Bad Ju Ju

Really bad morning.  To begin, I trapped a kitty this morning on Parsells for TNR through Habitat for Cats, but it wasn't the right kitty - I was trying to get a pregnant one - she was there, but wasn't the first to enter the trap!  I did get another untipped (unspayed/neutered) kitty, and here is his/her picture.  Poor baby.


Parsells TNR 060513

As I was waiting for the kitty to be trapped, I went to my other locations, and the next one was Webster and Ferndale.  Now, if you will recall, Kristin and Darrin built me a beautiful sturdy heavy duty shelter last year out of a coffee table - they built sides on it, and a bottom, and filled it with straw, made a little entrance for it, and it had a little feeding station inside before the little entrance.  It was perfect for the weather conditions we endured this winter.  If you will also recall, last year was my last confrontation with the 'man' I called 'DEVIL MAN' who lived above the grocery store a few lots down from the empty one where this shelter was.  I thought I was done with him.  Well, apparently not.  I pulled up to this spot this morning, and little red kitty ran happily to greet me, but there was no shelter there anymore.  It was completely disassembled and placed to the curb.  I did not hesitate to get the boards that were salvagable and move them back.  I placed food and water down and left, knowing I was going to come back before going to work to place a note or something.  I went about my business, trapped the cat, fed at all the other locations I feed at, and went home to ready myself for work.  I drove to this spot again before work and the stuff was gone, again.  I got out in all my finery - high heels, pink top, black short skirt, big earrings (just trying to paint the picture of how I do not fit in with this picture - in the hood and carrying dirty boards in my heels) and this man came up - devil man - and started to scream at me.  I screamed back.  He was saying how Gloria, the person' home in the middle of this lot and his apartment above a closed grocery store had told him to move it because it was her lot.  I told him it was a city lot and he had no right to touch it.  He started to walk away back to his place, called up in the window, some *itch stuck her head out and told me to get away, threw something at me, and I called 911.  Then she came out and got in my face.  Then THEY called 911.  I was not going to leave without a fight for those cats.  That shelter was the most unassuming shelter you could find.  What was their problem - they had no right.  These cats depend on me every day.  I could hear her threatening me - I was FURIOUS.  Finally, after no police showing up - I then told them I had to leave for my JOB (I wanted to say "something YOU obviously don't have', told them to get a life.  That I would speak to the police at some point today, which I will.  I called my cop friend on my way to work to get some advice, but if I don't hear from her, I will speak to someone from the police department, as I must feed those cats tomorrow morning, and I need protection.  So my boards are now gone (today is trash pick up day), and those cats are hungry as we speak.  They didn't get to eat this morning.  This is when I feel such animosity towards certain people.  I will not let people like that stop me.  Obviously, I must look out for myself there - but those cats are hungry, they depend on me.  I don't know what to do. 



Trailer Park Stories - Part Two

Click on the picture - it should be large enough to be read if you click on it...   It says it all about most of the kitties I see on my route each day.

To continue with the story from yesterday, I wound up going back to the trailer park early Sunday morning, as we had a ferocious storm the night before - winds, thunder, lightning, heavy rain - we had it all.  In fact, I waited until the last minute to head out that morning as I sat and watched the downpour out my window - I just didn't want to go out that day - but out I went, and I was extremely miserable until I was able to come back and change out of my wet clothes.   I drove out because I wanted to be sure the cat food I had left on Friday was still dry - and if not, change it, and leave a bag with the park manager that I had not heard from yet.  For the few moments I was there, changing the food that I had suspected of being waterlogged after the night of the storm, I only saw a long haired black kitty - and as I drove out of the park, I left a note with my card, and a 16 pound bag of food for the park manager asking her to please be sure to feed the kitties at this man's trailer.  By the way, this man will not be coming back for these cats, his trailer was condemned and deemed not liveable.  Later in the day, the park manager called me and told me she would continue to feed them and wanted to know if it was OK to put a man that also lives in the park that feed the kitties in touch with me.  I said definitely, but I have yet to hear.  It was heartbreaking to leave there, and its heartbreaking to think about this situation.

