Abigail Valentine has had a pretty rough life.

I had an email today from Betty Peyton the shelter director of the Humane Society of Madison County located not far from us in London. I am going to copy most of her email in this post word for word, because she does a wonderful job telling the story of Abigail Valentine.

Betty wrote: “Imagine, if you will, that for one year you grew up in a home where you were more or less treated like an inanimate object. You did receive some attention. You did have food, water, and shelter. You got by.  You didn’t know any different kind of life.

“Then one day everything you knew and needed was being carried out the door. The chair you reclined in while waiting for the folks to come home from work. The couch where you sat next to your companion while watching TV. The TV –  gone. The bed you slept beside – gone. Everything and everybody you knew, gone.

“Abandoned in a house with just the food and water that was left in your bowls.

“You sat and waited. Then you waited some more. You hoped they would come back. They might not have been super loving to you, but at least they were there. You sat and waited.  Hungry and thirsty.

“One day, the door opened and you wondered how long had it been since you had been left behind. You had lost track of time. You had run out of food and water for what seemed to be days or even weeks. This person, you didn’t know them. They didn’t know you. They didn’t even know your name. They talked softly to you, telling you, ‘It’s okay, sweetheart.’ Fear took over. What should you do? You had never been mean to a person, but fear gripped at you. Still you were also weak from hunger, unbearably thirsty, and now completely confused.

“You hung your head and cowered, letting this stranger take you out of the only home you ever knew.

“The stranger put you in the back of her vehicle telling you that it would all be better. That you would be taken care of. Still the fear was there. That wondering of what evil was coming around the corner. What other disappointments you would have to face.

“You were taken into a building you had never seen before. The folks there seemed nice. They kept saying, ‘How cute…sweet, poor thing.’ You were then taken to a kennel where food, water, and a bed waited for you. You didn’t know it, but you had been ‘rescued.’

“Help make a life saving difference for this small girl who has already stolen the hearts of the staff at the HSMC animal shelter. There are several ways folks can donate to help with Abigail’s surgery. First, funds can be mailed to HSMC at P.O. Box 777, London OH 43140. Second, funds can be donated using the paypal button at their website www.hsmcohio.com. Third, credit card donations can be made directly at VCA Sawmill by calling 614-766-2222 and letting them know it is for the Humane Society of Madison County and for Abigail Valentine’s surgery. Lastly, you could bring your donations directly out to the animal shelter (funds are deposited daily). The shelter is located at 1357 ST RT 38 SE, London next to Fairhaven School. Shelter is open 12-5 Monday to Saturday.

“Abigail Valentine will be taken to VCA Sawmill on Monday, February 8th so her surgery can be done when Dr. Bando has room in his schedule.  She will receive excellent care from VCA’s dedicated staff, prior to, during, and after the surgery.

“The HSMC is currently looking for little Abigail Valentine’s forever family, a family who will give her all she will need for a happy, healthy life. Or a foster family, who will be willing to help Abigail with her recovery from surgery and the physical rehabilitation that will follow. The first and foremost goal is to raise the funds needed to help this small, sweet girl with a big heart who was at one point nothing more than an inanimate object and subsequently abandoned. Abigail Valentine deserves a Valentine of her own that will make every day for her Valentine’s Day! ”

If you can, please make a donation toward Abigail Valentine’s surgery. Unfortunately, stories like this happen every day and the Betty Peytons of the world are not always there to stop the euthanizations. We must continue to work toward a No Kill community, where dogs and cats that can be saved with medical care will be.

Kitten’s Kiss wine, produced by Eldchrist Winery in Plain City, is now available to purchase. A donation to Black and Orange Cat Foundation will be made for every bottle sold.

The two kittens, B and Mittens, featured on the wine label are kitties that Black and Orange helped get vet care. Because of this, the winery owners wanted to give back to us by creating a wine to support our spay and neuter efforts.

The wine can be purchased right now at Lovejoy’s Market located at 900 Village Boulevard in Plain City, at Old Town Inn, 113 West 5th Avenue in Marysville (where it is currently on the restaurant’s menu), and at the winery itself. It will also be available at more locations in the very near future.

Eldchrist Winery is currently open on Fridays from 6 pm to 9 pm and on Saturdays from 2 pm to 8 pm. The wine is $13.99 plus tax if purchased at Lovejoy’s and $16.00 (which includes the tax) if purchased at the Winery.

To find out more about Eldchrist Winery, visit their site: Eldchrist

Please support Black and Orange with this very unique wine which is made from 100% Lake Erie Traminette grapes and features a citrus flavor.

An official wine release benefit party is in the works in the very near future. We will let you know about it as soon as we have more information. This party, to celebrate Kitten’s Kiss, will also benefit Black and Orange.

To download the official flyer about the wine, please click on the image below. When you have the smaller image pulled up, click on it again to get the larger version which you can then print out and give to all your friends!

To celebrate Spay Day 2010, the Rascal Unit and Rascal Charities will sterilize 50-60 puppies on February 23, 2010. They will be scheduling puppies between the ages of 3 and 6 months in advance. No walk-ins the day of the surgery. With this event, the Rascal folks hope to educate pet owners about the benefits of early sterilization, wellness care, and training.

For $25 (WOW!!), puppies will be sterilized, receive deworming and heartworm prevention (Interceptor puppy pack), a DHLPP and Rabies vaccine (if due), 24 Pet Watch Microchip (with registration), flea treatment if fleas are found, and information on training. 

Pet owners must show proof of financial need. You can find out more about scheduling and what you need to do to prove you qualify at: Rascal Unit Spay Day

This event is being sponsored by the Franklin County Dog Shelter, Pets Without Parents, and the Powell Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). 

If you know anyone who needs help getting their puppy fixed, please tell them about this event!

Me, peeking out from Mom's Jacket. I was a "Kitten Tortilla."

In the good old days, when I was just a kitten and before Mom decided to “save” every cat in the tri-state area, I was the King. I used to go to kitten daycare every day at Grandpa Bob’s house, because Mom didn’t want to leave me all alone in the house.

Well, things have sure changed now. I can’t even find a place in the house to get a moment of peace. And I don’t get to go to daycare any more, because there are plenty of other cats that I have to babysit here at home. Mom leaves me in charge every day when she leaves through that door at the back of the house. I’ve often wondered where she goes…nah, can’t be as much fun as I have sleeping all day.

Anyway, as I was saying before I got lost on that tangent, in the good old days, I used to ride in the car with Mom to go to kitten daycare. When it was cold outside, she would zip me up into her coat for the short walk from the house to the car so I would not get my toesies chilled. Mom used to call me the “kitten tortilla” when I was bundled up in her jacket.

Those days are long gone. Mom now says I wouldn’t even be able to fit in her jacket, because I have gained so much weight. Now I am on a diet and recently Mom brought home some new food that is supposed to be just for me. We’ll see if that food gets eaten or collects dust. More on that later.

Sigh..if only I could return to those times when I was a high roller, riding in Mom’s coat, King of the house. That’s how I used to roll.

Michael before the surgery that saved his life.

We reported on Michael previously as one of our “death row” kitties who got a reprieve. Michael came to Riverside back in November because he was acting funny. Turned out he was blocked with crystals in his urine that made it impossible for him to urinate. The family planned to euthanize him because they could not afford the vet expenses.

Well, Black and Orange stepped in and offered to help Michael  get well.

At about the same time all of that was going on with Michael, Best Friends Animal Society was carrying out a campaign to “Double Your Impact.” For every dollar that supporters gave to Black and Orange during the challenge, Best Friends would match the funds. They planned to match up to $25,000 for all the rescue groups and shelters taking part in the campaign. However, they quickly reached that goal and pushed it out to $50,000!

Because of this campaign, Black and Orange had $540 contributed by our supporters and this was matched by Best Friends, giving us a total of $1,080. This money came in at a time when we really could use it as we had to perform a life saving surgery for Michael. Because he continued to be blocked, he had to have his penis removed and our Best Friends funds were used to help him.

Michael is now doing well in a foster home where he is loved and is healthy.

We had an email last week asking how we had used our matching funds from Best Friends and the story of Michael made it into the story.

To read the article, which is in the Best Friends newsletter and is also featured on their web site, go to: “The Impact Made.”

We want to thank all of our supporters who made this possible. We’d also like to thank Best Friends for allowing us to be a Best Friends Network Charity and matching our donations.

Michael thanks everyone, too.

Who wouldn't want to find me in their humane trap?

Many of the cats we have posted for adoption on our Petfinder site came from our trapping projects. When we started out doing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) several years ago, the main goal was to trap the cats, get them fixed, and reduce the number of unwanted kittens being born each year. But always, we would catch wonderful cats and kittens in our traps, too, not just the ferals we had in mind and who wanted nothing to do with us. We’ve trapped Siamese and Himalayans and all manner of purebred cats, as well as tiny kittens that had never been around people yet still knew how to grab our hearts by purring and giving a head butt.

There are always unexpected surprises when you take on a trapping project.

