On Sunday, Aug. 3, my wonderful cat Dryden, who loves licking fingers and knocking over cups of water, didn't come home at night. The next day I posted "Missing Cat" signs around the neighborhood, and on Tuesday I checked in with the Boston MSPCA shelter two blocks down the street to see if anyone had brought him in, perhaps mistakenly thinking he was a stray. Someone had brought him in, and the MSPCA had already euthanized him.

Dryden struggled with hyperthyroidism, like many older cats, and the shelter determined he was too skinny and sick to place in the adoption center. Dryden's vet, who had been caring for him for almost a decade, works in the same MSPCA building where he was euthanized as an unidentified stray.

The MSPCA states that its mission is "to protect animals, relieve their suffering, advance their health and welfare, prevent cruelty, and work for a just and compassionate society." Ending Dryden's life two days after one of my neighbors mistakenly took him as a stray, is cruel. Dryden was living a happy life, sick but not in pain, fully active and surrounded by everyone who loves him.

In Massachusetts shelters are required by law to hold dogs for at least seven days before killing them or putting them up for adoption, but there are no regulations for the treatment of cats in shelters. The MSPCA also has no internal policy for protecting cats that are grabbed by complete strangers and turned in as “strays.” This is unconscionable.

Tell the MSPCA to stay true to its mission of preventing animal cruelty by implementing a “stray hold” wait time policy before euthanizing cats or putting them up for adoption, and requiring anyone delivering cats that are not their own to show that they have attempted to identify an owner first.

The only way I can think of to honor Dryden’s life is to make sure this never happens to another cat. Thank you for your help, and please share this petition with friends and family.