Glamour Girls Need Not Apply

 Each morning, after I get up at 4 to head out at 5 to feed homeless cats in the Beechwood section of the city of Rochester, I do all my girlie stuff, and apply my makeup, mostly to save me time before I head to work, but also for that slight chance I run into some good looking cop or someone – God forbid my face isn’t done up! The clothes I wear are not very becoming – sweats, t-shirt, my pink Wellies, and several layers of jackets. Each morning, it never fails. I come back home with either a splinter from the wood boards, I break a nail, or I have a cat scratch. There are two kitties that get overly excited waiting for me to distribute their share of food and they swipe at my hand. One is Grady, and I just think he gets overly excited because Bullie, the cat that used to bully him, is now the bullier, the one being bullied. I think Grady just had had enough, and reversed the situation. But Grady gets a bit aggressive now with Bully hanging over his shoulder, so it makes Grady upset. Grady needs a home with a more docile companion – just like the kitty I rescued a month or two ago that I am still trying to find a home for – Earl. Of course then there are the days its raining, or snowing heavily, there goes the hair. Bad hair day ahead!

We’ve had a nasty winter here in Rochester so far. Last night, the winds were whipping! My mind went racing to each of the shelters I’ve set up, and which were the vulnerable ones, and there were many. I thought I would have a mess to clean up. And I did at a few. The shelter on Baldwin, where the kittens are – even though I see only one now since Laura rescued two of them – the plastic tote shelter had disseminated and had blown to the other side of the property. Luckily, I had a bag of straw so I quickly packed that again, and set a heavy concrete block on top of that. I hurried to replace the towel and bowls that had blown away, because little kitty was off in the distance watching, waiting for me to leave so it could eat.

I attach several pictures of various shelters and kitties I took yesterday morning. The first two though, are of a kitty that Laura rescued yesterday morning after she helped shovel some of my spots. This kitty, we believe, is the momma to a few kittens I recently rescued, from the Garson area. She is a beauty. If anyone can foster this beauty, she needs to get there ASAP. Laura has a few sick kitties with upper respiratory infections, and we don’t want this pretty girl to get one. If anyone can foster, please let me know. Please pass this on if you can!

The next three pictures are of Muffin, who really needs to get off the street.  He's a sweet young boy, about 9-10 months old.  Very cuddly.  Please consider Muffin. 

The next picture is of a sweet grey boy who I believe is sick.  He is a Barney lookalike - very course hair, he has been through a lot, and still maintains his sweetness.  His home is this plastic tote.  Please consider this sweet boy.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here

we should dance."

Kindness of Strangers

It was a brutal weekend here in Rochester, and for most of the northeast for that matter.  Parts of Rochester received over a foot of snow, and on my daily cat feeding route, it surely was a foot.  It was very heavy, very compact snow.  The storm began on Friday, and as I shoveled at home every hour on the hour, I knew it would be tough going for me the next morning.  The same for the cats.  But out I trudged, with 16 pounds of dry food - enough to feed over 30-40 cats, four containers of wet food, and four containers of hot water, and plenty of dry towels.  And don't forget the shovel.  At each of my 16 locations, I had to either shovel a path, if the shelter was close to the road, or trudge through trying to make a path in knee high snow to the shelter, and dig around that.  These poor animals cannot even move in this.  So I did the best I could.  What normally takes me one hour in the morning, on a good day, took me nearly two and a half hours on Saturday morning.  Phew.  My back was breaking by the time I got home.  Weak at the knees, for sure!

On Sunday morning, as I pulled up to Baldwin, where the two kittens that Laura rescued came from, and I believe two of their siblings still are, along with mom, I noticed that someone had shoveled two pathways around the shelter.  I also saw torn bread.  I thought to myself, oh my, someone actually cares about these animals!  They shoveled a path from the sidewalk, to the shelter, and another cross path that the kitties run to when I come.  I was astounded, and I felt so good.  The three pictures below are of the shelter on Baldwin, and you can see the paths that were shoveled, along with the dry towel and food I place down.

As I got to a few other spots along the way, I noticed that they were shoveled!  I thought, coincidence?  Maybe this Tim that lives next door to the abandoned house on Pennsylvania was kind enough to shovel for Sparkles, very injured kitty, and emaciated Limpy #2, the kitties that hang there for me each morning?  Then as I got to Central, I thought..............  LAURA!  This is the kind work of Laura!  She had e-mailed me asking if she could help shovel, and as I wouldn't expect anyone to get up and help me do this, I told her no, but thank you so much for offering.  I just couldn't believe it. 

