Here’s my recent experience with Town Cats. My kids and I filled out an application for a special little kitten up for adoption just after the New Year. (I’ll save you the emotional details but my kiddo was certain this was THE KITTY for her after searching many, many shelters.) We were emailed back right away saying that another family had also applied for the same kitty but applications don’t guarantee an adoption and the adoption fair was the next day, Sunday, and that it is first come, first serve. So we showed up an hour early to be sure we were first in line to adopt this little guy. About 5 minutes before the start of the adoption, another family show up. I had texted the rep from Town Cats about sign up and how it worked since we’d been there a while and hadn’t seen anyone yet. She said that a volunteer would arrive soon and since we were there first, we would be taking the kitty home! The volunteer came right on time and we went in to the room to finally play one on one with the kitten we’d visited through the plastic box the day before and an hour that day as well. She was confused about how to proceed since the other family was saying that they had a ‘contract’ for this kitten already (which is not a thing) so she was calling the same rep I’d texted earlier and trying to get her to help with this situation. In the meantime, she said she didn’t know what to do, and that since the other family applied first she might have to give it to them. My 9 year old started crying. I could tell it was getting awkward and so I went to find the volunteer to tell her that despite the fact that we followed the rules and were here first, this was upsetting my kids and I was just going to let this other family have the kitty because it was getting contentious in the visiting area but she stopped me and said she’d spoken to the Town Cats rep and the rep had told her that, again for the second time, the kitty was ours to take home. My 9 year burst in to tears, of joy this time. We stayed a bit away while she told the other family that he was ours, to give them privacy and space, then after a few minutes, we went up to do the paperwork. When we walked up I saw that the father from the other family was on the phone, clearly mad. The volunteer said don’t worry about it, the kitty is yours. I was writing the check and he stepped in and said she should call her boss first, and she continued on, then he said ‘no, really’ and made it really awkward again. Then my phone rings and the rep calls me. She said that she made a hasty decision because she didn’t know that this other family had ‘bonded’ with this kitty already and she’d need review both applications again, talk to her coworkers, then call me tomorrow. I should state that at this point she started telling me about all of these other cats at their Morgan Hill location and how we should come and check them out, so clearly she’s already made up her mind huh? Anyway, so again my kid is upset because it went from Yes, to Maybe, to Yes, to Maybe again (but that easy let down, maybe kids know means NO, parents you know the one). I had watched this other family interact with the kitty earlier and this man who claimed to have ‘bonded’ so much with this kitten didn’t even touch it once then entire time. He must have had such control to stop himself from insatiable ‘bond’ pulling him to this special kitten. (Eye Roll). It was an emotional ploy…and guess what folks, it worked. She called me the next day to tell me that she was giving the kitty to the other family. Town Cats metaphorically ripped a kitten from my 9 years old arms after telling her IN PERSON, to her face, that he was hers to love. It was simply cruel. And what’s craziest about this whole thing, WE FOLLOWED THE RULES. We applied, we showed up first, and were TOLD TWICE that he was ours. It can’t get much more black and white than that. I don’t care if someone calls and uses whatever manipulation tactic they can to get you to change your policy, I mean mind. You had already told a child this was her kitten. On that fact alone, he should have been adopted by my daughter. I will NEVER deal with Town Cats again, ever and you better believe I’ve told everyone the whole story of this nightmare of an ordeal too. We had 7 people from our family there that day to witness this emotional roller coaster and everyone was equally disgusted by the end result. IT WAS WRONG. Period.