In The Trenches...

While most people are warm and cozy by their fireplaces on a bitterly cold Canadian night, I look out the window and think about the homeless cats that huddle under cars for warmth. The days and nights are long for these poor cats. I've seen cats come into the shelter with frost bite on their ears and feet - they're shivering. We rescued a cat who is currently in our program that was found literally frozen in a snowbank last year. His name is "Murphy". He's an orange cat that we lovingly referred to as "The Frozen Orange Juice Guy". (OK..Ok..I thought it was cute at the time.)

I remember speaking with a lovely lady named "Donna" that ran a rescue for feral and homeless cats. I cringed when she told me how she picks out dead kittens from frozen rivers each winter. In the Fall, she brings out small shelters for them. She told me that last winter someone left a note on one of the cat shelters that if she didn't move the shelters, he would poison all the cats. She was forced to try to relocate these wild cats into a safer area so they wouldn't die by being poisoned.

To me, Donna is working in the trenches of cat rescue. She goes out after working all day in the freezing cold to feed the colonies. My hands really don't get dirty - I've never picked out a dead kitten from a frozen river. There's no instant gratification from the kind of rescue she's doing. When I rescue cats from the shelter, I only take the sweet friendly adoptable cats. They look at me with love and gratitude. Donna's cats look at her with fear and desperation.

I think if I had to do that kind of cat rescue, I wouldn't last a year. My hat is off to you Donna, and all the people who are in the trenches of cat rescue year after year. I admire you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Because of you, I can continue to do the work I'm doing and still get manicures....God bless you.