Not that Laura is a stranger to me anymore.  She began as someone who was an expert trapper and was enlisted by Julie from Another Chance Pet Rescue to help in my Lollipop TNR endeavor last spring/summer.  I didn't really get to know Laura until recently, and I adore her now.  She has been a big help in trapping kitties for me, and to think that she selflessly went out and shovelled a few of my spots, well, its overwhelming.  I can't tell you how many wonderful people I have met throughout the years I've been feeding/sheltering and rescuing cats.  Just yesterday, neighbors that I barely know dropped off a couple of cats of wet food.  She told me she knew I did some kind of cat thing in the mornings, but didn't know the extent to which I do.  In fact, it still blows my mind how long I've been doing this.  And how much I still rely on the kindness of my fellow human beings, to show me a little recognition in that what I am doing is good, and to help me in any form they can.

So thank you!  Each and every one of you!  XO! 

In Sickness and In Health

There are many cats out there that are in pretty good health, despite the extremes that they have to endure to stay alive.  Then there are the not so fortunate.  I can remember times where I've seen an injured animal and in one particular instance, it was so sick and disoriented, wandering down a city street, I was able to stop my car, get out and easily grab it, place it in my back seat wrapped in a blanket, and drove straight to animal emergency to have it euthanized.  Other times, I've been able to trap these sick cats, and have humanely ended their suffering. I've picked up many dead cats off the street, even frozen ones, and humanely had them buried.  Then there are the ones that I just cannot get, and can only pray that their suffering will end quick. 

This morning, at my Pennsylvania street shelter, as I placed the food down for the waiting Injured Kitty #2 (I call him that because early last year, he was limping pretty bad, for months, and Laura tried to trap him, but he just wouldn't fall for it - he eventually stopped limping, and I wound up winning his trust after many leary months of trying to get him - he still isn't neutered), and Sparkles who runs to me each morning - I heard a cry and looked over to see an orange cat, one that I've seen before - that is afraid and doesnt' allow me to get too close before he runs off.   Anyway, he wound up inching closer as I placed food and water down, he was hungry, and under the board he came and I shined the flashlight on him, and he is very sick.  I don't know if he is now missing an eye, or that it is so swollen you can't see it.  His breathing was very heavy and congested.   Mr. Injured Kitty #2 is also not looking good.  He is skin and bone.  But sweet enough for me to grab him if I have to.  Although I have no where to take him but to a shelter to end his suffering.   I will try to get this red kitty tomorrow morning by bringing a trap.  With the snow we are supposed to get by then, I am not sure if I will be successful.  My heart was broken when I left there.  I suffer emotionally as much as they are suffering physically. 

A survey conducted by PetSmartCharities found that Americans are not fully aware of the problem of pet homelessness. Only 29 percent of the 3,000 surveyed knew about pet homelessness, and 75 percent guessed there are less than one million homeless pets in America, whereas the real number is closer to eight million. Another survey showed about forty percent believed the number of homeless pets euthanized each year to be less than one million, but the true number is closer to four million. Estimates from the Human Society of the United States, confirm the above numbers.

We as a community need to start to address the lack of awareness around the number of homeless pets in Rochester, and across the world for that matter, and the number of homeless pets that are euthanized each year. While these topics are sad, part of the problem is simply lack of awareness, so getting the information out in the public eye is part of the solution.  And we need to find a solution.  So lets spread the word, lets spread ANY word, even if its just this blog - do your part  - share it with everyone!  Maybe, just maybe, someone can figure this out!

Have a great weekend.

"Base your life on principle and most of your decisions

are already made."

State of Affairs

Oh So Many cats out there this morning. My first spot on Parsells, where crazy Lisa was messing with my stuff a few months ago, there was more than the usual one kitty waiting for me. At my next spot just a few houses down, the Three Muscateers were waiting for me, as usual. One is very fluffy Black and White, looks EXACTLY like Sylvester the cat in the cartoon, the other is the opposite colors, and very fluffy. The third is a pretty little orange and white kitty. Then there is a beautiful very light, almost white kitty that has the same coloring as a Siamese with a collar that greets me each day. When I pull up to this spot, the three of them (not the red) come out from under a latticed porch in the front of the house, and run to the back to wait for me to bring them their cherished wet food, fresh water and dry food. I don’t know if there is a heating duct somewhere under there, because otherwise there are three very nice huts in the back for them, that I am not sure they are using.

