Willow the cat took a plane to New York, says tipster

Bebeto Matthews / AP

Willow, the 6-year calico cat that went missing from her Colorado home during a renovation 5 years ago, will soon be reunited with her owners.

For nearly a week now, the world has been wondering: How on earth did Willow the cat, who went missing five years ago, get from Colorado to New York City — a journey of almost 1,800 miles — and turn up on a city street looking well-fed and healthy?

Well, there may be an answer. An anonymous tipster with a photo of a kitty that looks remarkably like Willow claimed to the blog Gothamist to have been one of Willow’s NYC catsitters for a few months. According to the account, Willow was picked up as a stray in Colorado and brought, via plane, to a loving home in New York City.

Here’s the story, from the tip sent in to Gothamist:

I had Willow (aka Molly) for 3 months, while her NY owner was away for work. He fell in love with her on a ski trip when she was a stray in Colorado, and flew her back to Brooklyn, thinking she was too amazing to leave behind. She was vetted prior to flying, and none of her history came up. While in Brooklyn she was loved and very spoiled…she’s had quite an adventure, but there’s no great mystery behind her travels. Willow is a lovable cat who happens to fly well. She was brought to the shelter by someone who loved her very much, but was unable to give her all the time and attention she deserves.

I’m sure her Colorado family knows how extraordinary she is, and I am so thrilled she’s able to go home.

Gothamist contacted Jamie Squires, Willow’s original owner, who gave a big thank-you to whoever has been caring for Willow all this time. 

Many pet owners are grateful, too: Willow’s tale has inspired an uptick in pet microchips (read more here); the technology is how, eventually, Willow was identified as the calico who slipped out the door at the Squires’ house during a home renovation five years ago.

Read more:

Colorado cat, missing 5 years, is found on NYC street 
Cat found on NYC street, going home to Colorado
Bright lights, smart kitty: How cat got so far
Is their dog a lost cause? Internet cries, No!
Maltese dog missing a year after car crash returned home

Source: Animals Tracks

Elephants…

Video: The Elephant Sanctuary

Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee

Originally Uploaded by elephantsanctuarytn -  March 17, 2011

An overview of nation’s largest natural habitat refuge for endangered Asian and African elephants. For more about this non-profit organization and to make a donation, please visit:  www.elephants.com

Also see: www.elephantvoices.org

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Comments by  MaueKay  -  March 20, 2008

A natural habitat refuge for old, sick or needy, retired zoo and circus elephants: 2,700 acres of pastures and forests, where these complex and highly intelligent creatures can live their remaining years amongst their own kind, without chains or dominance.

Video: Elephants Reunited After 20-Years – KPBS Documentary

Rescuing 15 Puppies from HELL

Every dog needs a family that provides him with a loving pack structure. They need love, they need exercise and good food to thrive.

Sadly, in this shelter in Turkey dogs get GARBAGE for food and RAT JUICE instead of water. Don’t believe it? Click here for a hi-def picture in all it’s grotesque glory.

15 of them… each one more loving and playful than the other, living in absolute squalor and deprivation in a municipal shelter that can only be described as Hell on Earth.

Being there, hearing the cheerful yelps of the playful puppies mixed with the muted last breaths of the babies that are too weak to survive was a most harrowing experience. One that I’m sure very few people would be able to go through without breaking down in tears.

We have started the process of getting ALL the puppies out. And for this we need you.

We need to find loving homes for these babies, and it’s urgent. In this case, and due to the fact that it would take at least four months for us to organize the paperwork needed to send them to Europe we are going toprioritize adoptions in the USA and Canada.

But first, we need to get the babies out. Have them checked by the vet, etc… etc… then, once we have approved families for them we will organize the logistics of sending them all to their final homes.

Due to the sheer number of puppies this rescue is going to be a logistical challenge, involving tens of people, from the rescuers, to a number of clinics scattered all over town. Add to this that we don’t have enough foster homes in Istanbul and you get the idea.

You can help us in three ways:

1. SHARE this blogpost and seek assistance in your immediate network. Click on LIKE and SHARE…
2. ADOPT/FOSTER: If you are in the USA, Canada or Turkey please offer to become a long term foster or even better to open your home to one of this babies as a final adoptant.
3. SPONSOR: Please, please… Chipin here… that is going to be the only way we will be able to pull this one off.

These babies were born in the gates of hell. Show them that life can be a very different experience, that humans can also be beautiful and kind.

Contact me and apply for adoption: viktor@myletsadopt.com

Here are some more pics of the babies we need to rescue, and it will give you an idea of the brutality they are being forced to endure in that hell hole.

Source: LetsAdoptBlog Posted 9.19.11  -  Cross-posted at JustOneMorePet

Kansas Prisoners Recycling Program Includes Making Dog Beds

For over a year now the inmates at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Kansas have been dismantling old used mattresses that would have otherwise ended up in area landfills and recycling them. The steel from the springs and the cotton batting in the mattresses are recycled, generating money for prison operations. Wood from the mattresses has been fashioned into flower boxes and benches. Ad foam from the mattresses is being used by the prisoners in order to make dog beds not only for the two dog training programs in the prison but for are shelters as well. Every part of the old mattresses that would have once taken up space in a landfill is being used either in beautifying the prison, as a donation to the community, or in making money for the prison general fund.

The dog beds are being used by the two dog training programs taking place in the prison the Lucky Dog program, where inmates train and socialize shelter dogs in order to prepare them for adoption, and by the prison’s Canine Assistance Rehabilitation, Education and Services, or C.A.R.E.S., program, where dogs are trained to be service dogs.

Since the program creating dog beds out of the old mattress began about 3 months ago nearly 150 beds have been made. It takes at least six hours to make the larger dog beds. The beds not used in the prison for the two dog training programs and not donated to the local shelter they work with will be sold at an area veterinary clinic. All money made from the sale of these beds will go into the care of the dogs including having treats and leashes for training.

Source:  Hutchinson