Debbi - The Cat Lady

Relief for me that I forgot to tell you about. Nearly two weeks ago, a very distressed woman named Debbi came up to my desk desperate to have her 40 cats rescued from St. Bernard Parish (the worst hit area of New Orleans). The cats were in her apartment on the second floor. Yeah, I know what you are thinking...crazy cat lady. You are probably right. But her anguish over the fate of her cats was so intense I felt it through my bones. I never stopped thinking about her and those cats and was sick that I didn't have any way to reach her. A few days ago she called and I overheard one of my phone gals saying "40 cats" and I asked to talk to the person. It was Debbi. She had not heard anything of a rescue and was sick with worry. I got her number and vowed to call her if I heard of a rescue of a large number of cats. Well, I didn't hear of a rescue of any cats, but I did see on the news that the water had been finally pumped out of St. Bernard Parish and people were allowed back in. I confirmed the information on the internet and immediately called Debbi. I didn't speak to her personally but left a message with the people she was staying with. For all I know, that's where she was already at her apartment when I called. Two days later I called her and received the happy news. She was able to get to her second floor apartment and found all but three of her cats alive. I think the three really young ones didn't make it. But the rest were taken to St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Mississippi(a sister sanctuary of Best Friends). What relief for this girl and her cats. I guess a neighbor put food into the apartment through a slightly opened window. Likely that's what saved them. Many people, doing extraordinary things for animals!