Good evening, felinity assembled!
Nikita here to welcome in the new year!
Welcome to WORLD MEWS REPURRT!
Brought to you by the world class repurrting and researching team, of yours truly, Nikita Cat and Elvira Mistress of Felinity, at the Feline News Network (FNN)!
We consider it our mission to bring you the news that possibly no-one but our fellow felines and their humans, could give a fig about!
We aim to point you toward these stories and sometimes even toss in our 2 cents worth on them as well.
We encourage you to leave your thoughts in the comments, link back to our reports on your own blog, so others can be made aware of the latest news and if you come across a story you think we might be interested in, alert us via the e-mail in the sidebar.
Tipsters, whose alerts we use, will get credit, with a link to their blog, or website.
Let's get this show on the road!
1. One more bit of holiday cheer as we head into the new year. This story comes from here in Houston, and was reported in the Houston Chronicle by reporter Kyrie O'Conner.
Five kittens were recently left by the side of the road within hours of their birth, and without their mother.
How cruel is that?
A caring lady, on her way home from a coffee shop, one morning in November, stumbled upon the kittens, and took them home to try to rescue them.
Not being the least bit familiar with how a mother cat cares for her newborn she called on friends, veterinary hospitals, whoever might help her out. She posted on Facebook. She packed her husband off on a mission to get kitten formula.
This story would be one with a tragic ending except that one of the kittens is a fighter, and under the care of a friend of the lady who found them.
The last kitten is named Shanti Tigerheart. "Shanti" means "peace" in Sanskrit, and Tigerheart describes her fighting spirit. She's a climber, and she's learning to pounce. Sometimes she rides in a ski cap tied around Runfalo's neck.
Read the whole story, and see the little tiger, here.
2. Another Houston Chronicle story, by Jayme Fraser, to end 2012, is about the local Assistant District Attorney who "Gives voice to the voiceless", in the city, and county, animal community.
I can't share the link to the story as you must be a subscriber to their website, but I read the print version of the Dec. 30th piece, and think i's worth sharing.
Belinda Smith is my kind of human. in 2006 she bacame the first local prosecutor to focus on animal cruelty.
The article quotes her as saying this: "I know a lot of people don't think animals have souls, but I feel like when I'm in heaven, I'm going to get to see all my animals."
She is considered the leader in the city's coordinated community campaign to put an end to animal cruelty, because the city and county didn't used to do a very good job.
She has been instrumental in getting area law enforcement and animal welfare groups to work more with each other.
In doing a Google I found a few things of interest:
An old issue of the Harris County DA Employee Newsletter in Jan. 2009, was quite in formative.
HBA Salutes Belinda, in 2009 for her work.
The Animal Law Section of the Houston Bar Association last month honored Belinda Smith, the District Attorney‟s Animal Cruelty Section chief.
Her plaque cites “outstanding dedication and service above and beyond the call of duty.”
Page 2 has an article about the, then, new Animal Cruelty Section.
The University of HoustonLaw Center, in the Spring of 2009, did a story on Belinda as well.
I couldn't find a link just for the section, itself, though.
3. As everyone knows Daddy Kiril had an operation on his left eye last Friday, and the cancer in the right eye will hopefully soon be treated.
This story, for obvious reason, caught my attention:
"We're not sure it's ever been studied, but we're willing to bet that the glut of cute animal photos on the Internet is a testament to their soothing effect on the human mind.
(Nikita = "Well, duh...")
So imagine you're a cat lover who can't see your own cat because you're in an isolated hospital ward for an unknown duration. Sure, you could look at cat photos on your computer, but maybe you get tired of staring at the screen.
Imagine, then, a private four-hour screening of thousands of cat photos sent in by strangers projected on sheets draped over your bed. You lie back, relax, and watch the cats flash above you; there's even a purring sound to bring them alive."
Read this fascinating story here: Internet's Cat Obsession Justifies Itself In Cancer Ward by Eliza Barclay, for NPR.
4. In Key West, Florida, the Hemmingway Museum is famous for its cats, and those cats are at the center of a ruckus.
"The place teems with six-toed cats - the so-called Hemingway cats - who for generations have stretched out on Hemingway's couch, curled up on his pillow and mugged for tourists.
Well, the 45 cats who are living there, these days, have annoyed federal regulators.
Their humans lost a 9 year court battle with the Dept. of Agriculture, and so...the cats are considered a living, breathing exhibit and require a federal license.
5. Paul Jolly, Petco Foundation CEO, has worked at Petco for 35 years, and 12 yrs. at the Foundation, and he has written a touching essay in response to a pair of questions he often is asked.
“How do you deal with the sadness when you can’t help?” and
“How can you work at the Petco Foundation and not bring all the animals you come across home?”
This story could just as easily be about a cat, but it is about a dog, a brave dog named Wonder.
6 and 7. So, felinity assembled, are you among the 30%, or the 70%?
In yet another effort to discover the secrets of catdom, the humans are at it again.
Researchers with National Geographic and the University of Georgia attached cameras to the collars of neighborhood cats, and have discovered that outside cats are what might be called "rampaging slaughter-machines".
Well, duh...If there is no kibble around what the hell do they expect feral cats, or home cats (the subjects of the study) out for a sunday stroll, to eat? Veggies?
8. Speaking of eating habits....there's a cat in San Jose that eats salted nuts, sunflower seeds, and, um, spider webs. It's human is freakin' out.
9. Humans have been trying to fathom the greatest secret of felinity assembled for centuries. They know when we purr, and what those purrs sound like. But they still aren't sure why we keep purring and what allows us to make such an unusual sound.
As this fascinating article ends up saying..."It may be that when we finally have the answers, pet owners won't want to hear them"
Ya think? :-D
10. Sand Cats are almost extinct in Israel, but this video shows 4 kitten recently discovered, and now living at a zoo.
That is some very interesting news. The story about Wonder was great, though very sad. I hope that Shanti grows up big and strong. I don't really care how and why my cats purr; I just like to hear it.
Posted by: Karen Jo | January 03, 2013 at 12:57 AM
Thanks for the interesting articles, Nikita and Elvira! We'll go and read all of these this weekend. The one about the cancer ward particularly grabbed our attention, since we participated in the project. :)
Purrs and prayers for Daddy Kiril. And hugs for you all!
Posted by: meowmeowmans | January 04, 2013 at 09:00 PM