Friday, November 21, 2008

I Just Don't Understand

Yesterday started out pleasantly enough - barring the cold, windy, snowy weather of course. The foot man showed up and having my feet done is one of my favourite things. I excel at standing still. Jack is much less worried each time and only had a minor attack of squitters just as the foot man finished his last back hoof. The foot man did mention that the timing was a little close for comfort. He was most complimentary about Jack's condition and said he was shinier and plumper than six weeks ago.

The woman put us in around four o'clock, just before it starts getting dark these days and we settled in to our warm appetizer followed by the hay course. Lights appeared at the end of the driveway and stayed put for awhile and then slowly crept toward the house. A male human knocked on the door and consulted with our humans. He seemed quite upset. When he left our humans rushed out to the end of the driveway and began searching all through the ditch and tall thickets of weeds. After a long time they returned to the house, the woman holding something very small.

I have pieced together the story and though it seems incomprehensible to me, it is sadly true. Sometime while we were safe and warm in our rooms, eating our dinners, a human slowed down their vehicle at the end of our driveway and threw two infant felines in the ditch. It was well below zero and snowing sideways. I simply don't understand what this person hoped to achieve through their actions. Those infants would have quickly frozen to death or been hit by a speeding vehicle. Is that what the human wanted? Why? There is another world out there of which I know nothing, apparently, and I don't wish to make it's aquaintance.

It seems the person who knocked on the door saw the two throw-aways by the lights attached to his vehicle. He leapt out and caught one feline but the other eluded him by tunneling into thick brush. When they finally located it, the humans rushed the tiny feline into the house, causing the resident Princess Violet cat to have what Jack calls "a hairy conniption fit". The micro-feline was soaking wet and shivering and was calling pitifully for his mother and sibling. He had had only one experience with a human and it had made him rather skeptical being of touched by other humans but they got him thawed out and dried and gave him some quite odoriferous fish paste type cat dinner and he began to come around. The woman put him in a furry blanket so he would feel at home and he slept in her arms all night.

And amazingly, the story took a very positive twist. Violet was due for her annual needle sticking, nail trimming, poking and prodding today and the woman told the humans at the vet clinic about our feline foundling. Alison, who helps run the Sharon Veterinary Clinic, is a very great friend of all animals, and said to bring him in and he would be transferred to her friend who helps needy cats and dogs. And so, the tiny scrap of fur went into Violet's travelling crate and was delivered. Dr Maya examined him and declared him in good health apart from fleas and ear mites and probably worms (good heavens - that's a lot of freeloaders for a tiny being!). He is thin and his coat is quite dry but they say that's because his mother was probably struggling to keep her children alive. He is at most six weeks old.

The humans debated long and hard about trying to include him in our animal family and decided that Violet being a fairly recent rescue herself, and her being so upset at his presence, that another home for him would be best. Violet's level of outrage, nervous hysteria and worry about being replaced has evaporated. Very good news, as none of us cares to live with an agitated Violet. Now the woman is washing everything the visitor touched in case we all come down with fleas.

We are all relieved that the saga of the throwaways has ended so well but try as we might, none of us can understand what motivated this callous behaviour. A friend of ours always says that indifference, not hate, is the opposite of love. He must be right - otherwise how could one explain the neglected donkeys at PrimRose Sanctuary or kittens thrown in a ditch or the myriad of other animals tossed aside with casual indifference. From now on I'll keep an eye on all the ditches I can just in case there is someone who needs saving in there. The woman took some blurry shots of our rescue and I have instructed her to post them. My mind is still quite boggled though Jack, having lived much longer and not always in ideal circumstances, didn't seem nearly as surprised.

15 comments:

Dougie Donk said...

Why, oh, why is there such a level of cruelty to a harmless baby animal? For the effort taken to drive all the way to dump these babies in a ditch, they could have been safely delivered to an animal sanctuary!

We must give thanks that your woman is a good example of the human species & that this kitten now has the chance to find a good home. Did the man who alerted you woman keep the other one, or did it also go to the vet?

Finn the Wonder Pony said...

Oh Dear Sheaffer! I don't understand that kind of human either!! Our barn Puma came to us in such a way, although he wasn't a mere 6 weeks old (more like 6 months). He was dumped out of a car somewhere and found us after an unknown amount of time in the wild fending for himself. He was quite thin and ill when he found us. He has become a treasured part of our life, although he is so spoiled that he will catch a mouse, lay it at the woman's feet and ask, can I get some food now?!

billie said...

All of the felines here on November Hill came from similar circumstances. It is incomprehensible to me that people can dump animals.

On behalf of:

Dickens E. Wickens (aka Wickston)
Osage(aka Muffine Eloise)
Keats (aka Weets Ann)
Apollo Moon (aka Moomintroll)
and
Mystic (aka the Mystical Kit)

we thank you for saving these wee ones!

robert5721 said...

Sheaffer,
all it takes for evil to advance is to have good men do nothing..(ie. indifference?) I truly applaud your attitude and demeanor, sir! You and Mr Jack are quite the pair..keep it up!
Mr Gale

robert5721 said...

