Waiting for a Call

Many women have waited not-so-patiently for the phone to ring on a friday night. All week long I have been waiting for a call more important than a date. Last week, my mother, sister, and I sponsored three cats for adoption at the Kokomo Humane Society. Every year we save up some money to donate to the shelter, and this year we had enough for not one, but three cats. I just hope I get a call soon saying at least one was adopted. In this case, no news is bad news.

Ani-mail

Aside from helping animals, another plus of joining or donating to an animal-rights organization is getting return address stickers. I've received over 50 labels from The Humane Society, the ASPCA, PETA, and more; all of them have pictures of cute animals on them. I don't think I'll be able to use them all before I move. In that case, I hope they send me some more to my new address.

Grain Free is the Way to Be

About a year ago I switched from regular Purina indoor cat formula to Felidae grain-free cat food. At first I was happy with my choice, but the company changed the ingredients and doubled the price. So recently I switched to Natural Balance grain-free, limited ingredient formula. Why limited ingredients? The fewer ingredients, the less likely the cat is to vomit. They have very sensitive digestive systems, so too many ingredients can upset their balance. Grain-free cat food is good too because there are fewer, if any, fillers and grains are not always easy to digest. For just a little bit more than I was paying for Purina, my cats get a healthier diet. My mother and sister both feed their cats a grain-free cat food as well. They use the best: Evo. While I can't afford Evo, I will still go grain free. Grain free is the way to be.

Animal Magnet

It seems that no matter where I go, lost and homeless animals find me. Just in the last two years, I have found several cats and dogs--or rather, they find me. It's almost as though I have a magnet, a beacon, or some other kind of homeing device that leads them to me. Maybe they know I'm an animal lover, someone who will help them--not hurt them. They always wait for me to get home too. Justs as I'm getting out of my car, they emerge from behind bushes and from under cars. Whatever it is, I'm glad they come to me and not someone who will abuse them. For this reason, I keep cat and dog treates on hand.

Oliver Jones

I like to post my rescue stories whenever I remember to. The most recent was last summer. I had just started my job at Allstate. I was taking my son to the park after work one day when suddenly I changed my mind and decided to go to the cemetery on Sycamore--I know, great place for a kid, right? I was drawn to a civil war statue that I used to pass. At night it is lit up and the only thing you can see clearly. we walked around, following the U-shaped path when we passed an orange tabby sitting on a flat tombstone. I rushed back home to get my sister to help me catch the cat. Turns out, he was friendly, so the box and blankets and food-bait we brought were not necessary. Without a collar to give us a name, I called him Oliver Jones, because that was the name from the tombstone where we found him. We took him home and fed him. Turns out, he had an owner who was looking for him and his name was gimpsy. I prefer Oliver Jones. It felt good to reunite him with his loving home.

hopefully, more rescue stories to come

No Hope for Animals

My sister said that people don't care when they run over an animal, but they would never run over a child that's in the road. Apparently, she was wrong. The news, as usual, was bad news: deaths, car crashes, and robberies. One of the victims was a six-month-old baby who was struck in her carrier while her mother pushed her across the street. The driver, who had sped through a stop sign, kept driving. It was a hit-in-run, the kind that happen to animals everyday. People don't find it uncommon, or even disturbing that people do this to animals all the time. I stopped when I hit a purple bucket; of course I'll stop for an animal or person. I couldn't help but wonder how many animals he's killed on the road. If he could hit a baby and keep driving, I assume the number of animal pancakes is probably up there.

I've come to the depressing conclusion: if people hit-and-run babies, there is no hope for animals.

What does it hurt to help?

Today, on my birthday of all days, as we were driving home from the beach, my sister and I saw a groundhog in the road. At first, I thought it was dead, but it moved. So, I pulled over and got out to make sure it was ok. It had some blood on its paw and nose, but it seemed able to move; so it was just refusing to get out of the road because of sheer stubbornness. My sister and I didn't want it to get smashed, so we shouted at it to scare it off the road. The only problem was, it wasn't afraid of us, which means it might be sick. Regardless, we kept trying.

During our useless and slightly humorous efforts to make it move, we heard a voice shouting from somewhere to be careful because it's dangerous. Basically, he was telling us to give up on it, which seems to be the common human regard for animals in danger. I don't expect people to care as much as I do. But, I at least expect them to acknowledge that animals' lives have value too and to not discourage others from trying to help. It's cruel to drive by something that is hurt with out trying to help. When I tell people this story, or how I hand-raised a baby kitten, or nursed a baby squirrel, or feed alley cats, the typical attitude is not admiration or an acknowledgment of my kindness, but something akin to revulsion or confusion. People don't think that what I do for animals is brave, kind, or even necessary. They seem to think that animals should be left to the fate of mother nature.

The ironic thing, is that animals don't share this heartless concept. There are countless stories of animals who took care of wounded or abandoned children. I don't think a gorilla ever passed a wounded child and said, leave it, it may bite. I think we need to acknowledge that an animal life is worth saving. Those who rescue them should not be mocked or criticized, but admired.

After all, what does it hurt by helping?