New Love Of My Life

His name is Stanley, or as I like to refer to him Stan the Man. He thinks I am the most wonderful thing in his world. I think of him or I say his name and I smile. He is madly in love with me and I with him. He sleeps snuggled up with me every night and if I've been gone during the day, he can't wait until I sit down so he can jump up in my lap. I can't wait to get home from work because I know that at least Stanley will be ecstatic to see me. Did we know each other in a previous life? Who knows.

All I know is that his small presence makes me feel so much better. Holding his little body next to my face, listening to his purr, feeling his face rub against mine just makes the blues go away. I do have a number of other cats and I love all of them. In fact, I have Stanley's sister, Iris, too. But there is just something special about Stanley. It's a different kind of bond.

Stanley, Iris and the other 3 kittens in their litter were found orphaned and were rescued by a woman who heard their crying. We took them in and they all found homes. Well, I took Stanley and Iris, Madonna took two of them and the other one went to a wonderful home in Sturgis. So, lately when I've been so sad about the recent events involving the Horse Help Providers, Inc. organization (read previous post), Stanley has lifted my spirits. I hold him close and we stare at each other and I am reminded that not all humans are bad. I fight back the tears, tell him how much I love him and am so very thankful that he will never know a single day of inhumane treatment. I am so lucky to have you Stanley.

My Heart Is Sad

I have no photo to attach to this post. Well, I do, but I think most people would not want to see it. As some of you know, my sister is founder/director of Horse Help Providers, Inc. They are located in the eastern part of SD. They are periodically asked to help in cases involving inhumane treatment of horses, most often starvation/neglect cases. They were recently involved in a very sad case. I don't know very much about it and what I do know I don't think I'm free to discuss yet as legal proceedings may be pending. I do know that there is nothing humane or dignified in the photos that she sent me. I do know that no animal deserves to starve to death, to lay in it's own filth because it is too weak to get up, to lay there waiting until death relieves it of the suffering. Are there people who actually believe that any living creature deserves to be treated like this? Apparently there are, or these cases wouldn't be happening. I don't know how she has the strength to continue on when over and over again they are asked to help with these cases and so rarely does justice prevail. So rarely are humans held accountable for their actions.

So, my heart is very sad. I should be writing about the bobcat I got 3 days before Christmas or the wonderful donation I received from the Vet Tech Club at National American University. But, I just can't stop thinking about the photos of the dying young horse. I can't stop thinking about the fact that we are a species that is supposed to be intelligent enough to know better. And I can't stop wishing that there was more I could do. For anyone who wants to learn more about the Horse Help Providers, Inc. organization, you can visit their website at www.doublehphorses.org Scroll down the page and you will see the message "our website is moving here" click on that and it will take you to their new site. Their computer crashed and they are in the process of getting everything all set up again. Thank you to anyone who feels they want to help.