Frivolous Friday – The Homeless Helping the Homeless

Not such a frivolous topic:

Yesterday we touched on homeless people helping homeless pets. You have to wonder how they connect. Where do homeless people get their pet cats, dogs, birds, etc.? Most probably can’t afford the adoption fee. I suppose in some cases, they simply stumble across a stray cat or dog and the two start hanging out together. There was a man living homeless in California a few years ago with a dog, a cat, and a bird. He was quite the spectacle as he traveled with his pets.

Do the homeless take good care of their pets? I believe that most do. If you or I saw a dog or cat that looked sickly or too thin, or, heaven forbid, it was being abused, we’d call for help. But it appears that most homeless become highly devoted caretakers to their animal friends. There’s a video online showing a dog chasing after an ambulance carrying his homeless human off to a hospital. I only hope someone rescued the dog and that he and his human were reunited at some point.

Here’s a touching story I hope all of you will read. It’s about a homeless man who befriended not only an alley full of thirty cats, but also many of his neighbors who lived in plush homes around him in a Chicago neighborhood. People liked Antonio Garcia and didn’t mind him living homeless in their neighborhood. In fact, some offered him warmer sleeping bags and a tent to make his life easier. But he declined. He’d say, “If you want to help, help the cats.” And they did, also doing what they could for Antonio. They even arranged for the cats to be spayed and neutered.

Well, Antonio died in January of hypothermia. When neighbors learned of his death, they picked up where he left off and began caring for his beloved cats. It’s a heartwarming story. Read it here: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/pets/a-homeless-man-died-leaving-behind-a-pack-of-alley/article_42f5150f-1b17-5765-adee-45e312e32129.html

This entry was posted in Cat Safety, Cat Stories. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *