INTRODUCTION
On August 15, 2019, this post came across my Facebook News Feed.
Although I was sick with a fever and a sinus infection..
Didn’t have the space or the money..
Already have issues with my indoor cats getting along as it is..
And I had the intention of rescuing Charlie before Winter..
Something about this 14-yr-old kitty who only ever knew one owner and was timestamped to die that evening just GRABBED by heart.
More on Winston’s Rescue to come. Here’s the Facebook post when I left the shelter with him.
On the One-Month Anniversary of his rescue from ACCT Philly, I finally composed myself enough to write a letter to his previous owners…what he knew as his “family”.
To Winston’s former owners:
Note that I didn’t say “former family”. Because family = unconditional love.
One month ago today, at 5:24pm, I took Winston out of that nightmare of an animal shelter where you left him…
Where he sat in a metal cage for 15 days and nights, listening to the never-ending, deafening sound of barking dogs, smelling stench that I cannot even describe.
Video of Winston in shelter posted by ACCT Philly Life Saving Team
I got him out of there 2 hours and 36 minutes before he was to be killed.
I want to judge you.
I want to run into you on the street and cold clock you.
But I can’t.
You said you were moving and “don’t have no space”.
I don’t know your circumstances.
All I know is that I saw a picture of your pet online. The look of fear, despair, and heartbreak on his face was so great, I couldn’t bear it.
I could read into his soul in those pictures.
And I could NOT allow that to be his “ending”.
So, even though I truly had no room nor the finances, I had to make it work.
I guess I saw something in your pet that you just couldn’t see.
And, apparently, so did my online friends. Because MANY of them chipped in to help me help your pet.
You reported him to be quiet, shy, and said he likes to hide a lot.
But that he was a “nice cat”.
You stated you didn’t have a vet and he never saw the vet.
You said that you got your pet from a friend. Does that friend know where your cat ended up after 14 years?
Like I said, I, too, had no room, because I already had a house full of forgotten former feral cats.
But something pulled me to him.
Did you know that your “quiet” cat is really quite talkative?
Did you know that since your cat has a nice little cubby in his cat tree that he really doesn’t “hide a lot”?
Did you know that your “shy” cat solicits our attention every chance he gets?
Did you know that your cat LOVES to play and already has two favorite toys that he places on his beloved tissue paper we set out for him?
Did you know that your cat, who never saw a vet, is rather healthy and active for a 14yr old cat now that he’s on the right diet?
Did you know he has a hip problem that makes his right leg bow inward when he walks?
Did you know his mouth is in a lot of pain?
And, be honest with me because I already know the answer…
Do you even CARE?
That’s okay.
Because he is OUR pet now.
I will get him fixed up.
He knows happiness and love.
He enjoys the fresh air of the South Jersey woods, watching the deer and wildlife in the backyard, and having the kittenhood I suspect he never had.
And if he doesn’t like living with our other cats, I will find him the perfect HOME.
No matter what, as God as my witness, Winston will never, ever set paw in a shelter again.
He will never be homeless and forgotten again.
I made him that promise when I got him out of that horrible place where you left him.
And I promise you that, too.
Winston was rescued by someone who thought he was important enough to make it work.
Because he is.
I’d love to say that I hope karma doesn’t come back to you to bite you, but I’d be lying.
And I always tell it like it is.
Signed,
Winston’s FAMILY ❤️
