Lost and Found – A Stray Finds a Home
Angus Woody MacDoodle
I was walking in the woods yesterday, as I often do, when I heard a faint but familiar sound. I turned to see a tiny orange tabby emerge from a pile of wood rubble, and without hesitation it came towards me. I hardly had time to bend down before he was at my heels. An adorable kitten, six to eight weeks old, obviously socialized, looking a little worse for wear and all alone. He had some trauma to his tail and a dirty face, but other than that, looked healthy. I picked him up and carried him out of the bush. Knocked on doors of surrounding homes, but couldn’t find an owner.
It is appalling to me to think that people abandon pets, but it happens. This is not the first orphan kitten I’ve attended to. Families living in the country seem to be targets for unwanted cats and dogs, as if by some mysterious right it is our responsibility to care for discarded animals. I have certainly fed and cared for my share of strays over the years because of someone else’s neglect. It is not a burden I choose, yet I cannot disregard the living, breathing, hungry creature that wanders across my path.
So I named him Angus Woody MacDoodle. Thankfully I had a can of tuna in the cupboard, and though it took a bit of coaxing, he ate up the small bowl that I put out for him. Then I wrapped him up in a shirt and brought him to the local veterinary clinic where they kept him overnight (a portion of his tail had to be amputated). Today he will be delivered to his new home. One phone call to a friend was all it took. Angus will have a family after all.
At the end of the day, I’m feeling like a kitty hero – making the big resue, playing nursemate and adoption agent all at the same time. An act of compassion that took little effort but will yeild big results. I believe every moment we step outside of ourselves to serve another – animal or person, or even when we tend to the environment – we create goodness in the universe and expand the possibilities for love and respect in the world.
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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 11:56 am and is filed under In the News, Life Moments, Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
