u/Entire-Nobody-130

I work at closed intake shelter, so we are appointment based. I was working in the isolation area of my work, and I was heading back to my area when I saw this man walking up from the end of our driveway, he had a carrier in hand, I immediately felt uneasy, but it was a weekday so for all i knew he had an appointment. Or there wasnt even a cat inside and he was just donating a carrier. I didnt want to start problems with someone when there was no clear reason to. As im inside i was weighing one of my cats and happened to look outside and I see the same man walking away no carrier in hand. I was immediately worried, so I started walking back to the main area and scanning for a carrier, I was planning on asking if desk received a carrier for donation. Then I see the carrier sitting at our front door, my heart drops, i pick it up and there is definitely a cat inside, i bring her in and immediately get someone to set up her kennel. I was genuinely shaking. I have been here awhile and we have had many dumped animals, but I have never been the person to discover them or see it happen before, so this was the first time for me. And I always thought i would feel a lot of hatred, but i didnt, i was scared. I was scared and I was grateful. Not that he dumped the cat, but that he at least cared enough to dump the cat properly in a place we would immediately see. We have had many cats dumped in containers with breathing holes, that arent big enough, cats dumped in trash cans, dogs thrown off cars in kennels, dog tied to a leash to a pole (one time that sticks with me is when the dog chewed the leash off and we never found them). So i was grateful they did it while we were open and at least saftely contained. But i was saddened that someone would still do that. And i was mad at myself bc I felt like I should’ve listened to my gut feeling and confronted the man. This has been heavy on me lately, i just keep reminding myself to be grateful he left the cat in a place where we could easily find the cat, and bring it in our care quickly. Since that is not always the case

My ex partner is currently in jail and is in the legal system for what he has done to me. He has two higher class felonies for the charges. Back in april he was supposed to plead guilty to the charges but his defense attorney never had a chance to talk to him for the plea hearing so they delayed the case. It has now been about a month, and I go to check on the case to see when the next plea hearing is, assuming he was going to pleas guilty again, and saw they scheduled a jury trial. and i cant stop but blame myself. that maybe i said something to the wrong person, maybe i shared my story to someone I shouldn’t have. I just cant help but blame myself for him changing his mind on pleading. He also has requested a bond hearing, i have fought it everytime but my main reasoning was i lived in the same place and he held a housekey. I no longer live in that apartment; and im scared since my argument wouldnt be as strong they will allow the bond lowering. and im extremely scared of what will happen if he gets out. I mean its been 10 months since he been arrested and I have dealt with constant harrowing from his friends. Which included threats, breaking into my apartment, deliberately trying to harm me or my pets. It scares me very much, and i dont know what to do, this has flipped my whole life around, bc what if its all my fault that he wants to plead not guilty.