Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
As soon as I knew I was flying to Washington, I called my friends at Let's Adopt. If you have a plane ticket to America, it's the easiest thing to save an animal's life. Click on the link and watch the video to see what Let's Adopt does. The rules:
1. You are already going on holiday or business trip, you pay for your ticket, this is not a free holiday. Let's Adopt! is a network of animal rescuers, contrary to what it may seem from the outside our finances are very limited. This means we cannot buy flight tickets for anybody, we can only use those people that are already flying.
2. We pay for all expenses of the animal and handle all check-in procedures.
3. the animal (and you) are received at the airport by a VERY happy and grateful family. Contact: viktor@myletsadopt.com
Let's Adopt often finds homes in the United States and Europe for animals who have no chance of being adopted in Turkey. I flew with Mickey, a seven-month old kitten who was born on the street with two handicaps--she's black and she's blind. In many peoples' eyes, this would have been justification for killing her.
Anyone who tells you that a blind animal will have a poor quality of life is as wrong as it's possible to be. This kitten obviously wouldn't last long on the street, but in a loving home--where she now is--she will have a wonderful life. She's a delight to herself and everyone around her. I don't think I've ever met a friendlier, calmer, more affectionate animal (and I meet a lot of animals).
She's fearless, by the way. Most cats would go berserk on a journey like that. She positively enjoyed it. She was playing and purring and cuddling the whole way, ears up and curious.
The amazing thing is how completely competent this kitten is: I'm certain she's blind--I mean, she has no eyes, she has to be--but she's able to do things you wouldn't think possible without sight, like tracking and playing with a moving object. And if you show her where to find something (like the litter box), she doesn't need to be shown twice. As we were waiting for her adoptive family to arrive, we let her go exploring in the bedroom for about an hour. That was all it took for her completely to figure out the entire room. She went back to the litter box without hesitation when she needed it. She figured out right away how to get up and down the bed, where the obstacles were, where the nice warm people who wanted to cuddle her were.
There is no justification ever, ever, ever, for killing an animal like this as a "mercy." It's not: It's just a killing.
She loves being alive. She's going to bring great joy to her new family.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
She's a beauty. She sounds wonderful. Thank you for taking care of her.
May '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Claire, that is just so cool! Thanks for making sure she got a ride to her new home!
Oct '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Claire.. you have found yet another unexpected way to bring God's blessing to his creation. It can only happen through our hands. We have always adopted our pets. We're dog people. We got our last two dogs from Bichon Ranch here in Colorado. They rescue dogs from illegal puppy mills and bring them back to health and social connection. This is one of the things we are to do as believers.
Sep '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Fabulous story Claire. Thanks for taking care of the forgotten strays.
Jul '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Nice post... a lovely respite.
Dec '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Being black and blind aren't such grave handicaps, so long as Mickey learns how to play piano and sing.
Jan '11
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Great story. I'd love to do the same, but considering how cats roam the streets of Riga, I doubt there's a similar program in the Baltics. Mickey's abilities to navigate a room and easily locate important landmarks (like "nice warm people who wanted to cuddle her" — loved that) remind me of Jacques Lusseyran, a blind member of the French Resistance who lost his sight as a child and yet became a leader in the fight against the Nazis. According to his autobiography (a short but delightful read), he even had an ability to sense who was friendly and who was working for the enemy through 'colors' he somehow 'saw' when near them. It only failed him once… but I shouldn't tell too much! I wonder if Mickey has a sense for 'friendlies', too.
Feb '11
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
This is a horrible way for me to start (i.e. my first post has me being a jerk) but oh well.
Ms. Berlinski's insightful posts were one of my primary motivations for joining.
I love animals.
But: this sounds like an organization that moves animals from one location (A) to a distant location (B) so that they can be adopted by some really nice people.
But doesn't every possible "B" location have a plethora of adoptable animals already? Or is this a special case for some animals with a peculiarly interesting history?
You are a rock star for making someone happy Claire. But...is this organization "Angelina Jolie adopting babies on distant continents" writ furry?
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
You're not being a jerk at all. It's a totally rational comment. The very rational answer is that you can't find a home for a kitten like her in Turkey--the prejudice against blind, black cats is too great. So if we can find a home for her overseas by appealing to her "interesting history," we will. Very simply, the alternative is that Mickey dies. We have no evidence that our adoptive families are people who otherwise would have gone to a local shelter--they're usually people who fell in love with a particular photo and a particular story. Not rational, perhaps, but love's not rational.
We hope, of course, to encourage hundreds of thousands of adoptions closer to home.
May '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Welcome aboard, Joseph. I see from your picture that you're all set for Easter.
May '10
Re: Saving Mickey: Jetlagged Thoughts, Part II
Great post. My wife has a cat boarding facility with a website and I have a pet memorial website, and I am going to post this article on both. Also plan to make up flyers for our customers. We have a lot of customers who board their cats while they travel internationally. Who knows, some of them may do the same thing.
Anyhow, thanks for the inspiration. Have a good visit with grandmother and friends.