Re: Cats in prison
- From: "meee" <efamaaea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 01:20:46 GMT
that's a really really nice story. there should be much more animal therapy
in use...sad and sick people respond so well to animals, the therapy animal
program for them works so well, if they extended it to prisons it would
probably work wonders there too....which would be nice. I'm glad they allow
that program in the US I hope they do something like that here one day.
--
There are many intelligent species in the Universe. They are all owned by
cats.
Anonymous
One cat just leads to another. -Ernest Hemingway
"Duke of URL" <NotMacBenah@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:11l28ro3r4sm80a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From No House to the Big House
> Chesterfield, Virginny (Times-Dispatch) -- Katrina lies on the ground next
> to her brother Phillippe, staring off into the distance. The storm for
which
> she was named has robbed her of everything - including her owner, who
> committed suicide in the devastating aftermath of the hurricane. She has
> traveled a long way from the Gulf Coast to her new home at Pocahontas
> Correctional Unit, where she and two dozen other cats displaced by the
storm
> are being cared for by four female inmates who have vowed that these
> hurricane victims won't be cast aside.
> "They've had a long journey," said inmate Wendy Brickey, her eyes brimming
> with tears. "I get the chance to make it OK."
> Before Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, there were just five felines
at
> the prison's "Pen Pals" program, where a group of well-behaved, trusted
> inmates help socialize abandoned cats until they're ready for adoption.
> The Humane Society of the United States claims 50,000 animals may have
been
> left behind in New Orleans. Shelters along the Gulf became deluged with
> displaced pets, including the Jackson County Animal Shelter in Gautier,
> Miss. So when Pen Pals' cat coordinator Peggy Lynch offered to house some
of
> the overflowing shelter's cats at the prison, the shelter staff eagerly
> agreed. The cats were loaded into plastic carriers and spent the next 20
> hours on a truck as they traveled to the prison. They were later joined by
> other displaced cats from the Humane Society's main triage center in
> Hattiesburg, Miss. The animals arrived agitated and scared, many suffering
> from respiratory illnesses due to the cramped quarters and stress, Lynch
> said. The inmates immediately began rehabilitating the cats, giving them
> food, medicine and love.
> Each animal was given a new name - among them, "Gumbo," "Voodoo," and the
> "Ragin' Cajuns" - a sextet of frisky black kittens that bounce around in
> their cage as if they've just discovered a stash of catnip.
> "It's probably the nicest shelter that they could ever land in, so far as
> the amount of love and attention," Lynch said. "I walked in and it was
just
> amazing - just this total sense of calm. They seem to blossom out here."
> That feeling of serenity is pervasive inside the shelter, a squat, maroon
> building located just outside the prison's barbed wire fence. Pictures of
> cats plaster the cinderblock walls and cat-print curtains and pillows
> brighten the otherwise drab room.
> At least one other prison - Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, LA -
> has taken in pets displaced by Katrina. More than 200 animals rescued from
> the New Orleans area have taken shelter in a converted dairy barn on the
> facility's property.
> Since arriving at Pocahontas, the cats have adapted to their new
> surroundings. And the inmates have formed a strong bond with the animals.
> Brickey came from a good home, but a cocaine addiction led her to rob a
> convenience store, which led her to prison. She worried what the future
> held - or if she even had one. She began working for Pen Pals in March,
and
> immediately connected with a kitten named Scarlett, who'd been found in
the
> woods. The animal was so traumatized, she wouldn't let anyone touch her.
But
> after months of love and patience, Scarlett began trusting Brickey, and
now
> the two often cuddle up together. "When I look at her, I see that after
all
> this time, I'm not so wild anymore - and she's not so wild anymore," said
> Brickey, 45.
> The inmates' bond with the Gulf Coast cats is especially strong, who they
> see as survivors, like themselves. "When you think there's no hope, there
> is," Brickey said. "That's my connection with them."
> When word of the hurricane reached the prison, some inmates donated what
> little money they had to the victims. But from behind bars, there wasn't
> much else they could do until the cats arrived. "It makes us feel like we
> can be a part of something - to be a part of the storm - to help out,"
> Brickey said. "We are so secluded from the world and there's somebody
> waiting on their pets. And while I might never meet them, I took care of
> them while they're getting their life together."
> So far, nine of the Mississippi cats have been adopted, and Lynch hopes
> someday they'll all go to good homes.
> Inmate Tuesday Kilgore married at 14 and had six children by the time she
> was 23. After her divorce, she had a nervous breakdown and turned to
crack.
> Her habit eventually landed her in prison. Caring for the Gulf Coast cats
> has tapped into her maternal instinct and fulfilled her urge to reach out
to
> the hurricane victims, she said. "Had I been at home, I probably would
have
> gone down and helped," the 35-year-old said as she reclined in a chair
next
> to her favorite cat, Skye. "This gives me responsibility and gives me
> motivation to go out and live a so-called normal life."
> --
> Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler, Paleoconservative,
> Surface Warrior Squid;
> You can't break even, You can't win, You can't quit the game.
>
>
.
- References:
- Cats in prison
- From: Duke of URL
- Cats in prison
- Prev by Date: Re: [OT] Proof Positive
- Next by Date: Re: [OT] Proof Positive
- Previous by thread: Re: Cats in prison
- Next by thread: Birdies! (sort of OT)
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
