Beyond the Book: Aww, Look at That Kitty

Hello, and welcome to this issue of Beyond the Book.  Today’s visitor is Rachel Amos Hayes my heroine in The Sentence.  Rachel came today to tell us about her new crusade.  Rachel, take it away.

Gosh, Elaine made me sound important!  LOL.  I’m not terribly important, but I think my new crusade is.  I recently joined an animal rescue organization.  Most people probably don’t see the need for such organizations, but if so, I bet they don’t know how many animals are subjected to horrific abuse and torture each year.  Estimates vary as to how many, but some sources estimate that in the US about half a million per year are victimized. 

Maybe people don’t understand that even animals suffer pain and fear when they’re abused.  I hope that’s the case.  Otherwise, we’re dealing with some cruel human beings. 

My own little cat is a rescue cat.  Someone dumped her from a car and sped away, leaving a small kitten to fend for itself.  My husband Clint saw the kitten and tried to catch her, but she was afraid and ran away.  Over the next week we fed her, and she gradually let us pet her. 

She was real sick which might be the reason her owner threw her away.  We took her to the vet who said she had a cold.  Kittens are very susceptible to colds.  He said to keep her warm and feed her well.  We did that, and she’s now a beautiful, healthy cat.  I took this picture of her sitting in one of my flower pots last year.  I called it potted cat.  And please don't think that black cats are bad luck.  They aren't.  That's just a silly superstition.

If you’d like to help animals, here are some things you can do.

1.      If you see an animal being abused, contact your local law enforcement officials or the humane society.

2.      Adopt a pet from the local animal shelter.  Sometimes they have purebreds, but a mixed breed dog often makes a better pet because they’re sometimes not as sickly as their pedigreed relatives.

3.      Never buy puppies from ‘puppy mills’ or places of that sort.

4.      Volunteer at your local shelter.

5.      Spread awareness wherever you can, maybe on your Facebook page.

Thanks in advance for all you do to help animals.

 

 

Picture: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thunder_(black_cat).jpg