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Friday, August 28, 2009
By JOY JAMISON -
Dear and loyal readers, do you remember me telling you about the puppies that were dropped on our doorstep? Well, first of all, they were not dropped here, as I had believed, they were left in a box at one of our illustrious dumpsters. Secondly, I told you there were seven puppies, when actually there were a total of nine: seven little brown ones and two brown and white ones. Now get this, the two brown and white ones have grown much larger than the seven brown ones. Go figure, 'cause they were all the same size when we got them -- tiny helpless little things that didn't even have their eyes open, but were left in the hot sun to broil. Fortunately, they did end up at the Franklin County Animal Shelter, where we take in everything and then treat them as special as we can. The guys have been wonderful with them. As I told you before, Barry was feeding them every two hours during the day...then as if an answer to our prayers, Larry showed up for several weeks. He called his wife and she agreed they should keep the babies in their home at night. They took turns feeding those little angels every two hours at night, then Larry would bring them back to the shelter at opening time. Larry is gone now, and the pups are fat and sassy due to the excellent care they have received at the shelter and in Larry's home.
As I was driving to the shelter on Tuesday, I was listening to NPR IQ, that's public radio on 89.9. The guest on the Diane Rehem show was Gwen Cooper, who has written a book about her amazing cat, Homer. The story starts after Gwen and her live-in boyfriend broke up. Her life was a mess, her job didn't pay enough to keep her apartment, and she was feeling pretty low. Her vet called to tell her that a woman had brought in a 3-week-old kitten who was suffering from such a severe infection in both eyes that she (the veterinarian) had had to remove both of the kitten's eyes in order to save its life. Only after the surgery did the owner decide she didn't want it after all. Gwen thought about it all day and finally called the vet's office telling her she would come and see the kitty. She had no intention of taking the cat, as she already had two at home, but when she saw him, she just couldn't help herself. He was solid black, and she knew that only a small percentage of black cats are ever adopted. In fact, according to Gwen's estimations, 90 percent of all black cats end up in shelters. I guess superstition is alive and well.
She took the kitty home and thought long and hard about a name for him. Friends offered, suggesting Stevie and Ray and such. After a while, she decided on Homer, naming him after the blind Greek poet. She says Homer is a super-hero. One night several months later, she awoke, hearing Homer growling viciously. She had never heard him growl, so she turned on her bedside light. There at the end of the bed stood a man she had never seen before. She reached for her phone and he said, "Don't do that." As soon as he spoke, Homer got a bean on his location and jumped at the man and swiped his face with an extended claw. The man turned and ran, Homer right on his heels, out the door and out of the condo complex where Gwen lived at the time. Needless to say, she called 911 and then went looking for her cat. She was frightened because of what had happened, but even more and frightened that her precious cat would never been seen again. After calling friends and scouring the neighborhood, Homer was delivered safely home again. The man was never caught.
Gwen lived six blocks from the World Trade Center on 9-11. The first plane hit the first tower before she left for work, but she, or no one else, thought the building would, or could, collapse. She went on to work, but later she and her co-workers walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get away from the conflagration. The city closed the bridge, and she couldn't get home for three days. When they did allow residents back into lower Manhattan, she walked home carrying cat food, bottled water and litter. She lived on the 31st floor of her apartment building, which by the way had no electricity so she had to walk all the way up the stairs. She said her two older cats seemed put out with her absence, but Homer welcomed her back with open arms.
Homer has changed Gwen's life. She said her worst problems cannot compare with the trials and tribulations that poor kitty had endured in his first few weeks of life. But since he never had sight, he has adapted--even through six household moves--with all of his feline senses he lives his life to the fullest.
Gwen's book is entitled "Homer's Odyssey". I, for one, am going to put this glorious tome on my winter's reading list.
We will have two new volunteer's starting Thursday. They came down to the shelter on Tuesday, and I showed them around, giving them the "whys and the wherefores" on the place. I could tell from the get-go both were serious animal lovers. Welcome to Rachel and Missy.
A family adopted a beautiful pit bull today. He was so happy that he was just beside himself. We have several pits and pit mixes, beautiful one and all.
We have a Treeing Coonhound, a black and tan Coonhound, a German Shepherd that just came in Tuesday and a black and tan Aussie mix.
We have a plethora of cats and kittens. There are some glorious felines in our care now, so if you're in the market for something precious, the shelter is the place you need to come.
Jimmy and Barry have been painting the inside runs and the periphery around the outside runs. Guys, the place no longer looks like the "afterthought" that it actually is. Maybe you can keep it up 'til we can find a better home for the homeless animals of Franklin County.
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