The park manager told me that when they tried to get help with law enforcement (they apparently don't have a humane society that covers their county), they were told they were 'in a world of their own'.  I don't know what to do at this point, I wouldn't know where to begin.  I am sick over it.  The kitties I saw were NOT fixed, and had very bad skin conditions.  I am sure there are litters being produced over and over in that trailer park.  They need help and I don't know how to do it on my own.

On another sad note (and sorry, I promise it won't always be so sad!) - little birdie Pedro has passed quietly in his mum Maree's arms on Sunday morning.  She was eggbound, which is usually very fatal for birds.  She was over 45 years of age!  She was a good birdie, and will be very missed by her loving parents Joe and Maree. 

Lastly, I have been seeing a very tiny, dainty and petite little kitty on Parsells that looks to be pregnant, and have reached out to Habitat for Cats for a spay for tomorrow.  In fact, this spot that I've been feeding at - the house is now being refurbished and will be occupied at some point, but in the meantime, the owner is allowing me to continue to feed on the porch of this house.  What a kind person!

Trailer Park Stories....

On Thursday afternoon, I got a call from a relative who is a nurse at a hospital here in town, and she had a patient that had been admitted nearly eight days prior to her finding out that day that he had to leave his dog and cats in the trailer he lived in outside of Monroe County.  She was sketchy with the details, but told me she would find out and call me back after she spoke to the patient - she apparently had gotten third-hand info from the social worker - she called me to ask if I would come to assess the situation with her before we contacted authorities. 

She called me back and related that the sheriff's office had come to take the dog away, and that the cats could get in and out of the trailer through a hole (?), and that the patient had left $20 with a neighbor to buy food for and feed the cats.  So, we met out there on Friday, and I thought I had seen it all where I go each day in the hood feeding cats.  After finally finding this man's trailer - which by the way, the sister had mentioned to the social worker that his trailer and property was worse than any hoarding situation you see on television - we got out and I began to call for the cats.  I saw three very pretty fluffy kitties hanging around, only one being friendly enough to come up to me, timidly.  I saw no food or water around, although it was also mentioned that there was a stream behind the trailer that the cats drank from.  I then began to knock on some pretty scary looking trailers, in hopes that I could find the neighbor that was going to care for these cats - not one was answering, and even if they weren't home, I doubted they would answer the door to me anyway.  Here we were pulling up to this obviously low income little town of its own in a shiny red cadillac, and knocking on doors.   To say this man's property was a mess would be an understatement.  And the smell that was eminating from the trailer was a bit overwhelming in the 90 degree heat we had on Friday.  I placed some bowls down under a table on his property, filled with water and food, and off we went in search of the property manager's office that we saw a sign for as we entered the park.  After speaking with Kathy, the manager, who promised to call me after speaking with the man's neighbor's - she told me they would talk to her, but most likely not to me, and she would let me know.

OK, I have to end here, because I am playing in a hospital golf tournament today, so stay tuned to part two of this story, tomorrow.   Have a great day!

"The secret to happiness is to put the burden of proof on unhappiness."

Quick Note

Day off today, lots of cleaning and running around - vet appointment for Earl too.  Its going to be a very hot day today - 91 and sunny - so getting my stuff done early.

I wanted to share that I picked up another dead cat this morning off Central.  The poor thing was still warm.  People around there just don't seem to care that they've taken a life, and they just go on their way.  I knew something was in the road as my car approached, and sure enough there she was.  I also saw a large truck just behind me, and cars behind that.  It is a narrow road so cars cannot pass.  I  wasn't going to let cars run over it over and over again, so I stopped in the road, got out quickly, put my hand up to the drivers behind me and grabbed a towel, and got the poor thing off the road.  After moving my car, getting back out to gently wrap her in an old towel, I drove her and disposed of her humanely.  My point of telling you this is please, never go past a dead animal that is in clear contact to be run over again and again.  Please do the right thing, always carry a towel, and at least remove it and place its body under something, in a safe place.  Maybe I sound crazy to most of you, but this poor animal's carcass deserves some common compassion after its innocent soul has left this earth and gone to heaven.

TGIT - Thank God Its Thursday!