Just around the corner on Stout is the black kitty that is not as friendly to me, and another kitty that is friendly, waiting for me. This is where I boarded the windows up of this garage with no door, that is detached from a vacant house on the corner, the same house that I called Animal Control and my police friend to check out due to a very friendly, overbred pit bull that had no shelter, water or food in the outdoors where it was kept. These scumbags moved out long ago and the house of horrors has not been occupied since.

Then around the corner is Talkie, Neck Wound kitty (I’ve got to think of a better name!), and Lucille. Talkie gobbles that water down – they need their water in the winter, as well as the summer. The water turns to ice in a matter of minutes in temperatures like we have now. So they gulp that fast. Bugsy has a habit of being there in the morning, and usually I plop him in the car and drive him around the corner to Hayward, but he was shy this morning and wound up running with my car all the way over to the next spot. It was very cute, he was keeping up with me while I was driving, running on the sidewalk next to my car. At this next spot was Boots, a black cat with tortoise markings, another kitty that hangs, but this time there was a white kitty too. Very dirty, but very friendly. There are three bowls here, and not enough to feed them all, so I went back to the car and got another paper plate and poured more food down for the white kitty.

Next is Baldwin, where I see at least one baby kitten, if not two. Its dark, and they hide until I leave. At the next spot is Webster/Ferndale, where I spotted the little white dog two mornings ago. No sign of him again, but I can’t help but wonder, what are these people living in a house that has a condemned sign on it. “not to be occupied’ or something like that. Does anyone know the city violations and what this sign means?

On Short, where there is a very nice shelter set up, I rarely see a cat inside, although one could be in the wooden hut there, but they usually go scampering out when I pull up.

I got to thinking…. If there were a shelter such as the one that Kristin and Darrin built, out of a coffee table, and the nice heavy wooden huts that were built by Bob, Kristin and Darrin, and my friend Mary’s husband Mike. They are sturdy heavy shelters that could house up two at least five cats. If these shelters were placed all over the city, and were kept up (i.e. keep adding straw to it each year ) by the communities, we would have better ‘living conditions’ for these homeless cats, instead of them under porches, abandoned houses, etc.

Each of the rest of the eight more locations I went to were pretty much uneventful except for on Sixth Street, I saw at least five young cats come scampering off the porch, where I have shelter set up. This is the same location from where I recently rescued Hercules, and Mr. Whiskers. I was glad to see that the shelter is being used, but so sad to see how many more cats there are out there. Each new one I saw this morning had no ear tipping, which means they are producing babies.

I seem to be running out of food by the time all is done each morning. There are more and more cats out there and something must be done. I will need help this spring to trap, neuter and return, and its going to cost money to do each cat. Lollipop’s grant that was extended to me last year is done. Each cat will cost $50 to neuter and get shots. But we must keep this up if we are ever going to get this problem under control.

"You may delay, but time will not."

Negligence

After the recent dog neglect cases that have crossed my path, the last one just yesterday, I've been thinking alot about it.  My friend Kristin is a do-er in the sense that she is formulating her thoughts on this subject and would like to present it to the Mayor of Rochester, and she is hoping that he will follow the path of several other mayors across the country, like for instance in Baltimore.

Abused animals cannot speak for themselves, and if those of us who care about the humane treatment of living beings don’t speak up on their behalf, no one will.  For example the woman shoveling her driveway, across from where the dog was stranded in the fenced in lot next door to its 'owners' house for hours where she replied to me "I mind my own business."  By the way, the dog was not there this morning.

Animal cruelty is not just an animal control or law enforcement problem.  It's something that requires the eyes and ears and voices of many members of a community.

The following is a script from The Huffington Post that tells about this newly formed commision, thanks to a kind and compassionate man in office there:  I pray that we can get something like this here in Rochester. 

Today, the Baltimore Mayor's Office signed into law the Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission, a board that will work to help the city of Baltimore prevent and prosecute animal cruelty, including dog fighting.


This is the first anti-animal abuse advisory commission of its kind, and we hope this will be a model for other cities to follow. We have long recognized the dangerous potential for animal cruelty to lead to more serious crimes, and this commission is poised to go a long way toward eradicating crimes toward animals and humans alike.

