Feed a Cat For Christmas! Debbie S!

Debbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you so much for helping me to feed a cat for Christmas!  You have fed 100 cats today.  Yup.  That many.  And more actually, for the ones I pulled over to place a dish out for.  And a towel under it, of course, so their little feet wouldn't hurt while they are standing there eating it.

BUTTERS Ready to Pounce!  

She is going to new home tomorrow with her sister Peaches!

Debbie has been a good friend for a few years now.  She is friends with a friend Julie, and became mine as well.  She makes some pretty awesome gift baskets, the last one made was the last Meow and Chow, which was too long ago.  I promise, this coming year, we are having one!  Debbie has the luxury of spending her winters in Florida.  Someday Debbie!!!  Here I come!

It was a mild morning today out there.  I fed a lot of cats, and felt good doing it.   I thought about what I was doing for a moment.  I've been doing this for HOW MANY YEARS NOW???  And what do I have to show for it?  I never have a day off, I never take vacations, I can't afford to nor can the cats afford to go a day without food, and my house is the same little starter house I moved into how many years ago...  I have not had the luxury of putting much updating into it, except my kitchen, which I love, and still have to cover things up that I am embarrassed of when someone comes over (i.e., my carpeted stairway).  All because of cats!  My life is not what I hoped it would be, but I accept it, day after day, and am comforted by the fact that I have saved a lot of cats, if that is really any consolation...  I do get down about this now and then.  Don't get me wrong, I do love cats, its just that I think...  nothing has changed, there are still as many out on the streets as there were when I began this, I've just helped curb a few thousand from being born.  The City of Rochester still has done NOTHING to change the situation for these poor suffering animals that have no say in the matter whatsoever. The City has done nothing to help except to turn a cheek to a few measly shelters on their vacant lots.  I won't go there.

And then there are people.  Kind people.  Oh so many kind people.  One of them is Jennifer, who adopted half-dead Chase from me.  She has been a strong supporter for me and recently wrote me the following note:

Hi Janine. I have had a really long week. I just wanted today to be done and on vacation for Christmas. I got in the car today at 6:50 (running late of course), and stopped sat my garage to listen to the radio for a few minutes because I heard this. I am SO HAPPY. I listen to warm 101.3 in December because I like the Christmas music. Every day, Tony does a story about a regular person that does something great. YOU WERE TODAY’S PERSON!!! I don’t know if you heard it, but I am hoping other Janine fans were listening. I am not a facebook-er so I am not sure if it is there. If I find it, I will have Todd share it.

I was driving into work earlier this week listening to another story, and I thought why can’t Janine be that story? I wrote Tony on Tuesday and he read your story today. You know what else??!! Not only were you recognized, we got Aadya’s story told. Below is the email I sent. Todd did not know I sent the email, but when I told him what happened, he called Tony. He said that Tony has also sent you an audio recording of the story. He thinks you are as amazing too.

Merry Christmas, Janine.

Keep being great.

Jen and Todd (and of course, little Tobin Chance). 

Hi Tony,

I wanted to reach out to you about my everyday hero. Her name is Janine Wagner and she is amazing. She runs Janine the Bean rescue, but it is not an ordinary rescue. She actually feeds about 100 feral/stray/abandoned homeless cats every single day in the city, and has been doing this for nearly 20 years. Whether it is a clear night, pouring rain, a blizzard, Christmas, or her birthday, she is out there at 3:30 every morning for 2 hours (sometimes longer) to check on the cats, then goes off to her full time job. The care from Janine is the only care most of these animals get, and the only time that they eat. She has tended to a number of these cats many years. Some days those stories end in heartbreak, but she goes back out to help the next day.

In some areas, she has permission to place shelters to provide some comfort for the cats and protection from the elements. At times, people destroy their homes, which she turns around and rebuilds. Not all of the cats have the luxury of a shelter. Some are fed under a tree, a couple even eat under a city mailbox. She TNRs (trap, neuter, release) the feral cats to help keep the population down, and treats those that are sick. When she finds socialized cats in need of a home or a litter of feral kittens (often born in her shelters), she will take them under her wing to get them adopted and off the street to break the cycle. This year alone she has rescued over 110 cats. She takes responsibility to get them vetted; if they are sick, she makes sure they are better before they go to their forever home.

She has a few fosters and her supporters help with donations, but much of her work is funded out of her own pocket. The easy part is for us to support her, it is a completely different level of commitment to go out there on a daily basis to care for these cats that have nothing else. She also encounters homeless people and has stopped to help them and leave them gloves or a blanket. Recently, a homeless couple reached out to Janine (they borrowed someone’s phone) after her after they had found a kitten in need of help. She had been beaten and left in a dumpster with her legs zip-tied together. Janine was out of the house in a flash and got the kitten the attention that it needed. The kitten was later adopted by the veterinarian that helped to save her life. Unfortunately, she was never able to locate the couple that found the kitten, much to the disappointment of Janine, her family, and her supporters. This is just one example in the very long line of cats that needed her. She found my cat on the street, emaciated, weighing only 6 pounds, with a severe infection. Others are left behind when people leave their homes, are no longer wanted, others abandoned in a barn. One kitten was left outside in a dog crate with no food or water. She has even helped cats that were left behind for simply no longer being a kitten.

Nothing stops her. Nothing gets in her way, and she continues caring for “nobody’s cats” every day. As Janine says, changing the life of one cat won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one cat.

It would be the greatest gift to recognize Janine for everything she does and give something back to her since she gives so much of herself.

Thank you,

Jen

Thank you Jen, that meant so much to me.  I cried.  Its so kind.  But please know, there are so many heroes inour city, across the country and around the world that  do what I do, but thank you for recognizing me, little old me.  Thank you.

The next morning, Tony read Jen's letter on the air.  And I think one person heard it.  Jake from my office called to tell me.  Oh, and Jennifer and her husband.  But I have it on tape, thank you!  :)

(Something went wrong with this post, I hate my computer -- it does strange things.  I could not post pictures and its typing over my words.  I keep having to retype if I want to go back and edit something).  UGH.

Have a great day!