Ok guys. Here comes another ranting vent.

So...went to Cleveland to visit family. Had a ball...but that's another journal. My sister tells me she has a wonderful idea. She's got that devil-smile on her face that tells me I'm in for it. She then says she has decided that I need a new cat.

Now...for the record. I have 2 large dogs, 4 cats, and a husband, all of which I rescued from the side of the road or the pound. Except the husband. I rescued him from Botcon.

She has acquired the cat from her neighbor. One of the people next door is in hospice - he will die very soon, so my sister told his wife "If you need anything, just ask..." Well the negihbor came over and said "This little cat showed up at our dorr and I rally need you to find her a home..."

What was my sister supposed to say to her dying neighbor? "No! Deal with the cat yourself!"?

Well, of course as soon as her kids saw the cat they named her Minerva McGonagall and now my sister has a new cat. She is still in denial of course and is doing the diligent "looking for a home" thing.

I found it all quite amusing. I made lots of unhelpful remarks and laughed.

Ah...Karma. Karma is real. Karma works. We aren't even home a week and my husband calls, frantic and fearful for work. He has found a cat in the drive-through of the bank he works at. She's got a broken leg and hypothermia from being out in the rain. She will probably need an amputation because she broke the growth plate. How does he know? He's already shelled out over 100$ at the vet's office next door.

The surgery will probably cost us close to a grand.

Now...I am not happy. I am NOT mad at my husband. If he had left an animal out to suffer like that I would have strung him up by unmentionable anatomy.

Who I AM mad at are the people who just dump their animals outdoors like this! This kitten has just been spayed! She doesn't belong outdoors playing in traffic! She is a HOUSE cat and doesn't belong outdoors at all! I have half a mind to show her to my idiot neighbors across the street who let their dogs run around all over the road.

I did 5 years internship at a vet clinic people and I've seen enough of this crap. Animals do not get "look both ways!" If you want to see someone with half their face torn off volunteer yourself! Stick YOUR head out in the road. Put your own limbs in the road and test out the tires.

My husband and I are not wealthy. We should not be cleaning up this mess, but I can almost promise you the person who owns this cat will never come forward because they don't want to be asked to pay the bills. We can't afford her. We don't have room for her! Our animals are crowding each other as it is- this is what happens when two pet lovers get married. The freaking Brady Bunch. Now I get to be the one to make ugly decisions about whether this poor thing lives or dies.

Cats...yes cats...are domestic animals and they belong INDOORS. They are exposed to viruses, dogs, racoons, and oh yeah...cars. IMHO if you take on a pet you treat it like your kid and look out for it. If you are too broke or too lazy to do that then DON'T have a pet! "But cats like to go outside..." Sure they do....and so do dogs. Leash them! Fence them...watch them! If you don't and something happen YOU DID IT...just like you hit with the car yourself. Yes they get bored. It is the owner's job to give them things to do.

My white dog was starved and probably beaten. My husband's dog was found wandering the streets in Miami. My oldest cat was found at 4 weeks old on the side of the road in November in Cleveland. Simba wasn't much older when M. found him wandering out in a thunderstorm. Gadget I found in February when he ran into my school to escape the snow and a pack of kids that were throwing rocks at him. He was bleeding and terrified, but he sure knew who to run to didn't he? Rayne ran out into the road in front of my car and promptly lay down right in the middle of the road. She was already spayed but no one showed up to for our signs. Why were all of them discarded like trash? They are all sweet and beautiful. And they remember. I've had Marcus 10 years. He still flinches if we let the leash or a belt swing when he is around.

Oh...not my story...but recently someone told me they got more calls for her "Found cat" signs involving how the idiot on the other end found her cat?! One of these nice people not only "found" a cat she never lost but demanded money to return it and then told her since she wouldn't pay them (for a cat she never lost) that they were just going to shoot it.

I would have reversed that phone call and called the cops.

I'm done. I think I'd like legislation recommending anyone who abuses animals be spayed and neutered. At least then they won't breed.

Clubs I'm in.


Friends: <--Looky! I'm getting the hang of this at last...now I just have to add everyone. Oy...this may take a while.