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08/16/09
Thanks to an alert clerk at the Stop & Shop Supermarket in the Swampscott Mall, Gloria the Cat has a chance of enjoying her remaining eight lives.
The clerk called the Swampscott (Mass.) Police Department when he heard a cat mewing from the inside of a glass-crushing recycling machine. The machine operates by having two grinding gears come together to crush glass upon activation by an internal motor. If another glass had been dropped in, Gloria would have been mutilated.
They unplugged the machine and removed the front so that animal control officer Diane Treadwell could reach in and pry the cat out.
“I looked up into the machine. Gloria was up inside, perched on a little shelf maybe an inch wide, between the motor and the two crushers,” Treadwell says. “There was a space, maybe an inch or an inch and a half wide and when I looked into it, all I could see was a tail.”
Treadwell stuck her hand into the space to reach the cat.
“I just grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and by her tail and pulled,” Treadwell says. “Her head got a little stuck trying to get through the narrow part but I wiggled and it came out.”
Gloria was totally covered in glass dust.
“She had glass dust in her eyes that I flushed out as soon as I could,” Treadwell says. “But the most amazing thing is that throughout this all, Gloria never scratched or bit.”
Gloria was named after disco queen Gloria Gaynor, who performed the 70s hit, “I Will Survive.”
Treadwell added, “I can’t imagine anyone cruel enough to have put the cat inside the machine. But I do know that Gloria has used up one of her nine lives.”
You can make this happy ending complete by adopting Gloria. She’s at the Marblehead Animal Shelter, 44 Village St. Marblehead, Mass. They’re open from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and from noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Their phone number is 781-631-8664.
[LINK: Wicked Local]
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06/23/09
I am thrilled to provide an update on our story about Postina, the tiny calico who was unceremoniously abandoned when someone shoved her into the slot of a postal dropbox in Boston.
A New Hampshire postal worker, George Knapp, and his wife, Dani-Jean Stuart, have adopted the two-pound 8-week-old kitten.
According to the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center, Stuart directed a news segment about the kitten’s plight. The kitten was named “Postina” by the MSPCA, but her new parents have rechristened her “P.D.”, for “Postage Due.”
No one has yet been arrested for abandoning the kitten. Pet abandonment in Massachusetts is punishable by up to a $2,500 fine and 5 years in prison.
[LINK/PHOTO: Associated Press]
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06/17/09
 After hours spent with letters and packages raining down upon her, a frightened calico kitten, weighing just two pounds, was discovered in a streetside mailbox by a postman in Boston last weekend. A woman who witnessed the discovery brought the kitten to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals where the cat was nourished back to health and named “Postina.”
Despite her ordeal, Postina is friendly and has adjusted well to her temporary home at the shelter. Initially, she was a bit shy about meeting reporters in the MSPCA lobby, but she quickly adjusted to the spotlight.
“She obviously is a very forgiving cat, regardless of how she has been treated in the past,” said Brian Adams, the MSPCA spokesperson.
About 10 calls an hour have been coming in from people anxious to adopt Postina. The MSPCA hopes this leads to more adoptions of other cats in their care. Tomorrow is the deadline to apply to adopt Postina, though hundreds of other cats are available.
Adams points out that pet owners in Boston who need to surrender their pets can do so for free at the MSPCA. They also offer low cost veterinary services, like spaying and neutering for as little as $50.
The MSPCA is asking anyone with information about Postina’s abandonment to call its law enforcement department at 617-522-6008 or 800-628-5808. Animal abandonment is a felony crime with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $2,500 fine.
For a video report of the story, click here.
[LINK: Boston Globe. Photo by MSPCA]
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06/09/09
This week in Massachusetts, firemen rescued a kitten who’d been stuck in a PVC pipe for days:
By KELLY ONANIAN
WAREHAM — Firefighters are known to rescue cats in trees but on Friday, Onset firefighters saved a kitten that was stuck in a PVC pipe for days.
The kitten, named Piper by volunteers at A Helping Paw Animal Shelter, was discovered by Onset resident Myrna Amado as she walked between her properties on Aunt Hannah’s Lane.
For several days, she had heard a strange noise coming from one of her garages.
On Friday, she discovered the kitten, its face swollen, stuck in the pipe on the side of the garage.
“I followed the noise, pulled away all the debris and stuff covering the wall, and I couldn’t believe it when I saw its face,” Amado said.
She carried the pipe to her brother’s house, and the two of them could not free the cat.
“There was no Animal Control on duty, and the police didn’t know what to do so we called the Onset Fire Department,” she said. “They came over with Sawzalls, and cut the cat out. They were amazing.”
Onset Fire Chief Howard Andersen said it took about an hour and a half to free Piper.
“We used cooking oil to grease the cat up and put a thin metal shield inside the pipe to make sure the saws and tools didn’t harm the cat and we finally got it free,” he said.
Unable to care for the cat, Amado brought Piper to A Helping Paw, where she is being nursed back to health.
She has a broken paw, but will be ready for adoption in a couple months.
For more information about Piper or other kittens up for adoption, call A Helping Paw at (508) 759-2887 or visit www.ahelpingpaw.org.
[LINK: SouthCoastToday.com]
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03/18/09
Marlborough firefighter Tricia Richards, center, carries Catbert as an EMT, left, carries Picasso to a Marlborough Animal Control van after the cats were resuscitated following a house fire.
In Marlborough, Massachusetts this week, firefighters used oxygen to revive two cats–Picasso and Catbert–who were overcome by smoke in a fire that damaged a single-family home. The homeowners were not home at the time and no injuries were reported. A third cat was not injured, and a fourth, found hiding in the basement, could not be captured.
Picasso and Catbert were taken to Hudson Animal Hospital for treatment. Good luck on a speedy recovery, guys!
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12/12/08
Edgar, a 4-year-old female cat (yes, you read that right), is resting comfortably at the Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston after surgery to sew her face back on. Edgar was slashed by a car’s fan belt, apparently while she was huddled under the hood to stay warm.
 Edgar went missing from her Winthrop home for a few days last week. When she returned home, her owner found her in her litter box — with part of her face dangling from her head. The owner passed out cold. Fortunately, she recovered from the shock and rushed Edgar to the vet.
Miraculously, Edgar didn’t suffer major blood loss and does not appear to have sustained any permanent nerve damage from her accident. She just needed to have her facial skin reattached during an operation that took about an hour. It required about 35 stitches to sew her up and no problems were encountered during surgery. Veterinary surgeon Michael Pavletic said, “she should be fine after this.”
Aside from the skin hanging from Edgar’s face, Edgar seemed normal, according to Elizabeth Kendrick, a surgical technician at Angell Animal Medical Center. “She was purring and sticking her head up so we could pet her,” Kendrick said. “She even tried to chew at her skin. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Pavletic reattached Edgar’s face using about 35 stitches. She came through the hour surgery with no problems, though she looks as though someone punched her in the eye. “She’ll need to take some medicine but I don’t anticipate her having any problems,” Pavletic said.
[PHOTO CREDIT: AP/Steven Senne]
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