Unsung Heroes

I have many shortcomings, but one that has plagued me for a long time now, and got the best of me this past Friday as I was at a staff retreat and had to speak in front of my colleagues.  I have some kind of fear about speaking to my co-workers, and I don't know what it is.  I can be the life of a party in a group, I can speak confidently in a group of friends, I can stand my ground when it comes to defending an animal to citizens, police, etc.  But I am nauseas when I have to speak to my co-workers.  I feel like I made a fool of myself, and have that to deal with now where I spend half my life at.  The funny thing is, I think about what I do each morning, totally fearless of walking around in the dark in a very high crime ridden area, and have been doing so for so many years I've lost track.  And I think about how strong I am when it comes to going to one of my 16 spots, having the kitties hear my car, come running, starving for their only meal of the day, the ones that are the strong ones and fight to get the first small bits of their favorite wet food before it is all gone for the others waiting to eat behind them.  I think about how strong I am to be able to turn my back after placing the food and water down and getting into my car and driving to the next spot.  Knowing that if these cats weren't eating, they would be standing there waiting for me to pick them up and hold them, to warm their tiny soft bodies, to take them home so they would never have to live in the extreme weather conditions that they have to live in day in and day out.  One of my gloves got wet from pouring the water into the bowls, after tossing the ice in them this morning, so I took off my glove, and my hand was slightly damp, and my skin began to burn in this cold, and I thought about how these animals have to suffer on their little tiny pink pads, and how their ears begin to fray after each cold night due to frostbite.  I am strong enough, only because these cats are busy gobbling their food down, and I have a chance to leave before having them look back at me, hoping for me to rescue them.



Second Street Kitties


Thats a pretty sad scenario, I know, but its reality.  The other reality is that there are really really good people out there, right here in Rochester, that are trying to make a difference with the animals.  I just read about a group called PAWS, where the founder Matt is trying to make a difference with the dogs that are being abused and suffering out there, and building shelters for and trying to educate the city citizens that own dogs and treat them as such.  Matt and his group have been trying to make a difference in shedding the light on how these animal suffer in the extreme conditions weather-wise that we endure in our part of the country. 

Then there are other heroes like my friend Kristin, who I met through this blog, and has become one of my very best friends. She is trying to make a difference by actually being a doer. She has come to learn about cruelty through my eyes, not that she has never seen it with her own, but for instance the dog that was outside last week that I posted a picture of, Kristin actually drove over the day I posted that to this street, on her break from work – she is a school teacher – and tried to find this dog to see if it was still outside and was going to call 911 again. She drove at least 15 miles to do this. She is now determined to do something about the animal cruelty going on in Rochester, and is going to try to get an appointment with our mayor of the city to get some kind of cruelty task force going, as other mayors in other cities have done recently. I am hoping she will expand on this and fill us in on her vision.


Other heroes in my book: those that take in cats I’ve rescued, those that have built shelters for me to provide to the cats out there, those that have donated their food, money and time to me for these cats. You are ALL my heroes, and I will never be able to thank you, but thanks will not even be needed once we get all these animals off the streets and into homes. I figured if each person in this town could take in one cat, we wouldn’t have the problems we have right now in Rochester. Please pass this around, and think about adopting a cat from me. You will never know the joy of rescuing an animal, until you have done so.  The following picture is of Talkie, an older gal that cries for me each morning I pull up.  She was 'friends' with Big Red and I fed them both for years.  She is still out there, desperate.  She needs a home.  She is a good girl and craves the comfort of love and companionship with someone.  Please consider Talkie. 



TALKIE


Thanks, and have a great day.

"Be content to act, and leave the talking to others."