’s House was being renovated using KK funds:
The new Board plays stupid: What cats? What money?
Let’s be real here, Hilary Harris often got lists from me which she conveniently lost. She actually drove me home with cats on more than one occasion. Did they think they would just “clean the slate” by claiming ignorance of accounts owed and cats in foster? Sadly, volunteers who knew what was going on kept silent.
They never knew I was fostering?!
Later I wondered how they could be such liars. At one time I was preparing to return all of their cats to them because I couldn’t continue paying for food and litter. My money was running out. Marlene called me and said I was hateful. Hilary Harris called me and gave me the mantra, “We just have no place to put them”. Others called and asked for more time until other foster homes could be found. Finally, one person began to provide me with food and Marlene said to keep the adoption fees for some of the cats I brought in to pay for food and litter. It was never enough – there were just too many cats!
At one point my Landlord threatened to evict me! Marlene wrote a letter for me to give to her. When their lawyer was set to come over to the apartment, Marlene had other KittyKind Adoption Representatives remove the cats from my apartment in the middle of the night. I thought they would keep their cats but three days after the inspection, they returned all of them with the exception of 15 kittens.
Hilary later wanted a favor from me and said, “remember we helped you with your problem when your cats needed to be moved.” MY Cats!!?? Is this fantasy, Alzheimer’s or a bad indication of how she believes she sees the world? What else is warped in her world?
They never knew about the money I spent and the money I was owed?
I Finally take KittyKind to Court (more information and links to be posted soon)
The Judge told me that Self Representation was a mistake. Good Advice too late coming.
KittyKind Attorneys and their tricks (more information and links to be posted soon)
Judge admonishes KK attorney but dismisses case for lack of paperwork they would refuse to give me discovery materials while demanding more from me; produced a letter that was never mailed to me before court episode and more. (As I update the site I'll post more from court documents.)
My only “gift”: Judge says I can do whatever I want with the information. I told him I was going to educate the Public.
KK tries to play dumb with other foster homes, “we don’t know anything about that” becomes their standard reply when people ask when foster cats are going to be picked up.
KK tries to ignore bite from volunteer. This is not their first bite incident.
KK tries to ignore bite from new lawsuit. As usual, they try to discredit the person bitten.
Mayor’s Alliance, Jane Hoffman plays Mediator and tries to get KK off the hook for the money. She eventually attempts to represent them in court but Judge refuses to wait for her arrival. Any mediation by her will be for the Alliance Participating Organization so don’t go to Kangaroo Court.
KK changes tactics and begins “Praise of KittyKind” blogs and starts top posting on review sites. The use of volunteers to create all kinds of “Sites of Praise” is not beneath them.
The Craigslist Internet Wars (more information and links to be posted soon)
· KK and their friends try to keep my story off Craigslist with Flagging
· KK and their friends try to discredit me on Craigslist
· Laurie Bleier joins the battle for her friend Marlene – eventually they too will part company.
I understand that Laurie spit in Marlene’s face as a parting gift.
KittyKind Abandonment Files (more information and links to be posted soon)
- Special Care Cats
- Leo: Diabetic; attack cat
- Unadoptable Cats
- Senior Cats
- Roman/Ramona
- Difficult to Adopt out cats
- Princess Pumpkin
What Do You Do When This Happens?
What do you do when the pet that you’re fostering is not taken back in a timely manner?
If you’ve done your homework and know where to return them, you just drop them off at their adoption site. Yes, they’ll call you crazy and irresponsible and say they have no place to put the cat but isn’t that how you were convinced to foster?
What do you do when you’re told that the pet you want to adopt is “not right for you”?
If you’re an Adult and there’s nothing clinically wrong with the cat you need to demand to make your own decision about which cat you will adopt. You might want to ask why they think this cat is not “right for you” – who is this cat “right” for?
What do you do when the pet you’ve adopted turns out not to be shy but feral?
Maybe during the adoption process you were told that this cat is shy and will need 2 weeks or so to acclimate to its new surroundings. You may have been told that the cat will hide and act unfriendly.
Sometimes a shy cat will do this but not for very long and usually sometime during the first week the cat will try to approach you (maybe while you’re watching TV or lying in bed). It’s always pleasant when the cat suddenly approaches you.
A feral cat will NEVER do this. A feral cat will hide and act as if you’re it’s worst enemy. If you insist on approaching a feral cat it will attack you. This has happened more than once with KittyKind adoptions (link to yelp articles).
What do you do when you return a pet and your adoption fee is not refunded?
I watched once as Hilary Harris received a cat returned because it was adopted out in a very sick condition. The young lady’s husband brought the cat back because his wife was crying over the entire situation.
“I’m surprised he didn’t ask for his money back” I said to Hilary.
“Yes, I am too” she said clearly relieved.
