The beautiful Misty Willow

Misty Willow is a beautiful, shy and affectionate four year old cat at our local shelter, Conway Area Humane Society . I wish I could take her home or I wish that some kind person would come and give her a quiet, loving home. She has gorgeous blue eyes like calm sunlit pools and when she sees you she slowly and shyly comes out from her little box the shelter has given her to hide in. I don't think it would go well with Brendan if we were to bring home a full grown cat. Silas would have no problem.

We shot and edited our first segment of Pawprints. I hope to make it a podcast since Olof is interested in doing that and we have the technology to do it. Our shelter has a 1% kill ratio. Only animals that are too sick to make it are euthanized. Of course, this means the shelter ends up housing animals that are difficult to find homes for and that means less space for others. Little as I know about these issues, I am glad to see that many organizations are working to make us a no kill nation. So the beautiful Willow waits for a loving home but she will not be "put to sleep."

I think that once you see the soul in one animal you begin to see the issues surrounding their lives. I remember thirty years ago when we built our house and wanted a cat we went down to the vets ( who was also the "Humane Society") and adopted one. He had maybe eight. Now we know that is because if they weren't adopted in a few days they were "put to sleep" and their bodies thrown in a lime pit out back. He was neutered, so overpopulation was an issue here then as it is now. Farmers of course, had barn cats and when they had kittens, they drowned them if they didn't want them.

Thirty years later our shelter always has almost a hundred cats in residence. Unknown people drop boxes of kittens on the doorstep, usually with a mother they didn't have spayed. The shelter works to find homes for them all.

It is heartbreaking to read that the kill rate in NY City shelters is still 50% and there are other areas of the country where thousands of healthy animals are killed each year because there are no homes for them. Read
Tales and Tails of New York
and weep for the 30 cats and 23 dogs on the "euth list" today. Multiply that by the whole country and make a donation to your local shelter or rescue person.

I like to think we can create a world where every child and animal is wanted. It is probably an impossible task but you have to at least push in the right direction.