Carolynn's Story:

 A Story Within a Story by Carolyn Shannon, WOW Gal Founder)

It takes 2 Carolyn(n)'s to Save the Cat

One morning while running errands, I returned home to check the mail. 

The sound of a cat crying captured my attention and at first it sounded like a little kitten trapped somewhere. Being the coldest day of the winter so far my concern for its well-being sent me searching the area to locate it.

Then, I realized the crying was coming from above me. I looked up to see my favorite neighborhood cat standing on a large stub of a branch of a huge tree in our back yard. It was frantically calling down to me! 

None of our ladders could reach that height, so I ran into the house to call the Humane Society.  Vic, my SO (Significant Other) was just leaving for an appointment himself and could only stay long enough for me to tell him why I was upset. 

The Humane Society receptionist assured me that cats will come down on their own, so off I went to my     next Laughter Club. Luckily for me I was able to get lost in the moment and forget about the stranded creature until I returned home for supper to find him right where I had left him. 

In the meantime, Vic had returned and called the Humane Society again. They had someone coming to assess the situation. When the officer arrived…he admitted they had no means of bringing the cat down     and repeated that cats seldom stay in trees longer than they want to. He then left a couple of cans of cat food at the base of the tree in hopes the cat would come down when he was hungry.

By 8:30 pm THE CAT was still in the tree huddled into a ball, looking like he had made the decision to freeze rather than climb down. The weather station forecast another deep-freeze night. I tried once again to find a solution by calling the local Fire Department once again encouraged by their response time of 20 minutes.  Possibly the cat would not have to sleep in the tree after all.

However, after a quick assessment reassurance was again given that once it got cold enough that it would be gone in the morning. A powerless feeling engulfed me as I watched these firemen leave.  I haven’t felt this way in a long time.  Urgently sending a prayer for assistance to this cat I fell into a very unsettled sleep. 

The next morning, we couldn’t believe our eyes! Another neighbourhood cat was now up in the tree with his buddy and seemed to be comforting the first cat!

Leaving to go out of town for the day we hoped this other angel cat would encourage his buddy down the tree. There was relief in the fact that the second cat could help so we were able to completely put it out of our minds until on our way home. 

Disappointment awaited our return to see that only the original cat remained. Thirty hours in these freezing elements!  We are told never to leave our animals in a car for a few hours during cold days like this. I became frantic! 

AGAIN I called the Humane Society and again they still couldn’t help. Anger overtook me. They have no     plan in place for this type of rescue. My mind began to race with thoughts and prayers: “Who has a ladder long enough? Why is everyone so afraid to help or require money to help? Where could I find someone who simply cared about helping this cat for the sake of helping one of God’s creatures!!??##@*!!”  (Continued at Right)