Digging around the Internet, as I do, I bumped into some acts of kindness which don’t necessarily surprise me but which greatly impress me. It is a time during which people are pulling together. There is a comaraderie which is not present in normal times. It’s a bit like the war and I suppose that it is a war but this time against an invisible enemy which is mugging the world.
We are wrestling this mugger to the ground but at great cost. The social media website Instagram is providing a useful service. Instagram is not all froth and flash. It can be utilitarian. A rescue group, Little Wanderers, has 68,000 followers on their Instagram pages and is one of the most successful in crowdsourcing rescue efforts and getting in donations. Lisa Scroggins the founder of Little Wanderers said that she was constantly seeing kittens with infected eyes getting squashed by cars and cats getting warm in cat engine compartments where they are hurt. They receive 100 messages asking for help daily. This is the reality of cat rescue.
There are many good and sometimes sad photographs on their Instagram pages, one of which I reproduce above. It shows volunteers or staff workers ferrying 18 cats to a spay and neuter surgery provided by the veterinary partner, Faithful Friends. Little Wanderers say that the ASPCA has shut down operations which has left most rescue organisations struggling to find services which cost a fortune and which, therefore, demands that they seek donations urgently.
Little Wanderers continue to provide rescue operations because they say there’s a gap in the services at present. Animals still need rescuing and the pandemic has not ended their suffering or the need for help.
In asking for donations one lady, Liz Jones, responded in a way which caught my eye. She donated a part of her government stimulus check, in fact, $300 of it because she didn’t need all of it she said. You may know that the US government agreed a $2 trillion stimulus package, the biggest in history, in response to the dire economic impact of Covid-19. Corporations get it and so do individuals like Liz Jones (who I’ll assume is a freelancer). I thought it was a very generous offer to give a sizeable chunk of it to animal rescue. She said: “I love you all so much for helping these defenceless cats/kittens. Thank you so much for all that you do”.
A little act or a big act of kindness by one individual American towards animal rescue. It needs to be highlighted as it represents the actions and attitude of millions of like-minded people who think of animal welfare during these difficult times.