The project I was working on for the past few weeks was no exception. Lots of surprises, including one very small gray and furry surprise.

I had an email at the beginning of the month about several cats in a factory warehouse area. With large semis going in and out all the time and machinery moving large pallets, the kittens born to the more wily old timers were not surviving long. Could we help?

So I set traps for several nights. The very first cat I trapped was a tiny gray kitten. It became pretty clear within the first day or so that he was not feral. In fact, he is very tame and rolls around for belly rubs as soon as you begin petting him. I don’t know how some of these kittens are so good with humans while others, in the same situations, are utterly terrified. I know this little guy wasn’t socialized and yet he loves to be petted and held.

The rest of his family, five other cats altogether, are also not acting like feral cats. They are shy, but they don’t try to escape and they don’t hiss or growl. What to make of all this?

Members of the family hanging out together after their trapping adventures.

I finally caught the last cat this past Monday. He is the senior citizen of the group at 2-3 years old. The others were all between 6 months and a year. Being the oldest, he was the smartest and had avoided the traps longer than the others. But hunger eventually won out over fear. While he was the most “feral-acting” of the clan, he still was not at all what I was expecting.

Another surprise.

This big gray male acts as if he was someone’s pet at one time and had reverted to a semi-feral nature after years of living on his own. Fearful in the trap at first, he now acts as if he is waking from a dream, remembering a former life where someone else took care of him. It is strange to see the transformation.

The little gray kitten, who is now named Samuel, will be going to PetSmart in the near future to find a new home. The rest of his family, after being assessed for adoptability, will go to a warm, safe, and very quiet barn. No more large trucks to dodge. No more being hungry and cold. No more kittens that climb up into warm engines and cannot escape. No more surprises for them. Only a calm, peaceful life on a farm.

Like little Samuel, every trapping project brings something unexpected. It gives me great joy to take those surprises and turn them into blessings for other people. Samuel will soon be someone’s loved and adored companion, as have many others that wandered into our traps. Who could have known how wonderful our traps could be, magically transforming the lives of all who enter?

Truly a surprise…

The oldest and smartest of the family and the last to be trapped.

Of course I can type! Do you doubt that I am the brains behind this blog? Haven't you ever heard of ghost writers?

We just got word that Noah’s Ark Vet Hospital has a new voice telling the world about all the nice folks in the rescue business in Dublin, Ohio. This new voice belongs to Yushay, a “rescued, pampered pekingese” with just a bit of attitude. Yushay was brought to Noah’s Ark with a death sentence–her people wanted to put her to sleep. Luckily, Yushay has new “peeps” now and she gets to hang around Noah’s Ark all day long quarreling with Yoda the Himalayan and reporting on the activities at the hospital.

To read “Yushay’s Ark,” please go to: “My Name is Yushay”

Sign up to follow Yushay’s blog or leave a comment. It makes her so happy, she sometimes “piddles” on the floor. But, shhh…don’t tell her we let out one of her secrets.

You can also find out more about Noah’s Ark at their web site: www.noahsarkvethosp.com/

I recently had emails about two contests that both focus upon pets and making the world a better place by showing how “green” you and your pet are.

The first contest is sponsored by Fancy Feast, Friskies, and Keep America Beautiful and is called, “Together We Can.” To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Fancy Feast/Friskies is looking for a group of consumer artists who will help create a “more beautiful future” by producing “original, cat-inspired works of art using aluminum cat food cans.” If your work is chosen, you may get to display it at a gallery event in New York City celebrating Earth Day in April.

This contest is approaching the deadline quickly (and I just got word of it today). You have to submit an application by February 12, 2010 and you must ship the artwork to Purina by March 31. So if you are an artist–Hurry!

To find out more, you must complete a survey and read the contest rules at: Together We Can Contest

Additionally, if you return to that link on March 1st, you can take a pledge to recycle your aluminum pet cans (which I already do, thank you very much!). For each pledge, Purina will donate $1 up to $100,000 to Keep America Beautiful.

The second contest is a photo contest that is looking to find the “Green Dog of the Year.” The contest asks, “Is your dog green?” and if they are, you could win a year’s supply of Eukanuba’s Naturally Wild Formula dog food!

This contest, which is sponsored by Mother Nature Network (MNN) and Eukanuba, asks for pictures of dogs doing “green” things along with your captions. Again, time is limited. You have until February 12 to submit a photo.

To read the rules and see a sample gallery of “green” dogs and the kinds of pictures the contest is looking for, go to: Green Dog of the Year Contest

Good luck to all our animal loving artists!