A man of kindness, to his beast is kind.
Brutal actions show a brutal mind.
Remember, He who made the brute,
Who gave thee speech and reason, formed him mute;
He can’t complain; but God’s omniscient eye
Beholds thy cruelty. He hears his cry.
He was destined thy servant and thy drudge,
But know this: his creator is thy judge.
—An admonition posted in Shaker barns. Surely it applies
to both domestic and wild creatures.
itter’s story: A scrawny, feral cat brought two kittens into our Irvington yard. She sat back while her kittens ate food that we put out. Bill said, “I want the one who looks like a Siamese.” He slammed a piece of plywood against the back porch doorway, trapping the Siamese who tore through the house and climbed the drapes. He put up a screen door between the kitchen and the dining room. Kitter lived in the kitchen and the half bath for two months before anyone could touch him.
He became a one-man cat who sat only on his master’s lap. Devoted as any dog, he’d wait for Bill outside the bathroom. He’d be sound asleep in Bill’s chair when Bill pulled into the drive. He paid no attention to the next-door neighbors’ cars, but dashed downstairs when he heard Bill’s car.
A cat with three kittens showed up at the home of Knightstown friends Amelia and Dewey. Later they found her lying dead in the road. Knowing that her kittens would starve, they even searched in ditches during a cold, winter rain. Their neighbors took the kittens who now live a life of luxury.
For Christmas, Bill decided that I should have a cat. I preferred to take a homeless animal, so we went to Animal Control on Harding St. A young man showed us cats displayed in the lobby. “I just love this big boy,” he said, hoping I’d choose him. Too old.
He escorted us to the room for healthy cats. The cages were pristine and odorless. I started crying immediately and cried all the way through the place because I couldn’t take all of the cats. Some were hunched down with their backs to us as if depressed. Others would stick out a paw or meow as if saying, “Take me, take me — I’m a good cat!”
We went to Pet Smart which has adoptable pets from the Southside Animal Shelter. Because of allergies, a lady returned her young cat that had been born to a feral mother and bottle fed by its rescuer. The rest is history.
Living creatures are treated like trash: I knew a man who took a pet dog “for a ride” and dumped him. My niece, Becky, feeds several cats that are dumped and shelters them in her barn near Knightstown. I saw a TV news video about two dogs and a cat that their owners dumped at the Humane Society Shelter on one of the coldest nights of this winter. One had frost-bitten paws. They had a beautiful German Shepherd and a homely mutt that were so attached to each other that they were to be adopted together. A woman adopted them, kept the shepherd and dumped the other one in a field where a fireman found it. The Indianapolis Star carried articles about deer being bred for their big racks of antlers. The owners then charge thousands of dollars for hunters to shoot them. How sporting!
Kitter and my darling Ms. Kalico Kitty, the kittens that Amelia’s neighbor took, Lily-dog and Sarah’s beloved dog that came from shelters were among the lucky few. Eight million animals and their babies must be euthanized. Others die of starvation or disease or freeze to death. The last time I saw Kitter’s mother who was impossible to catch was during the great blizzard. I threw food out the door, but never saw her again. I suspect that she did not survive. wclarke@comcast.net
P.S. Many sad stories could be prevented with spay/neutering.
