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On August 18, 2009, the definition of PAWS and the definition of heroes merged in the most wonderful way in our home-base of operations, Wakefield, MA. Our PAWS president received a call August 18th from a caring person named Tanya about a cat and her family. To be more specific, for some reason known only to the momma cat, she chose to house her young family in an alley between two brick buildings located at Main and Albion Street. These were felines in need. The August heat was overwhelming. Food and water were scarce commodities in the alley.
One of our volunteers, Roberta Maloney, who happens to work in that area, checked out the situation. The momma and her babies were living in a very narrow space, strewn with debris at its entrance. Roberta reported back to the rest of the PAWS volunteer group and confirmed the circumstances and immediate need for a plan.
Diane Hammerbeck, a very experienced PAWS rescuer, volunteer and lifetime member of PAWS, went to the alley site the next day attempting to coax the cats from their precarious home. Unfortunately, it was not a productive visit. Diane could not see the cats, just an open cat food can and some empties sitting around, adding to the already growing pile of junk strewn in the alley. Trash, scrap metal remnants, and just general junk as well as heat, dirt and darkness are not the ideal place to raise kittens.
Because the kittens were not visible, Diane concluded that they were inhabiting the deeper recesses of the alley, relatively safe from predators and from wandering out and potentially being hit by a car in the parking lot.
Miraculously, just as Diane was about to depart for the evening, she turned around. Lo and behold, Momma cat had materialized to daintily dine on one of the open food cans. Open
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metal food cans are hardly the best utensil for eating. They can be razor sharp, potentially injuring a ravenous cat gobbling down the food. Thinking quickly, Diane went to her car to return with Styrofoam bowls to act as feeding containers. Because Momma cat was tentative, Diane placed the food bowl away from herself and closer to the animal. Momma cat, unable to resist the rumblings of her belly, went over to the bowl and devoured its contents. Diane put down some water for Momma as well and waited to see what would transpire between the two of them.
Momma got her nerve up and ventured closer to Diane even rubbing Diane’s legs, perhaps in gratitude, perhaps just simply happy to know help was on the way.
Knowing that Diane was going to look for the kittens, our president called Tanya, the good Samaritan who had initially called the PAWS, to ask her to meet Diane at the alley. After some introductions and chatting, Diane learned that the kittens were discovered by chance. Momma cat had been walking across the parking lot and nearly missed being hit by a car. After witnessing this scene, Tanya’s curiosity was piqued and she followed Momma cat’s trail back to the alley. That is when she first discovered the kittens.
Diane’s partner-in-rescue, her husband Keith (also a PAWS volunteer and lifetime member) called on the evening of August 19th, while Diane was still at the alley, to see what he might be able to do to help. He came by, took some mental notes as to the size of the location, and departed with Diane for home. Not much could be done on a dark night where the temperature topped 85 degrees and in a space that would not allow a human entrance.
The fate of the cats weighed heavy on Diane and Keith’s
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minds. They returned the next day and Momma came out to greet them! They fed her, gave her water, and “hung out” with her for awhile. Keith also dragged away all of the debris in the alley. Perhaps if Momma cat had an easier path to walk, she might just bring her kittens closer to the entrance, close enough to scoop them all up to safety.
In the meantime, a new player in this unfolding saga appeared on the scene, to help. Maureen Coughlin, a utility company employee, managed to get two black kittens that crawled out of the alley on their own into the welcoming arms of Maureen. Having spoken with Animal Control Officer (ACO), Ken Stache, she knew that she could bring the kittens to VCA Wakefield Animal Hospital where they could be cared for until a PAWS volunteer could come to get them.
Friday evening, Keith returned after 11 p.m., just to try one more time to reach the kittens. When he got there two of the remaining kittens were playing. Unfortunately they were not quite close enough to the entrance for Keith to rescue them. Keith patiently waited in the heat, wiggling his fingers all the while like tempting toys to arouse the kittens’ curiosity. His well planned maneuver paid off when they ventured close enough for Keith to scoop them up.
Momma was nursing the last kitten and neither was in reach. When she finished nursing, she got up, came out and the little one followed her right into Keith’s hands. He then he put Momma in the cat carrier with the other kittens, and took them to all to a waiting PAWS foster home.
The ending is happy, because of the wonderful hearts and help of these heroes. We cannot say enough about these people and feel that accolades should be bestowed upon them. We hope this article does just that:
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