UWW and "the cat"

Tonight I went to celebrate my brother Derrick's 21st birthday in Whitewater. I went into his disgusting apartment to get ready. UWW's slumlords have apartments that are in conditions ready for rats. It's awful. I was doing my make-up in the bathroom mirror, thinking about the woman I have become since my five and half years after graduating. I thought of the girl who lost her virginity in the building next to this apartment. I thought of the girl who spent hours getting ready to go out on a Thursday night. I thought of the girl who spent hours looking for her suicidal boyfriend in the freezing cold.

I looked in the mirror and saw a woman with pain and joy behind her wiser eyes. I was so glad to have left that girl behind in Whitewater. I was done with my makeup and Lance said something to me about a cat.

A cat? What? What cat?

Apparently their landlord had trapped a stray cat in a live trap cage downstairs. It had been there over a week with no food or water....imprisoned in the pitch dark in the cold.

WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTT???? WHERE IS IT??????

I immediately ran (Well more like crawled) down the falling apart staircase into this unbelievable basement out of a horror film...I wasn't even thinking...just acting. In the middle of the room was this beautiful black cat. I looked at it, and said, "you are perfect." I had the strangest spiritual connection with this cat. It was terrified and probably the first human contact it had had in a week.

We could figure out how to open the cage to give it water...I didn't want to touch it because the possiblility of disease is was probably high. We finally got it open and I gave her water. She pawed as to say, "Help me." This cat. This poor strange cat. I was so angry. How could anyone do this to an animal? How could FIVE people be living in this apartment and not think anything of it? Derrick claimed he just found it today, but WHYYYY would you not do something about it?

The landlord claimed the Humane Society was supossed to pick it up a week ago. What the hell???? Why wouldn't one of the tenants call him to say it hadn't been picked up? Why wouldn't the landlord check? How can you leave another living creature alone, in the dark, terrified, and starving?

I called the cops. They came over and said they would take her to the humane society. Then they decided no to in case the landlord had other plans...What the hell? So I said, can I call the humane society? They said sure. I left a message on the landlord's machine and told him what happened. Derrick said he'd check on the cat later and make sure she was picked up tomorrow. I'm going to follow up and call and make sure. Unbelievable.

In the past, I probably would have been way to scared of all the confrontation involved in this situation, but I just ran down those stairs. And when this cat looked at me, I just felt something inside of me that I haven't really felt before. Compassion, anger, sadness, care and love all rolled into one. And and on a small scale, I saved her. And I think of how many other beings there are out there that need help....I want to help...I'm not afraid anymore.

I feel sometimes a bit like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's. She has this brilliant monolouge at the end of the movie about she and her cat not belonging anywhere. She wouldn't even name her cat because they didn't belong. I'm calling the humane society tomorrow and if the cat doesn't have any diseases and can be adopted, I'm taking her. I'm naming her Karma.