Alas

[vr_trakowski]

Last night was such nice weather that I left my bedroom window open.  At about 11:30, I looked out to see a couple of kittens--five weeks, six?--cleaning up the leftovers from the ferals' supper.  I gathered up a couple of cans of cat food and went out.  There were at least five, and when they saw me they bolted into the bushes, but I put the food down anyway.  Judging from at least one of them, they're Cocoa's litter; I knew she'd given birth and was nursing, but not where her nest was. 

At about four this morning, I heard barking outside my window.  There are few dogs in my apartment complex--I'm not sure they're legal--and the couple I've seen were the little fluffy kind.  This was a German shepherd and something not much smaller. 

I whistled at them and they left off and trotted away.  But below my window I could see a little body in the grass. 

They came back about half an hour later, and I went out with a broom to tell them to go home.  They jingled when they left; they were wearing collars and tags. 

I took an old shirt and a plastic bag out when I left for work this morning, and gathered the little one up; the grass is long and I couldn't be sure Maintenance would see it.  There were no visible wounds, but it was soggy; shaken to death. 

I can't blame the dogs.  They were just being doggy.  I do blame whoever let them run free, and not just for the kitten, because I live right on a major road.  They could very easily be hit by someone not expecting a four-legged pedestrian, and the consequences could be disastrous for both the dogs and the driver.  I should know; I've done it, not half a mile away from where I live now. 

Poor kitten.  You had so little time, and your life probably wasn't going to have been much worth living; but you deserved the chance at it. 

Comments

[mingsmommy.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry. Poor kitten.

And the people that let their dogs run loose should be flayed, drawn and quartered. Grrrr.

I am both a dog and cat lover and get unreasonably upset when I see a dog running loose for all of the reasons you mentioned. I used to stop my car and read tags and make phone calls. However, being a mom has made me more cautious with my own safety and I don't do it any more...well, okay, often.

I am sorry for the kitty and the dent it put in your kind heart.

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

I used to do that too--the most interesting being two Great Danes at once--but I am more cowardly now and have no place to put one should I catch it.

Thanks...