No, Linda has not decided to replace her kitties with an elephant (we’d like to see the size of that litter pan!). Instead, Linda Stanek, children’s author and a friend to Black and Orange’s kitty population, has written a new book about Beco, the Columbus Zoo’s baby elephant. Beco’s Big Year: A Baby Elephant Turns One, which is due out this year, documents Beco’s first year of life. The book also provides information about the plight of elephants around the world.

Linda, who is a huge animal lover (obviously, since her first book was The Pig and Miss Prudence), contacted us last year about being a foster mom for Black and Orange. We quickly lined her up with two kitties, Frankie and Chloe, who she promptly fell in love with and decided to adopt. We lose more fosters that way! But it is a good way to lose them.

Then this past fall, Linda contacted Black and Orange about a mama kitty and her litter of kittens who had taken up residence on Linda’s porch. We  helped with vet care and everyone found a great home, including little Cubby, the black kitten of the litter, who stayed with Linda (we know Linda has a fondness for black cats-her former kitty before Frankie and Chloe was from ebony royalty).

Please check out Linda’s web site and learn more about her books and even the craft of writing on her blog, “Get to Writing.”

We want to thank Linda for supporting Black and Orange and giving two of our former kitties such a great home.

Suki says, "Vote for me and help Black and Orange. My favorite group!"

One of our super volunteers, Kristin Ramsdell, submitted this photo for the Online Spay Day 2010 photo contest. Kristin does so much for Black and Orange from cleaning cages at PetSmart to fostering our kitties and manning our table at adoption events. Kristin is also the person who took it upon herself to save Lydia when she was lost outside for three weeks.

Beyond her rescue endeavors, Kristin is also a wonderful photographer. When I take pictures of the foster cats for Petfinder, they are usually running to try to get away from me or I’ve caught them, unsuspecting, doing something cute. Kristin’s photos of the fosters she and Christina care for are works of art. Take a look at the pictures of Stewie, Maggie, and Lydia on Petfinder and I am sure you’ll see what I mean. The cats are looking at her with soulful expressions or contemplating views from the cat tree. They always look peaceful and profound.

So vote for Suki and help spread the word about our volunteer photographer’s talents!

To Vote for Suki: Suki Must Win

Thank you, Kristin, for another gorgeous photo to help Black and Orange’s kitties!

Kristin, Lydia's savior

Kristin, one of our volunteers and cat rescuer extraordinaire, took it upon herself to go looking for Miss Lydia this evening. She was planning to hang up posters to help locate Lydia, but instead found her.

She didn’t have to look far. Lydia was next door to the building she had escaped from. Using tuna as bait and an empty cat carrier, Kristin was able to catch Lydia, who was so frightened after being outside for three weeks that she was unsure about befriending any stranger.

Lydia is now safely inside–a bit thinner, a bit dirtier, and starving (she ate as much food as Kristin would let her have), but alive and back in our care.

And once again, I am crying, but for good reasons.

I figured I would need some help to find Lydia and I just want to thank Kristin for going above and beyond to rescue our little girl. As one of our other volunteers told me, she had faith that we would rescue Lydia for a second time.  And thanks to Kristin, we did.

Lydia is safe!

Christina and Jimmy Crum, circa 1984

We recently learned that one of our volunteers, Christina, was a 1984 Easter Seals poster child and was featured with Columbus, Ohio television news celebrity, Jimmy Crum (who my grandmother loved–if Jimmy Crum said it, it was gospel) on a Columbus Dispatch “TeleView” guide. If you look closely at the photo above, you can see where Jimmy Crum signed the guide for Christina.

I have to say that when I first discovered this about Christina, I was startled, because honestly, I never think of her as having any type of handicap.  She does so much for Black and Orange–fostering kitties, cleaning cages at PetSmart, helping at adoption and fundraising events, and just going above and beyond for the stray and abandoned cats that come into our care–that she seems like a power house of energy. Nothing slows her down.

I now realize where Christina’s compassion comes from for she must have faced enormous challenges growing up, challenges most of us would find insurmountable. And yet, every time I see her she is smiling and happy and ready to take on the world for the next dog or cat in need.

Christina, all grown up, helping at a fundraising car wash.