Winter Strays~ Day 10

Progress is slow, but steady in the quest to better the lives of 4 stray cats. Today, I found out I can have access to the garage. "Do whatever you need to", was the message from the out-of-town landlord. Unfortunately, the lock on the overhead door wouldn't budge, so I went through the gate of the fully fenced yard to see if I could get to the little side door. I could. But a forever-long gutter had to be extracted from the narrow passage between the 2nd and 3rd garage and 2 tires had to be crawled over and thank goodness I wore my long undies as I plowed through the snow. Thank goodness, again, I was able to force the door open. Of course, the gang of 4 hurled themselves out windows as I came barging in.

I had no broom, but I went to work kicking broken glass and nails aside. I put a piece of carpet (thank you, Sue!) on top of their make-shift bed of dirty Styrofoam in the back. I found 2 silly golf chairs in bags and set them up, as well as unearthing an old wagon and lining it with junk, all in hopes of getting paws off the cold floor. I moved crap around and rearranged the carpet pieces near the food trough. I will go back later with more vittles.

It became clear to me today, live traps will be needed to usher these sweethearts to a shelter. I don't think I want to sit for however long in the cold, hoping they come back into the garage and betting on them being brave enough to let me pick them up. So coordination for borrowing traps will begin. I have decided Niagara Feline Friends will be the shelter of choice. They have been the most helpful and willing, even having the live traps to loan and offers to assist in the extraction, if needed. I have no idea how long this will take. But I will continue to watch out for them until they're all on their way to better lives.

And wouldn't you know, this little saga has captured the hearts of a number of people. I have had offers from Elaine, Sue, Kasia, Lynn, Debi, Debbie, and Daisy for everything from buying the next bag of food, to sending a little bit of money for their surrender fees, to giving carpet pieces, to offering an overnight holding locale if the capture and surrender timing is off, to driving the cats to the shelter. The power of the human heart touches me deeply. I am always amazed and grateful when circumstance and need call up the most beautiful parts of our selves, when we take the opportunities to shine our lights on the world, and do right by the little abandoned jewels we find, within ourselves and without.