EARL



Its a Friday for me at work.  I have a vacation day tomorrow.  Even though I shouldn't, because there is always a ton of work that I need to do, but I also need a day off.  I didn't plan it so well, I thought this was actually the holiday weekend and I would get four days off, but Memorial Day came a week early!  I have plenty to do though, it just never ends.  I have a vet appointment for Earl.  Earl has been spraying away and I just don't know what to do.  He is bullied by most of the other cats, so I don't blame him - I have a few 'time out' rooms for some others to go in so that he can walk around without being 100% scared all the time, and he has plenty of time in his own room with the door closed, but its not working.  I wish we could just have surgery to remove whatever gland it is that produces it, but I will look into anti-anxiety drugs for now.  He actually needs a home with no other kitties.  He is still available for adoption.

Sharon, a friend, sent me a link to a website that spotlights rescues, and I took a few paragraphs from it, because it mirrors my beliefs, and I needed a break today from writing.  I took lots of pictures this morning too, so I will leave those with you also - they are just some of the kitties I see every day out there that wait for me for their daily dose of food - just click on the picture to make it larger and look for the kitty in it - sort of a Where's Waldo?

"I am continuously astounded as to the depths of depravity that people in our so-called civilized society will sink. Defenseless, innocent kittens (and puppies) dumped and abandoned in parking lots and fields. I have heard reports of cats/kittens tossed from car windows, incidents of horrific torture (cat covered in glue) and animals sealed up inside plastic bins and tossed in the garbage. We ourselves received a call from the local police. A mama cat had been suffocated inside a plastic bag. In another bag were the cat’s still alive newborn kittens. Unfortunately these kittens did not make it. Victims of yet another stupid, cruel and dare I say, sociopathic owner. Truly I ask, what sort of demented mind can justify this kind of behavior? This is not the sort of actions that a decent, normal person would do.

I realize that these stories are disturbing, but we must address these heinous actions if we are to make any headway in getting through to the people who think this is morally acceptable behavior. How a person treats other living creatures is a very telling testament of that person’s true character. Roll this little tidbit around in your head: virtually every serial killer started out by killing animals.

If everyone would attempt to convince even one person to spay or neuter their pet, it would go a long way towards solving the problem of too many unwanted animals. Hundreds of animals are euthanized monthly because there are simply no homes for them. With the low-cost options available now, there is really no excuse to allow your pet to breed. If you can’t be bothered to spay or neuter your pet, then I beg you to reconsider whether or not you really should have a pet at all. Become part of the solution, do not become part of the problem.  Our greatest wish is that someday we will be put out of business. We can dream, can’t we?"

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!  :)

The Drenched Wench & PETA

That would make a great name of a small pub in a tiny town somewhere in Scotland, wouldn't it?   Another dream of mine, maybe not the pub, but a restaurant perhaps, in Scotland, living on a farm.  Anyways, thats what I was this morning, for sure.  It absolutely poured.  It didn't just rain, it poured.  I was soaked through and through.  The rain coat that my mother bought me a few years ago, somehow the sleeve ripped, and its not usuable anymore, so I removed the hood, and put that over my newly flattened hair, only to have the humidity inside the hood make the hair haywire once again.  But the hair stayed dry, just every piece of clothing on my body was soaked.  I hope you all thought of me at five this morning!  :)  Most of the kitties that come out for me each day to greet me and await their breakfast were no where to be seen today.  Its twice as miserable for them.  So, I was done complaining once I peeled off my clothes for the dryer when I got home. 

An update on Pedro, the bird, which by the way, I think is 45 years of age - can you imagine?  their lifespan can be between 60-90 years!  - they could outlive us humans!  Maree says:  "we had to leave the bird with the vet in Buffalo last night, she took her home with her and called thru the night to say she was holding on but it is critical. Joe sent you a pic of the egg they cut out of her, it is the size of a regular hard boiled eeg and surgery was o/k. but not great as her stomach is still infected :( . Right now we are just waiting to be told what to do next. I thank you for your prayers, I know they helped get her at least this far."  Poor baby, please continue to keep her in your prayers.  Picture above, not sure if you can make it out too well.