Sheaffer,
from the looks of him in that picture, he appears to be part or maybe all Maine Coon Cat....a real find for someone who wants a natural hunter to patrol their barn or house for mice or whatever..stupidity can not be taught, so I feel sorry for whoever that was.
Mr Gale

ponymaid said...

Dougie, as a donkey who is very fond of cats, I have been thinking about all of this so hard my brain hurts and my ears are beginning to droop. Why indeed wouldn't this person simply take these kittens to a place where they would be cared for? Why did they prefer the easy and cruel route of tossing them from a vehicle as though they were used tissues? I simply cannot fathom it.

Cindy Lou and billie, I'm heartended to hear of your cat salvation efforts! I don't know why it is that cats are seen by many as disposable but we have had an older, sick cat thrown out here who actually had a broken pelvis - we don't know if he was thrown out because he was broken or if he broke being thrown from a vehicle. That was during a cold snap in January so he was cold as well as sick. He was taken away by a very kind woman who came with a box device and we didn't see him again. I understand he is in a better place - wherever it is I hope it's warm.

Mr. Gale, I have come to the conclusion that you are correct in thinking that the humans who do this are themselves defective in some way. Perhaps they are unteachable and can never know the meaning of empathy. They certainly can't imagine themselves lying cold, abandoned and terrified in a ditch. Why this is I don't know. You may be right about the foundling being Maine Coon Cat - his feet are enormous - almost as big as Violet's and she is a good sized cat!

The woman spoke to the person who saved our foundling's identical brother and he (the person) took the brother to Animal Control as he is already up to his ears in cats at his house. He is going to make some calls and see if the brothers can be reunited. I will update everyone when I have information.

Finn the Wonder Pony said...

The kitten is certainly a cutie! I don't understand how humans can be so inhumane... On a similar not of inhumane-ness... is that the footwear the woman wears out in the barn or public? I think I understand now...

ponymaid said...

hehhehheh, CindyLou you made my day with that comment. Yes! the woman's indoor footwear is hideous! She trots unsound without that corrective shoeing so she clumps around in those things - very attractive with the black wool socks, I don't think. Fortunately she only wears her filth encrusted boots out to the barn so we are spared the sight of those monstrosities on her feet. I'm sure there is a podiatric law against that footwear being worn in public.

We all liked that little cat very much indeed. The male human named him Roadie because of where he was found - I wish he could have stayed. I still miss our white cat Gracie who was killed by a speeding car a year ago. A barn is not a home without a cat in my opinion.

Finn the Wonder Pony said...

Those innocent little eyes just steal my heart every time I look at them!! I know it's too cold now, but maybe if another lovely kitten is dropped at your doorstep at a warmer time of year, you could keep him as a barn cat. Our woman's house cat will not condone any other 4-leggers in the house, so Puma lives in the barn with us full time. Our barn is very warm in winter...

PS - thank goodness for those podiatric laws...

ponymaid said...

CindyLou, there was a long debate at our house about trying to keep the two brothers in the barn, with a heated bed, but it was decided they were simply too young and our barn too cold. I am an excellent cat chaperone and role model and would have taken on the job happily. The next one who comes along will certainly stay if I have my way (and I usually do). We all miss my cat Gracie very much indeed- though I never had the heart to tell her I didn't eat the used mouse parts she brought me so lovingly. I hid them in my bedding. I look forward to raising future felines and I know I can count on the the assistance of the other three equines in a supporting capacity.

Buddy said...

Oh Sheaffer - some people are so cruel - my mom is a love - she has rescued many a cat and of course me! Sometime I wish I was a cat so I could sleep inside curled up on her bed - course - she would need a MUCH BIGGER bed.

Your woman is a wonderful person to save the tiny creature.

Your fren,
Buddy

ponymaid said...

buddy, you've gotten yourself a good human. I didn't know you were a rescue as well. It sounds like many equine lovers are also feline lovers, which makes great good sense to me. But WHY can't we equines share their beds? It's the last frontier and I mean to conquer it.

billie said...

LOL, Sheaffer - every night when I come in from the barn I tell Rafer Johnson and Redford that they REALLY belong inside with me.

But of course then Salina would be upset.

My dream house has a huge window that opens right into the barn, so the horses and donkeys could hang their heads in while I make dinner, watch a movie, sleep, etc.

robert5721 said...

Sheaffer,
Around here, you no longer have to worry about someone STEALING (Russlin to Jack) your horses, you have to keep a head count cause people just drop off one or two in your field..guess tough times make it hard to feed horses and donkeys, so people just throw them in a field with other horses..better than what happened to the little guy in your case, but not by much....
Mr Gale

ponymaid said...

billie, when you have the blueprints for the barn attached to the house, could you please forward me a set. You are a very sensible woman. I understand that not too long ago in Ireland it was the custom to bring the family donkey in to warm by the fire when the weather was particularly awful. That's the hallmark of a truly evolved culture, in my opinion.

Mr. Gale, sadly, that is beginning to happen here. These are troubled times for everyone it seems, but especially for animals. I have visions of our place turning into a veritable Noah's Ark and having to share my room with an assortment of characters. I draw the line at those black and white things with attached gas cannisters.