Lois was well known in the community, or so I found out after my first rescue from her several years ago. Back when I first started, naïve and inexperienced, I went gallantly along in response to her call to help several Siamese cats she had 'found' that needed rescue and new homes. 15 cats and $2000 in medical bills later, I learned to approach these types of requests more cautiously. While her heart was in the right place, her lack of funds, knowledge, experience and wherewithal resulted in my receiving phone calls from her for help about every six months. After our second visit, which resulted in 8 new cats and another $600 vet bill, I gave her a very serious and stern lecture and asked her to please stop trying to help the Siamese cats that she found and refer them directly to me.

This was our third request from Lois for help (so much for stern lectures). Remembering how the first two Rescues ended, I put the question before our Board of Directors prior to agreeing to take the 6-8 cats she indicated she had this time. The Board was divided - rescue them, since that's what our mission was, or leave them, to teach her a lesson that we were not always able to step in at a drop of a hat. With word of our services spreading far and wide, and cats waiting to get into our program, an unexpected 6 or 8 cats, all without any sort of vet work whatsoever, had the potential to wreak havoc at the Shelter. And the threat that her brother would drown the cats if we didn't take them didn't make the decision any easier.

We arrived at her gate and steeled ourselves for the stench and filth we knew we would meet because of our previous visits. Appearances from the outside were deceiving. It was a small home in a decent neighborhood about ten miles from our Shelter, but once inside the smell of urine, smoke and filth was overwhelming, and although we had prepared ourselves, we could barely stop from doing an about-face as we walked into the filth once again.

Luckily it turned out there were only five cats to rescue this time. Surprisingly healthy looking, but terrified, we found four small kittens in one carrier and one young adult in the other. Dogs and birds ran everywhere and we could hear various other cries for help throughout the small home. Unable to turn our backs on the cats, we agreed to take them 'this one last time', all the while knowing that we would probably be back again in 6 months. We once again told Lois that if we ever heard that she was collecting cats again we would raise such a stink with every agency we could think of, that she would not be able to show her face in town. Having already complained to both the Health Department and Animal Control after our first visit and gotten nowhere, I knew this was somewhat of an empty threat, but hoped it might make some type of impact this time.

Roller Coaster of Emotions
As we drove home to add this new batch of cats to the 40+ already at the Rescue Center waiting for families, I contemplated the two visits of the day. The one thing I've learned in Rescue is that behind every cloud there is usually sunlight, and just beyond the sunlight there is usually a storm. This roller coaster of emotions that greets one each day as we muddle through the calls for help can be overwhelming, and the tears that flow and the hearts that break seem to be endless. I have to remind myself to always focus on the good - the smiling faces and the happy tales we hear - and sitting here, with smiling Jack purring in my lap waiting for his new owner, it's not that hard to do.

Siri Wine

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