I stopped by to visit with Lillian after work yesterday - she got some new medicine for little Paddy/Pepper as she now calls him.  He is as sweet as can be, and now has pink gums!  He has a condition known as Stomatitis, and might eventually have to have all his teeth removed.  But Lillian was adamant about giving him his antibiotics, and other remedies, and for now, he looks to be pain free.

Thanks to everyone that responded with comments yesterday to my blog post.  It shows me that someone IS actually reading my blog, and that its not just my own little diary.

I was reading an interesting article in Psychology Today recently about PETA, an organization thats been around a long time, and a long time ago, I was supportive of PETA, I sent them money (before I had my own little rescue) but I was never one to stand in front of the (old War Memorial) Blue Cross Arena each time a circus came to town and drench myself in fake blood, or whatever, but they had aggressive sales folks calling at all times of the day for donations, and I helped out occasionally.  But I have heard really negative reports lately, and I will share with you parts of this article that I actually found shocking.  What I found to be most distressing is that the organization seems to have an agenda oriented against the keeping of animals as pets at all.

PETA was founded in March 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk (currently its president) and a fellow animal rights activist, Alex Pacheco. Its headquarters are in Norfolk, Virginia and it is from the state of Virginia that many of the complaints about PETA came to me. Most of these had to do with PETA’s animal shelter which is housed there. Many messages contained documents that were obtained from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) through freedom of information requests, and much the same information can be found on the VDACS website. In Virginia all animal shelters must report the number of cats and dogs they take in each year, how many animals were reclaimed by their owners, adopted out, transferred to other agencies, died of natural causes, were euthanized (killed), and how many the shelter held alive at the end of the calendar year. My correspondents suggested that the proportion of animals being killed by PETA was extremely high and was causing public concern in Virginia.

I verified the various reports that I had received against the official records from the VDACS then did the following simple set of calculations. For the last five years I added the number of dogs and cats euthanized and divided by the total number of dogs and cats taken in (excluding those held only for sterilization surgery which were classified as “other” by the VDACS prior to 2010). This gave me the percentage of dogs and cats PETA killed in a given year.

The official records indicate that nearly 95 percent of the animals taken in by the shelter are killed and less than 1 percent are adopted. I found this result to be quite distressing. So did the ABC television station WVEC, channel 13, in nearby Hampton Roads, Virginia. In 2011 the TV station engaged in some investigative journalism. They compared PETA’s euthanasia rates with other area animal control departments, shelters, SPCA's and humane societies that have open admission policies for animals. All had lower euthanasia rates.

Such statistics triggered a complaint to Virginia’s Agriculture Department and VDACS then commissioned Dr. Daniel Kovich to investigate and conduct an inspection of PETA’s headquarters. In his final report he noted “The facility does not contain sufficient animal enclosures to routinely house the number of animals annually reported as taken into custody.” Dr. Kovich went on to conclude that PETA’s “primary purpose is not to find permanent adoptive homes for animals.” He also determined that PETA employees kill 84 percent of the animals in their custody within 24 hours of receiving them—even though most are healthy and not showing any behavioral problems. Inquiries about how and if PETA attempts to actually find people that might want to adopt the animals that they received were not answered.

I believe that any rational person is left with the obvious question, “How can an organization that is supposedly dedicated to the ethical treatment of animals justify killing all but 5 percent of the animals entrusted to their shelter, with the vast majority of these executed within 24 hours of their admission—well before they can be assessed, or any attempts made to find adoptive homes for them?”

Perhaps the best answer comes from Ingrid Newkirk herself. In an interview with Newsday in February 1988 she said, “In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.”

Apparently Newkirk believes that one way to help achieve this “lovely” outcome is to destroy virtually all of the animals placed in PETA’s care before they can be adopted and become well-loved pets in any family’s home.

Never again PETA. 

Updates

Update on Cheddar, the kitty I rescued two weeks ago today.  Here is what his new family has to say:

"A I bought a spray to neutralize the odor and deter him from doing it again. I have been keeping him in the bedroom at night which it OK until about 5 am and then he meow's and jiggles the door handle unrelentlessly til I get up and let him free. So far the spraying has been only the one incident and really hope it does not happen again especially on any fabric cause I'm not sure I could handle that. He is a very affectionate kitty and my husband likes him alot but I feel so apprehensive about the potty issue. He is using his litter box so that is great. Hopefully he will calm as he adjusts to the house and dog. I will keep you updated. Not ready to give up on him yet -oh we renamed him Leo!!!!! ( the lion!!!)"

