Here in the Gaspe, January is always our coldest month of the year. We know what to expect and there is nothing we can do about it. Winter coats, boots, hats, scarves and mittens are a necessity in this climate. Wood stoves are lit, furnaces are turned up to the maximum and the electrical bills are high. Such is life during the cold months and we do everything we can to keep from freezing.
Yet what about our four legged pets. Oh don't worry my cats. they are nice and warm inside, sleeping on the television or on the sofa. Rosie our dog has her own bed and blanket. They hardly ever go outside except to do their business and then it is a rush to get back in the house. Yes all three of them found a good home when they were abandoned.
Yet there are others who are not so fortunate, for they have been left behind and are left to try and survive the elements without any one to care for them. I found a mother cat and her maybe one of her kittens in my shed recently. They must have been abandoned.
Sadly, I imagine that the house where they used to live, no longer opens and lets them in to its warmth. What must they think as they sit there day after day in the cold, waiting for somone to come back and let them in ? They must remember how warm the inside feels as the bitter winter wind nips at their ears and the burning sensation of flesh freezing causes them to suffer. Yet they wait because they know somone once loved them when they were kittens. They remember the warm touch of someone's human hand that stroked their backs. They remember the laughter as they tried to chase a piece of crumbled paper that their owner threw across the floor. They remember being wanted and cannot understand why no one lets them in anymore. They had tried to listen to all the nos of what they could do and couldn't do. They learned not to scratch the furniture. They try to remember the last time they were let out and saw the car driving away. They remember that their owners always came back so if they waited long enough, they would surely come back again. But it was so cold waiting and they had to find shelter in an old wood shed. They would listen though just in case they returned and opened that door to the warmth of that house.
This is where I came in, because I own that wood shed and I know their owners are not coming back. I know the awful truth; they have been left behind because they were not wanted. Kittens are so cute, but like all of us, they grow older and become real cats.
I live in a very small house and already have three animals to care for as well as a neighbour's dog whose owners are so busy with their children's lives that they forget what a dog needs... food, water, a warm shelter when it is freezing out and love and understanding. This is what all animals need and in return they give you more love than you will ever get from any other source, for they forgive you for ever mistake you ever make. You know the old saying, don't sweat the small stuff, well animals really live this way. They do not care whether you are rich or poor, big or small, having a bad hair day or that you just look really stupid in that crazy purple sweater. They watch and listen to all you have to tell them. If you need a mid-day nap, they do not mind and will join you. Eating alone, they will share your meal with you... on the floor is fine with them. All they want in return is for you to care and love them.
Life is simple.... you get what you give in this world.
Kindness matters.
Animals have feelings and a great capacity to love and trust... help make this world a kinder safer, more responsable world for them.
Pass on the message. Thank you!
