Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Six Lives Left, Kitty

This is my kind of cat.

A cat leaped from a pickup truck, scampered through bridge traffic, fell 70 feet into the chilly Columbia River and swam 600 feet to shore before being rescued, Wenatchee Valley Humane Society officials said.
Joi Singleton of East Wenatchee, Washington and her husband, Ron, saw something come off a pickup truck a couple of car lengths in front of them while they were driving on the Obadashian Bridge over the Columbia River Sunday morning. It was the cat, of course. The cat made it through the traffic and came to a rest in a small opening on the bridge. The Singletons then called the Humane Society.

No sooner had two officers gotten the cat into a portable kennel than it jumped out "like a jack-in-the-box before we could secure the door" and leaped over the railing, White said.
The cat proceeded to swim 600 yards to shore, with a little help from a fortuitously located kayaker.

I certainly hope this cat wasn't tossed from the truck, or wasn't carelessly left in an open truck bed while the truck was in motion, but I'm wondering. But in any event, the cat won't have a problem finding a home with this kind of publicity. And with any luck, the desirability of this cat will bring more folks to the shelter and some of the more anonymous animals will get adopted.

Adopt from a shelter, folks. Thousands of animals have to be killed in shelters every day.