There is a photo of Maree, my friend who took in two of my babies from the streets, Big Red (now named Sandy) and Monkey (girl), along with a HUGE rottweiler named Cujo  - kidding, his name is Cowboy, and I think six other kitties.  She also has a bird named Pedro, he is some kind of parrot - forgive me for  not getting this right Maree, and Pedro has some sort of illness and she needs a hysterectomy but is too sick to have the surgery right now.  She is not doing well, and Maree has to feed and hold her around the clock.  Prayers for Pedro!

Pedro and His Mum, Maree

  This morning, after doing my rounds and driving past what is going to be a new low-cost clinic for spaying/neuter near my home, I was thinking about how this building, and the clinic itself was being funded.  I thought, hopefully the vet that is going to run the place isn't taking money out of her own pocket, but rather the government steps in for clinics like this because after all, this is a societal problem, one in which the government, with all its (OUR) money, should be funding to gain control over the cat overpopulation in our country.  So, I was wondering about that, and if anyone knows the answer, please let me know.   At my spots this weekend, here are some of what I observed:  

Spot 1 - I see at least two cats here when I pull up, I think one is sleeping in the plastic straw-filled tote at night here on Parsells  

Spot 2 - I feed here every other day, I see a cat run out of this shelter as I approach it, almost each time, food is always gone here on Parsells  

Spot 3 - I feed three cats here on Stout- two red, one black (he is getting friendlier with me, rolls over on his back)  

Spot 4 - Lucy waits each morning here on Garson - haven't seen neck wound kitty in a while.  this house is going to be occupied this summer, I need to find an alternative  

Spot 5 - I see a cat that I think might be the one that was pregnant a while back, and it looks like it could be pregnant again here on Hayward.  I think I need to do some trapping here - otherwise, see two other kitties in this location - fluffy red, and calico, which has been spayed.  

Spot 6 - I see spayed calico run to the food after I get back in car - sweet white kitty was not there again this morning here on Baldwin 

Spot 7 - FIVE cats there this morning (by now I am on Webster Ave) - two that I know of are spayed/neutered.   

Spot 8 - Morgan (Captain) the one eyed kitty was there, as usual, along with the younger version of himself, both black and white kitties, along with a third grey tabby I saw this morning here on Short  

Spot 9 - I feed another five here, two that I know of are spayed/neutered.  I think momma cat across the street is still nursing the babies she had here on Sixth.  

Spot 10 - I feed a black kitty, amongst others here.  I havent' seen the orange sickly kitty or the Pumpkin lookalike in a few days... here I am at Pennsylvania and Fourth  

Spot 11 - I feed behind this man's house on Pennsylvania and Second, and there are always at least three kitties here waiting, one I had spayed on my last round of TNR  

Spot 12 - the usual spayed tabbies here on Second, along with the mean old black kitty, and the mean old fluffy grey  

Spot 13 - Cedric, Rolo, and a new one with a rubber flea collar greet me every day here - wondering when this house will be sold by the bank that owns it - grass is getting very long, so someone will be by soon to mow and hopefully not move my shelters in front and back here on Central  

Spot 14 - Tuffy is usually the only waiting customer here on Central and Third, but I know there are others lurking - this is where Cheddar was recently rescued  

Spot 15 - I have been giving the very sickly black kitty some meds the past two days.  He gets close enough where I can put the crushed pills in the wet food he craves, and I watch him gulp it down.  Little fluffy mama is still here each morning waiting for her breakfast.  I must get her spayed soon, no sign of her kittens, if they lived or not.  This is my final spot that I go to 365 days a year here on Seventh.  

Keep in mind, these are only some of the cats that partake in the 16 pounds of food I leave behind every single morning.  I know there are many more in the shadows just waiting, and hoping for a nibble before its all gone.  I could really use some food donations if anyone is able.  

Thanks and make it a great day!