Sidewinder

Last night I found a kitten with a mysterious wound underneath my car, and meowing hell for leather.

To get a sense of what fate has in store for stray animals in Pittsburgh, all you have to do is call various shelters and ask "so, what's your euthanasia policy?". I found out that a kitten with feline leukemia (okay, fair enough), a "mysterious wound", a cold (!) , or a bad personality can be euthanized upon surrendering it to a shelter.

Until last night, when I thought I was doing the right thing by putting him in my car, cranking up the heat, putting on a little easy-listening to soothe the kitten's tired nerves (actually, he made a complete circuit around the inside of my car-- perhaps finding a way to escape the hateful stereo), and took him home where I kept him in an old darkroom overnight, he probably had a fairly interesting kitten life. Now he's at the Animal Rescue League which I can best describe as not dissimilar to the bad kind of nursing home people will send their loved ones to when funds are tight. They did, however, promise not to kill my kitten as long as he remains healthy.

Because of me, he will no longer eat mice, have a girlfriend, or go wherever he wants to.

So, if anyone reading this would like to provide a home for this kitten, provided he makes it past the leukemia/personality/rabies/bad cold test, please e-mail me at jparsnip swirly a sign yahoo.com.