A News Story from Last Week

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - For Tracker, the car ride from the Kalamazoo area
to Rochester Hills was long, and could have cost him a life or two.




The long-haired gray cat rode unseen in the engine compartment of a female
college student's car as she drove home for the holidays. Officials at
Pontiac's Michigan Animal Rescue League, the feline's current home, say he
probably survived the 150 mile-trip in the Chevrolet Tracker because the
woman did not stop.

"He was very lucky," Patricia Verduin, the league's board president told The
Daily Oakland Press of Pontiac.

Verduin said when the woman, who declined to give her name to the league,
reached home "she heard this intense kitty-crying."

"She thought she'd run over a cat," Verduin said.

The woman and her family searched around the car. When they finally lifted
the hood, they found a cat sitting on top of the engine.

"He was sitting very still," Verduin said. "It was like he didn't know what
to do."

Tracker, a Russian Blue-angora mixed breed who emerged from his experience
unscathed, may have slipped into the engine compartment to keep warm.

With a house full of pets, the woman turned Tracker over to the Michigan
Animal Rescue League, where he is waiting to be adopted, shelter officials
said.

"He's a very friendly cat," said Kayla Allen, the shelter's manager, who
believes Tracker still is quite young. "He's a healthy eater, loves to play
and interacts well with other animals."

Shelter officials are eager to find him a home as their facilities, like
those around the state, are operating at capacity as a result of an increase
in the number of homeless pets this year.

"It's been a bigger year for kittens and cats particularly," Verduin said as
she pointed to a sign on one of the shelter's walls stating that one cat and
its offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.



--
Jill, Persia & Peaches the Nyasa lovebird

Hopefully the kitty who had lots of luck to survive will be able to find his
onetruehome soon,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - For Tracker, the car ride from the Kalamazoo area
to Rochester Hills was long, and could have cost him a life or two.




The long-haired gray cat rode unseen in the engine compartment of a female
college student's car as she drove home for the holidays. Officials at
Pontiac's Michigan Animal Rescue League, the feline's current home, say he
probably survived the 150 mile-trip in the Chevrolet Tracker because the
woman did not stop.

"He was very lucky," snip

I can't help wondering if they tried to find his home where he
hitchhiked, and if not, why not?

--
Joy


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - For Tracker, the car ride from the Kalamazoo
area
to Rochester Hills was long, and could have cost him a life or two.




The long-haired gray cat rode unseen in the engine compartment of a
female
college student's car as she drove home for the holidays. Officials at
Pontiac's Michigan Animal Rescue League, the feline's current home,
say he
probably survived the 150 mile-trip in the Chevrolet Tracker because
the
woman did not stop.

"He was very lucky," Patricia Verduin, the league's board president
told The
Daily Oakland Press of Pontiac.

Verduin said when the woman, who declined to give her name to the
league,
reached home "she heard this intense kitty-crying."

"She thought she'd run over a cat," Verduin said.

The woman and her family searched around the car. When they finally
lifted
the hood, they found a cat sitting on top of the engine.

"He was sitting very still," Verduin said. "It was like he didn't know
what
to do."

Tracker, a Russian Blue-angora mixed breed who emerged from his
experience
unscathed, may have slipped into the engine compartment to keep warm.

With a house full of pets, the woman turned Tracker over to the
Michigan
Animal Rescue League, where he is waiting to be adopted, shelter
officials
said.

"He's a very friendly cat," said Kayla Allen, the shelter's manager,
who
believes Tracker still is quite young. "He's a healthy eater, loves to
play
and interacts well with other animals."

Shelter officials are eager to find him a home as their facilities,
like
those around the state, are operating at capacity as a result of an
increase
in the number of homeless pets this year.

"It's been a bigger year for kittens and cats particularly," Verduin
said as
she pointed to a sign on one of the shelter's walls stating that one
cat and
its offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.



--
Jill, Persia & Peaches the Nyasa lovebird

"Yoj" wrote in message ...
I can't help wondering if they tried to find his home where he
hitchhiked, and if not, why not?

--
Joy


That's exactly what I'd thought when I read this article in the news;
it sounds like they just took him to a shelter where he ended his
journey. If there are distraught slaves back where he started, I
sincerely hope they read this article somewhere and claim their kitty.

------
Krista

LOL wrote:
"Yoj" wrote in message
...
I can't help wondering if they tried to find his home where he
hitchhiked, and if not, why not?

--
Joy


That's exactly what I'd thought when I read this article in the news;
it sounds like they just took him to a shelter where he ended his
journey. If there are distraught slaves back where he started, I
sincerely hope they read this article somewhere and claim their kitty.

------
Krista

I certainly hope they did, but guess what? This cat probably should not
have been wandering around outside to begin with. The very fact that it
felt it necessary to climb into the engine compartment of a car to keep warm
tells one, hey, it's COLD in Michigan! Keep your pets indoors.

Yes, I'm one of those people who thinks cats are indoor pets. Sorry if you
don't feel that way, but I see entirely too many cats lying by the side of
the road. Cats that run loose are mauled by dogs, hit by a car, freeze to
death or are otherwise hurt.

Persia stays inside, period. In fact, that's how I got Persia in the first
place. Some fool let her run loose in the bitter cold of January, 2001 and
she cried to me to be let inside. I did try to find her owners, but in the
end she wound up with me. Spoiled rotten lucky me!

Hopefully "Tracker" will find a good loving home.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

I certainly hope they did, but guess what? This cat probably should
not have been wandering around outside to begin with.

He could have gotten out by accident, though - that does happen. It's
possible that someone out there has lost their kitty and is heartbroken.
It seems like some effort should be made to find the cat's original
people. And maybe there was, but it didn't get in the news.

Joyce

wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

I certainly hope they did, but guess what? This cat probably
should not have been wandering around outside to begin with.

He could have gotten out by accident, though - that does happen. It's
possible that someone out there has lost their kitty and is
heartbroken. It seems like some effort should be made to find the
cat's original people. And maybe there was, but it didn't get in the
news.

Joyce

True, Joyce. But you haven't experienced my and Persia's utter frustration
with a neighbor who insists her cat just "gets out"... funny how that
happens daily. I'm seriously considering trapping this cat and taking her
to a no-kill shelter. We live on a very busy street; I'd just as soon not
come home one day to find the cat by the side of the road. Or inside the
hood of my car!

Jill