An adoption rep named Emily came out and started making fun of the couple.
“I’m glad I don’t depend on someone else because I’m in tears”. No, Emily would never depend on anyone else for anything; no one would want to in her case.
What do you do when you are treated with scorn because you want to return a pet whose history was misrepresented?
Just return them and exit. Lots of others have blogged about it and in the end KittyKind has to hurry and create another blog or website to top post over your exposé.
What do you do when the promises of medical care are reneged upon?
Hopefully, you have created a papertrail: You’ve had them sign a contract saying that they will pay for medical care; you’ve contacted them via email to tell them of the needed care and you’ve saved their replies all in one folder.
You’ve used the Questions to Ask before . . . and you’ve created your foster file. You’ve never just left anything verbal; you’ve always followed up a conversation with an email and you’ve stuck to the point.
If you’ve done all of this work, you’re in a better position than I was and you MUST get a lawyer. If you can’t afford a lawyer go to court anyway because a judge may be able to help you with an adequate paper trail. Once you’ve been to trial you can post all your letters and emails when you expose your mistreatment on a blog or website. Their retorts of “crazy” “liar” etc will not stand under the light of your documentation.
Adopters Beware
Some people are making a living out of selling kittens under the pretext of rescue and adoption. They get many of the services for free and pass the cost to you as an adoption fee. I was an "Adoption Representative" for one such group and I saw the testing & vaccinations being done by an unqualified person, this is not hearsay. If the cat or kitten is taken into a back room for testing or vaccinations you know it isn't being done by a qualified vet. You know the animal is not examined by a vet either.
One way to discourage this practice is to look at the medical files that you should get when you adopt. To discourage the practice of forging these files be sure you're getting an original from the vet's office. This will also guarantee that your newly adopted cat or kitten was seen by a veterinarian.
This is another way of knowing whether the Cash Payment they ask for is really going to "Pay for Medical Fees". What Medical Fees?
Pay by check or credit card - they're supposed to be reporting this to the IRS not putting it into their pockets for rent, their own food or their own utilities. Don't enable these people. Remember your obligations to care for the animals that you adopt. Provide them with freedom of fear, freedom from hunger and give them lots of love.
Adopting a Pet? Pay by Check or Credit Card
Your Cash is difficult to get back if the pet was misrepresented as sociable or just shy and instead turns out to be Feral or if the pet is sick and will cost you money after the adoption for vet care. Checks prove the exact amount paid and who it was paid to. Check or credit card is a file that is not so easy to misplace and can be used as proof of where you adopted from if you need to return the pet per Adoption Contracts that state: "We will take the animal back at any time. . . "
People who are not ethical will tell you they need to pay medical expenses and that's why they ask for cash. Some of these people call themselves Rescue Groups; and are not a Non Profit. What does this mean? It means they don't pay taxes on all the cash they get in - not just one adoption but consider 10 at $100 that's good intake for one day. What's that come to at the end of the month, year? That doesn't include on the spot daily cash donations .
Kittens for adoption every weekend: Is this rescue or a new lifestyle? Is the Adoption Fee non refundable? Why?
I'm sure there are some honorable Non Profits and rescuers out there but there are definitely more than a few bad eggs and those are the ones you need to watch out for. Consider the income from 10 adoptions at $100 each or 5 adoptions of 2 kittens (same price) you've got to wonder how much it generated over a weekend or over an entire week or year.
Adoption Fees and Intake Fees are not Donations. I learned this when I visited the IRS in 2002. A donation means you gave a gift without receiving anything in return. A FEE however, is money paid for a service. Non Refundable? Ask why. If the answer seems fuzzy don't do it.
NON PROFITS are supposed to report income from adoptions, intake and donations. With some unethical groups CASH is very often not reported.
Non Profits can pay for their vet fees by check or credit card too.
This is called Bookkeeping! Income & Expense. Those things the IRS wants to know about. Cash often is not reported by the unethical and if you need proof of payment you have none when you pay with cash.
Get Original Medical records and Receipts for items the group says they paid.
They are a record of what you were told about this pet.
They cannot deny these records.
Their receipts show whether they actually paid for spay/neuter/vaccinations and anything else they claim or if they had it done for FREE at the ASPCA van or through some other resource and are charging you for it.
Get original Medical Records. Look them over BEFORE you get home.
Get written Contracts! Get your forms signed by them too. (Get them from the website below)
Correct Paperwork will save you if you have to go to Court. I learned all this when I sued KittyKind - I had no paperwork.
Use the forms created for your protection, everything I learned from my experience is on the table for you to learn from.
Ask the Questions generated for your side of the interview to get facts needed for a successful adoption.
I learned all this through Hard experience, You can learn from my experience.
Most of this is common sense. Blind trust will only result in an unsavory experience.
