12/4/11
This all happened on 11/30/11.
This time of year, I don’t always stop by the pond after work. The sun is already below the treeline, and Elvis never eats much in the evenings. On this day though, I did swing by, just to chunk Elvis some bread and smoke a cig and have a nice break after work. I had an appointment at 6:00 to meet with some friends, and didn’t plan on staying but a few minutes.
I was on the dam side of the pond throwing bread to Elvis when I noticed movement on the other side of the pond. There are a lot of ducks migrating through there and I always look for movement around the edges of the pond, in case there are new visitors. There some kids on the bank over there looking at it, so I hollered over, “what are ya’ll lookin’ at?” The kids hollered back, “baby alligator!”
Of course, I’d love to get a picture of a baby alligator. Elvis was about done, so I hopped in the car and drove around to the other side. I passed three boys walking along the driveway and asked them if it really was a baby alligator, and they said they didn’t know. Took my camera out and walked as far out as I could without fighting the mud. I was looking through the display on the camera, and I honestly thought for a second it WAS a baby alligator or a snake. It was dark black, shiny, and wet, whatever it was.
Then it cried out, and the cry was so piercing and startling, I jumped back. The young nutria at the pond make sounds like this sometimes, and I thought I was seeing a nutria wrapped up in some trash. I asked the boys there if they’d help me get it loose. There was no way I could leave it there to die that way.
Went back to the car and grabbed my trash picker-upper, hoping it would give us some extra length to where the nutria was, and maybe we could use it to pull the trash away from it. One of the boys (Marc) volunteered to wade out and get it, something I was hesitant to do, cause I know how deep that mud is out there. Marc waded out without sinking and grabbed the black bag with the trash grabber. When he lifted up a piece of what I thought was trash, we all realized it was a backpack. At this point, I was still thinking, oh my gosh, how are we gonna unravel that nutria without getting bit?
Marc carried the backpack to the shore, and he cried out, “It’s a puppy!” As he drug it back to where we were standing, I saw little white feet and knew this was not a wild animal trapped in trash. But I still didn’t think there was any animal cruelty involved; I thought the dog had just wondered into the water and the backpack was just a piece of trash it got tangled in. A lot of strange things have been washed up there since the drought last summer; the tornado of 2009 dropped a lot of debris into the pond.
Marc laid the backpack down on the ground and started unzipping, eventually getting to the large compartment of the backpack. He had the backpack lifted up off the ground 3-4" and as he opened the main compartment, a small animal slid out. The animal was so bloated at first I thought it was a puppy, but when it started crying we knew it was a kitten, not a little bitty one, but the size Max and I call ‘cattens’ when they’re not kittens anymore and not yet full grown cats.
Marc, myself, and two other boys were there when Marc opened that backpack, and all of us immediately put our hands to our mouths. Miracle kitty was completely drenched, unmoving, and his only response when we touched him was that horrible piercing cry. I just kept saying, “Oh my God, oh my God! Who would do such a horrible thing?” I was crying, and when I looked up, I saw that all three of the boys were crying too. I got my phone out and called the police. Marc stayed with the cat while the other two boys and I went back to my car to find a towel or SOMETHING to wrap around the poor creature. It was shivering uncontrollably, and my first thought was to pick it up and warm it up, but I was afraid to because every time I touched it, it let out that horrible piercing cry. I was afraid I was hurting it.
The trunk of my car is still full of crap I transferred to it when we traded in the van, but for the first time in history, there wasn’t a towel in there. I found a big black trash bag and went back to the cat, and tucked the bag in around it. When the police got there, we told him what had happened and he was visibly shaken. I asked him if he had a towel or something in his car, but he didn’t have one either. When he went back to his car to call Animal Control, I took off my hoodie and tucked it in around the cat. This all happened just at dusk, when the temperature plummets these days. The only thing I could think to do for the cat was to try to keep it warm. I honestly thought he was a goner. He was nearly completely nonresponsive except for that horrible cry when we touched him.
