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Gatto Mimmo gufo, originally uploaded by Maccio Capatonda.

Friday evening I was at the metro station waiting for my train when I discovered (thanks to another caring soul calling across the tracks) that a kitten was stuck inside a wall.  I heard the meowing all the way across the tracks.

I called the Humane Society of Missouri.  They told me to call animal control. I tried the APA and they were closed. I tried Stray Rescue and was sent straight to voicemail (they are a volunteer-run organization after all).  I called animal control and they were closed; the message stated to call the police.  I did so, but they stated that they could do nothing.  I went to the other side of the tracks at the station to see what I could do.  The kitten was meowing in fear and so far as I could tell there was no way to reach him.

The other woman there trying to help and I were desperate to get the kitten out but unsure how to do this.  She had put out pieces of Fig Newton in hopes of getting him to come to her, but he did not.  We continued to wonder just how stuck he may have been inside the wall.  There was a way under and into the wall, where the kitten evidently had found his way in, but no way for us to get to him.

I decided to call my vet and see if she had any suggestions.  She said to call the fire department.  I called the fire department and the individual who answered was rude with me and said “We don’t deal with animals,” gruffly and dismissively.  I called my ex-boyfriend who is also concerned with animal welfare to see if he had any tools we might use or any ideas for how to get the kitten out but he evidently was too busy with his evening to be terribly concerned and had no suggestions either.

The kitten continued to meow, terrified, and we were at our wit’s end at how we could help.  We had informed, via an emergency call box and a Metro employee who came by as she noticed our situation at hand and no Metro staff were of help or came to our rescue, though we were told twice that they would send someone to help.  Eventually, 45 minutes to an hour after first coming across the tracks, I laid my head on the ground, looked up from the floor and into the wall space and saw that the kitten was actually free in there.

The kitten was simply terrified, of people and of the noise of the train and announcer system, and did not know where else to hide.  We decided to just go back to waiting for our trains as he clearly was okay and would come out eventually when it quieted down (once the trains stopped).  I worried he would end up harassed by drunks or dumb people, but needed to go home and he seemed okay.

It appalls me that people were so ignorant and passed the buck so much.  Even animal welfare organizations passed the buck.  I find it just sad that people could care less if a living being – a cute lil’ kitten, no less! – dies than doing anything to help it.  What has happened to us that we as a society think nothing of abandoning, abusing, and neglecting living beings, much less care nothing if living beings die. (And yes, I know, my vegan and vegetarian friends, that cows, pigs, sheep, and fish die every day so that carnivores can fill their bellies… I am not ignorant to the farm animals’ plight).

I do hope that the kitten has found its way, or will find its way, into a warm, loving forever home.  I have to believe he did, just to sleep at night.

Tags: Animal rights, Animal Welfare, Humane Society, Organizations

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Animal Welfare, Animals, Telling it like it is. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.