The commission, which started out as a task force more than a year ago in response to the fatal burning of a dog named Phoenix, has already made great strides. Phoenix's horrific ordeal thrust Baltimore into the limelight, and instead of dodging the issue, the city decided to confront animal cruelty head-on by creating a task force to address animal abuse. Representatives from the State Attorney's office, Baltimore City Council, the Mayor's office, BARCS (Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter), and MDSPCA (Maryland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), along with the ASPCA (the only national animal welfare organization to have a seat on the commission), have met and drafted a report that outlines a campaign to eradicate animal abuse. The 64-page report includes recommendations for investigating animal cruelty cases, training law enforcement and other professionals who respond to animal cruelty incidents, and drafting anti-animal cruelty legislation.

The ASPCA is eager to help turn the new Commission's goals into reality. We are impressed by the strong commitment made thus far by everyone involved in this commission, and we are especially appreciative of Caroline Griffin, who chaired the commission through its year as a task force -- her leadership and perseverance helped see this through.

As Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake summed up during today's signing of the commission into law: "Animal cruelty is more than just a legal issue, it's a community issue. If you improve animal welfare in a community, you improve public safety for everyone."

As horrified as we were to learn about what happened to Phoenix, we know that she did not die in vain. The city of Baltimore has shown its commitment to stopping these violent injustices against animals, and the ASPCA will continue to provide both local and national resources to help Baltimore meet its commitment for a more humane world.

Smokin!

I am hopping, smokin mad!  I pulled up to one of my spots this morning around 5:30 am,, on Ferndale and Webster, and as I was placing food in the awesome shelter that was built for me by Darrin and Kristin, both school teachers with creative minds, who built the shelter out of a coffee table and added boards and such to create the most secure, warm shelter that could house well over five cats, if they all got along!  Anyways, as I am placing this down in this vacant city lot that is fenced in on three sides, the open side is the road, I noticed a dog in the corner of this lot I was in.  It was a small white unkempt looking dog, pictured here:

As I got closer, it began to bark, and to growl, so I kept my distance.  I remembered the house on the other side of the fence on Ferndale had a dog that I would occasionally hear barking at early hours, and remember it was a small dog like this so I decided it had just wandered from the neighboring property and didn't know how to get back.  I thought for sure the owner would call for it or come get it so I took this picture and went off to do the rest of my feedings.  As I drove past the house, a woman across the street was shoveling her driveway.  I got out and asked who's dog it might be, she pointed to the house across the street.  I then asked if she saw any neglect or anything like that and she replied "I mind my own business" and I calmly replied, "you can't turn a blind eye to neglect, we are these animals voices, and they need our help."  She shook her head as she continued to brush off her car, and muttered about me feeding the cats at the corner house since day one or something like that...  I wished her a good day and drove off.  I decided to come by on my way home  from the feedings to check to see if the dog was still there, and sure enough it was.  The house that I thought it belonged to was dark still so I stopped and got out and brought over a large towel, placed that on the ground along with a plate of cat food and a dish of water.  I wanted to provide some comfort for the poor thing, freezing like that.  I then decided I would give it ONE more chance to go back home, and was going to drive by on my way to work.  I did, and it was STILL there.  This time, I pulled up in the driveway of the house I thought it belonged to, got out, walked up the steps to the porch and was going to knock and saw a sign in the window that said something like 'this building should not be occupied', and immediately thought these people had moved out and left their dog!

I dialed 911 and as I was explaining the situation and the sign on the house, the door opens!  Its a middle aged black woman who said she just let it out and it wandered over there.  I said, 'that dog has been out since AT LEAST 5 am.", I told her I know this because I feed the cats in the area and the dog had been out at that time and she said "you need to stop feeding those cats cause I am allergic to them" and I said well you obviously aren't letting them in your house and I will not stop feeding them and that I have permission to do so and that she needed to take care of her dog!" to which she closed the door on me.    I am sick and tired of animal neglect!!!  I may have to take a drive over there to see if the dog is in the corner of that lot still.  If so, I won't hesitate to contact animal control.  What is wrong with everyone, has this world gone mad???

The following are various pictures I took this morning at a few of my stops.  I saw another baby kitten on Baldwin this morning.  It waits from a distance for me to place a dry towel, and fresh food and water down and as soon as I get in the car, it runs for it.  I am hoping the other kitten left, and mama are still around, and safe.

Garson Kitties





Garson Kitty


Sparkles is the pregnant mama that I had spayed over a year ago on Pennsylvania.  She has really turned into a sweetheart with me, and comes running each and every morning, rolling over onto her back.  She used to swat at me and not let me pet her, but she is much better now - a sweet sweet girl that I would love to find a home for.  

SPARKLES!




SPARKLES!



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."