Poverty and Stuff

I forgot to mention that last Friday morning, I picked up another very young dead kitty off Pennsylvania Street, squished like a pancake. Sickening how people hit an animal and keep going. The same Sunday morning, I moved a baby raccoon to the side of the road on Fourth Street.

I know that there are folks that do like animals around there. I believe that a lack of money does not in any way equal a lack of love. Pets provide the same measure of love and emotional support to poor people as they do to those of us fortunate to have a little more. In fact, when you're struggling just to stay alive, your pets might be your only comfort.

I don't know how I would have survived my childhood if it hadn't been for the animals who shared my life. They provided unconditional love and snuggled with me when I cried. Through caring for them, I learned about caring for others. I came to understand that cats are spiritual beings having a feline experience, just as we humans are spiritual beings having a human experience. In my family, our cats and dogs were viewed as full-fledged family members.

Then again, in these neighborhoods, I see dogs kept in yards with bare minimum of shelter, food or water. I see pregnant or injured cats all around, with no where to go and no one to help them. But me. I try, but I just can’t do it alone. There is a cat I call Neck Wound kitty that I am now seeing a few blocks from where I used to feed it, on Parsells. He has a severe wound on his neck, and has had it for several years now. He scratches at that all day long, I am sure – I see him scratching as I pull up, and I see him scratching while he waits at a distance for me to put the only meal of his day down.

I am hoping that a new low income animal clinic being built in this neighborhood and set to open in July will make a difference. These homeowners need to step up and help themselves, their own community. I guess you can't really know what it's like to be poor unless you've been there yourself. But you can still try to have some compassion. The bottom line is if we don’t help enough low income people have their pets sterilized, we will fail to end overpopulation in our streets, and in our shelters. Its that simple.

UPDATE:  The Raccoon Momma and her babies have moved on.  There is no sign of them on Paul's roof anymore.  Thanks to Harold's Mom Kim, the wildlife expert came over yesterday and determined that they were no longer on the under the eaves of the roof.  Yay.  I pray for their safety, but very glad they are gone!

"Life is not a final exam.  It's daily pop quizzes."