Conference misery::feline

    Heidi,
    I am very sorry you were in this position. It must be very upsetting! 
    I can't blame you for what you did and it could very well have been the
    right thing.  If you had taken the poor kitten in the cat to a vet the
    ride and time would have probably been unbearable.  You cared enough to
    take care of it's little body.  Much more than many people would have
    done.  I would personally thank you.
    Karen

    This is my nightmare.  You were very brave and I think you did
    the right thing.  I think the officer deserves some praise as well.
    
    Thanks for the warning but I just had to read on.  
    
    

    
    Would love to get my paws on the person who hit that poor animal and
    left it floundering by the side of the road........  gggrrrrrrr
    
    N

Many moons ago, when I lived in my hometown of Chicopee, MA,
I was driving to work one morning along a main road and there
was a cat lying right in the middle. He had been hit but was
still conscious. As cars passed in each direction he cried to
them. I pulled over and crossed to the middle and picked him up.
A man was out tending his lawn and I asked if he knew where the
cat belonged.  By this time I was blubbering uncontrollably. He
pointed to a house across the way, so I went over there and rang
the bell. It was their cat and they called the animal hospital
which had an ambulance.

This was in broad daylight during morning rush hour and to this day
I cannot get over the callousness of the other drivers (I don't
think the neighbor knew the cat was there).

I had a similar experience last fall, when I saw a hurt muskrat trying
to cross the road. This was in broad daylight on a busy
road. I pulled over, got a blanket out of the car, but as I turn
to go get the critter a big gravel truck was coming and I just stood
there in terror for the muskrat. Fortunately I think the driver per-
ceived the situation, and manuever to go directly over the animal (he
was too big and going too fast to stop quickly). When I recall that
moment I imagine the terror the muskrat felt as he rolled into a ball.

As I chased the muskrat, I could see the he was dragging one leg. I
caught him in the blanket and took him to the vet. Unfortunately, the
leg was too badly mangled and the vet euthanized the muskrat. But, again
it boggles the mind that no one else stopped as this critter struggled
across the road.


There is a recently published book in which the psychologist-author finds
fault with psychotherapy and the recovery movement. His thesis is that
our psychological problems are rooted in our lack of connection to our
environment, which would include our fellow creatures. Frankly, I think
he's onto something.



                                          Susan

    
    
    	I remember one day, I had gone to a chiropractor after taking
    	a spill in my driveway.   When I pulled up outside his office
    	(it was on a side street, attached to a house) there was a 
    	very large squirrel in the middle of the road, injured but
    	very much alive.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any kind of
    	blanket or anything in my truck with which to pick him up
    	and I didn't dare do it with my bare hands.  However, it 
    	seemed that every couple of steps I took, he moved a little
    	more towards the grass.  So I just kept stepping till he
    	was safely off the pavement.  I don't know if he lived or
    	not but he wasn't in the grass after my appt.
    
    	JJ
    

    What a good deed you did!  The other day I saw a dead cat in the street
    near where I live.  I was still dealing with the loss of my cat who I'd
    had put to rest on 9/21.  After I drove by I thought of stopping, but
    didn't have a shovel (we all need to be really careful of rabies now)
    but I also didn't think I had the emotional strength to do it. Then I
    decided I'd call someone (I live in Leominster). I thought of the
    police (non-emergency #), the "dog-catcher" if there is one, and ended
    up "forgetting" to call.  The next day the poor baby was still there,
    but luckily untouched.  That night it was gone.  I feel badly that I
    didn't do anything, but reading your note made me realize that next
    time I'll take some kind of action. I'd appreciate hearing about the
    right people to call in this circumstance. Thanks, Lynne

    Yesterday I saw a very tiny mouse in the parking lot.  He looked like
    he must have fallen and hit his head, because he was stumbling all
    around. I got him back in the grass, which I figured was safer than
    heading further into the parking lot. Well, when I left at 5:00 he was
    in the same place-dead.  Poor little guy. Probably got lost from his
    mama.  At least he died in the grass and not under some wheel. :-(

    Poor little mouse!  He had probably already been hit and was just
    suffering the trauma before he went.  I saw this happen to a squirrel
    just outside of my house one morning on the way to work.  He spasmed a
    few times and then went limp. Really made my day I'll tell ya!!  I just
    hope it wasn't "Rusty", Jimmy picked him up and buried him in our "pet
    semetary".
    Karen

I really hate seeing all the dead animals on the road everyday.  I wish
they would just stay off the asphalt. It amazes me why some animals even
want to cross the road in the first place. I would think that the feel
of pavement on their paws would be enough for them to say, "hey, this
stuff doesn't feel right, i better get back to that tree".  Opossums
seem to be great ones for wandering aimlessly around in the middle of a road.
It's a rough life for them.

/james