One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

Picture of Angel, who had the nasty would on his nose.  Look how he has healed!

Last night I got a call from a cop/cat foster friend of mine.  She called to ask me if I had any 'spots' on a certain street near where I do actually have spots.  I told her no, but that I did have a spot on the corner of Ferndale and Webster, not far from where she was asking me about.  She said she just arrested a woman under the mental hygiene law.  She apparently is known to be a 'little' cuckoo, and her apartment in this house was pretty bad, and she apparently had been mutilating kitties - she had brought several dead ones to Rochester Animal Services in the past.   I am not quite sure why the police were called there, but she was calm at first, and then became combative, so they arrested her and brought her to Rochester General Hospital to the pysch unit.  After I got a little more detail about the woman (she was clipping their nails down so much she was cutting off toes, she took newborn kittens away from their mother and stuffed their mouths with cottage cheese, etc.), I told my friend I would keep an eye out for her, and maybe talk to neighbors - see whats up with the cats around there.  The police apparently also took the remaining cats she had to the Rochester Animal Shelter.  Sad.  But at least out of a sick person's hands.

Ferndale Kitty

 Ferndale Kitties Watching Me from House Next Door

Big Red and Talkie

Well, here is me, after doing my first four spots, cruising down into the hood in the quiet hour of the morning, looking for the house number.  After spotting it, I noticed a woman sitting on the steps in the back of the house, eating something on a plate.  I thought 'that's her!'.  I got out and quietly approached her, and asked if she was 'Marilee,' pretending to look for Marilee.  If you remember, thats the woman I finally ran into on Ferndale and Webster who had been doing crazy things on the porch for the cats over the winter.  She said no, her name was 'Lucy' (I am protecting her name).  We began a very nice, but bizarre conversation for about ten minutes.  I told her I feed cats in the neighborhood and that immediately got her to share with me her arrest last night, and how 'they' took her cats away.  She was extremely calm, and pleasant.  She pointed to a sign on her door and said they've condemned my apartment so I have to move out'.  I asked her where she would go and she mentioned a pup tent in highland park, and then she mentioned maybe the Rochester Housing Authority.  She seemed to like that idea better.  She also was rambling on about a possum and a raccoon and how one of her kitties, a little black and white had gotten away, and she was looking for it.  She mentioned how she clips their nails.  She mentioned how the boys in the house (another apartment) got into her house and left buckets of spit, how the boys and a few girl escorts were spitting into the buckets and leaving it for her. 

I just stood there very quietly with her, engaging in pleasant conversation, thinking this woman was crazy.  She also surprised me and told me she was the one who placed the blanket, and put down pork and beans and stuff on the porch at Ferndale and Webster.  So I had TWO crazy ladies doing that at the same spot - THREE if you count me!  :)   As I was looking at her, a very plain 50ish year old (looked 60), no teeth (or they were pretty bad), thin, but she looked like someone you would see a crazy mug shot of if you've ever seen them online.  My mother always told me I should have been an actress.  I could have won an academy award for my performance this morning.  I wanted to throttle this woman, who could abuse animals, but I knew I must be her friend for now, to be sure she doesn't get her hands on any more cats.  I told her I would come back in the morning for a visit and give her my number.  I don't know what will come of it, but I do approach people very cautiously, but I also beleive I have a calming effect on crazy people, for some reason.  I get normal people all riled up, but crazy people love me!  :)  Funny how that works.

The pictures throughout are of my kitties at some of my spots I took this morning.   Have a great day!