The cop came back out to the bank and said Animal Control was out on Atkinson Drive chasing a horse. He was not going to be able to wait for them, so I volunteered to wait until they came. He helped me move the cat into a box and I put it in the backseat of my car, turned on the engine and the heater, and waited.
While I was in the car waiting, I checked on Miracle kitty several times. He’d quit crying, but he was still breathing, although it was very labored and hard to detect. I didn’t know if he had just given up, or was beginning to warm up and not in as much discomfort. The last time I checked, it seemed that its breathing was even worse; I had to shine my flashlight on it to tell it was breathing at all.
Eventually, around 6:00, I saw Animal Control turn in to the VFW driveway. I love living in a small town—these same two officers had been at my office a couple of days earlier chasing a loose pit bull (a VERY friendly one). I told them what had happened. One of the officers went to look in the box and tried to pull the backpack out, thinking it was a cover. I cried out “no!” and even as she slightly moved the backpack, the cat let out that horrible yowl again, and so I knew it was still alive. But both officers and I, after seeing such the kitty in such a horrible state, discussed the fact that we didn’t think it would survive. They put kitty in their truck and took off. After all, these guys are only on the clock till 5:00; they did this on overtime.
After Animal Control left, I sat there for a moment and just cried. I decided to go ahead to meet my friends, but I could not get the image of that kitten out of my head. It slid out of that backpack like a lump of wood when Marc unzipped it. It was drenched, crying, and never moved an inch. The thought that someone did this on purpose was even more horrifying. I was up till 5:00 AM that night, throwing up the whole time. That horrible picture was burned into my mind.
I called in to work the next morning because I could not get my stomach calmed down, and I still couldn’t get it out of my head, despite the distractions I’d tried. About 8:30 or 9:00, the cop called me to let me know the cat had made it through the night. He’d promised to let me know, and I was very touched he kept his promise. Still, every time I closed my eyes, I saw it again. Jen had to be at work at noon, and Goodwill is on the same road as Animal Control, so after I dropped her off, I drove on down there, hoping to see Miracle Kitty in a better state than the night before.
When I got there, one of the officers from the night before was on the benches letting a puppy have some yard time. She called the director and got permission for me to visit Miracle kitty. I went back and saw him for the first time away from the horror. He wasn’t moving around, but he did respond when I petted him and kind of tilted his chin up for scratches like he knew exactly how the petting system worked. He was dry and it turned out he was a little tuxedo cat, with the cutest markings. The officer felt his body and said this was the first time she’d touched him when he felt warm. She told me they were concerned he wasn’t up and walking around yet. I told her that come what may, if Miracle needed sponsors for extra medical care, I’d find them. And if the original owners did not claim her, I promised to help find her a new, safe, loving home.
When I left Animal Control, my phone rang as I was driving back to the pond to find an earring I lost out there the night before. The phone call was from KTRE, Channel 9, our local station. They asked me if I’d do an interview, and I said yes, and she agreed to meet me at the pond. I was very impressed with the reporter; she was very smart, and understood completely I wanted to do the interview to try to find out who had done this. That night, they ran the story, and I did not feel embarrassed in the least for the hoopla. I just hope it helps to find the culprit.
If you know me, you know what a soft heart I have for animals—ANY animal, domestic or wild. How many folks do you know who feel guilty when they can’t meet a duck for bread every morning? My friend, Janice, says they are defenseless and arouse all of our maternal instincts. I think I will always feel responsible for Miracle kitty. As of this date, he is doing really well. He’s walking around now and eating real food. If the original owners don’t show up, he will be available for adoption, and I have already vowed to find him a good home.
I pray to God I never see anything like that again in my life. I lived through the tragedy of losing my son and what happened to him was a nightmare, but I dealt with it because it was a logical, natural progression from illness to death. THIS was completely inhumane. Whoever committed this act has had their heart invaded by the devil. I pray to God every day that they catch the perpetrator.
allison
