Used, abused and discarded
Published 10:26 am Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I know that I promised to keep you updated on cases I’m working with but every now and then a situation arises that takes precedence.
To be fair, I’ll give a few quick updates first.
My scheduled visit to Durango in his new home was postponed for now, because he went fishing with his new owner. How great is that?
Jewel is holding her own and still has my heart in her paws. I’m expecting new X-rays to see if she’s improving and decisions will be made then.
I’ve often explained that I don’t have answers for some of the situations many animals find themselves in. Many like-minded people just shake their heads and wonder, how could this be? We wonder because to discard a pet just like so much trash never enters our mind.
The tale I’m about to tell is not for the squeamish, so please forgive me, but it is the only way to prove a point.
T.C. (“tough cookie”) was brought into the Landrum Veterinary Hospital a few weeks ago. T.C. is a beautiful orange tabby – I call them Morris cats.
Dr. Donna Raines brought him to my attention the very next day. T.C.’s neck was bloody and raw with gaping wounds that seemed an inch deep. The wound was infested with hundreds of maggots and it was a miracle he survived this long.
The sight of him filled me with anger, pity and compassion. My first thought was an embedded collar, but Donna feels it was something far more intrusive like a plastic tie or a thick rubber band.
I know what you’re thinking, readers, for I thought the same thing.
“What sort of diabolical mind could do such a thing?”
I’ll never have the funds to handle all the cases such as these that are brought about, so please be aware that Landrum and all the other vets take on many of them pro-bono.
Through it all, T.C. hasn’t shown anger, fear, pain or hate. On the contrary, he is perhaps the most loving cat I have ever known. His favorite thing is to wrap his paws around your neck, rub his head against you, and purr up a storm. I know, for I have tearfully held him many times.
As of this writing, T.C. is still at the Landrum vet, where his wounds are healing nicely, and thanks to the staff (especially Elaine) he has found a new home.
I know that love is the greatest and strongest emotion of all – even T.C. has shown me that – but when I run across cases such as his, I have to pray to the good Lord to give me the strength to keep it in my heart.
Thanks for listening.