I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
depending on which freeways are congested. Today was
an expecially bad day - sig alerts on both of primary
routes. This meant that I had to drive about 1/3 of the
way on freeways, get off on surface streets through the
largely unincorporated areas of San Bernardino and
Riverside counties, then rejoin the freeway after the
congestion.
As I was driving down one of the main drags through
Jurupa, I saw a furry lump in the middle of the road.
I managed to avoid hitting it then found a spot where
I could safely make a U-turn and go back.
When I got there I found a very beautiful, very dead
large orange tabby cat. From the injuries he sustained
I could tell that he died instantly and painlessly. I
would have liked to have been able to bury the poor
unfortunate kitty but I don't carry tools with me and
there were no appropriate places nearby to do so anyway.
I did move the kitties remains out of the street up onto
the shoulder, well off the road, and called the agency
responsible for dealing with animal remains. Most import-
ant, they maintain a list of animals they collect, a
description, and when and where they were collected so
worried animal owners can find out if their furkids have
been taken.
Please join me in purring this poor thing finds his way
to the bridge painlessly, and this his humans may learn
of his fate instead of worrying and never knowing.
I also learned something important today - it's difficult
to drive on a busy freeway with tears in your eyes.
Dan
Enfilade - 08 Nov 2005 16:55 GMT
> Please join me in purring this poor thing finds his way
> to the bridge painlessly, and this his humans may learn
> of his fate instead of worrying and never knowing.
Poor boy.
Purrs.
--Fil
CatNipped - 08 Nov 2005 17:00 GMT
> I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
> the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Dan
Poor sweetie, purrs that he had a swift trip to the RB. Thank you, Dan, for
giving him some dignity in death and the chance that his hoomins, if any,
might know his fate.
Hugs,
CatNipped
JBHajos - 08 Nov 2005 17:02 GMT
>Please join me in purring this poor thing finds his way
>to the bridge painlessly
Most certainly. Many purrs for the poor kitty's gentle journey to
the RB. It's so terribly sad.
Jeanne
kilikini - 08 Nov 2005 17:17 GMT
> I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
> the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Dan
I left work the other evening and there was a kitten on the side of the
parking lot that had been hit. I just didn't have the heart to touch it.
Apparently, I'm not as strong as you are, Dan. I saw it, my heart sank, and
I had to walk past it. I thought about the poor thing the whole way home.
kili
Dan M - 08 Nov 2005 18:15 GMT
> I left work the other evening and there was a kitten on the side of the
> parking lot that had been hit. I just didn't have the heart to touch it.
> Apparently, I'm not as strong as you are, Dan. I saw it, my heart sank, and
> I had to walk past it. I thought about the poor thing the whole way home.
>
> kili
Don't feel too bad, kili. It's not easy to do. I don't know that I would
have stopped except that this poor guy was in the middle of the street and
had not been badly mutilated. As hard as it was to go back, it would have
been even worse had I left him there to deal with the traffic that would
be getting very heavy before long.
Now I have to deal with the image of that poor baby in my mind all day.
That's going to be rough. But it would even worse dealing with my own
feelings if I hadn't moved him.
Dan
kilikini - 08 Nov 2005 18:26 GMT
> > I left work the other evening and there was a kitten on the side of the
> > parking lot that had been hit. I just didn't have the heart to touch it.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Dan
This poor baby's head was mutiliated. It makes me almost wonder if some
sick, twisted jerk TRIED to do this on purpose. It was just a baby! Why,
why, why don't people spay and neuter their pets and take care of them? I
just don't understand.
kili
Dan M - 08 Nov 2005 18:28 GMT
> This poor baby's head was mutiliated. It makes me almost wonder if some
> sick, twisted jerk TRIED to do this on purpose. It was just a baby! Why,
> why, why don't people spay and neuter their pets and take care of them? I
> just don't understand.
>
> kili
Nor do I! I can't imagine how people don't spay and neuter their pets, and
how they can fail to love them and care for them.
Dan
Irulan - 08 Nov 2005 17:18 GMT
A candle will be lit for the kitty.
Lily & her mama
Jazz, RB

Signature
Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time
>I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
> the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Dan
Adrian - 08 Nov 2005 17:25 GMT
<snip>
> When I got there I found a very beautiful, very dead
> large orange tabby cat. From the injuries he sustained
> I could tell that he died instantly and painlessly. I
> would have liked to have been able to bury the poor
> unfortunate kitty but I don't carry tools with me and
> there were no appropriate places nearby to do so anyway.
<snip>
> Dan
So very sad, I will light a candle for the unknown cat, I'm glad he didn't
suffer.

Signature
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
A House is not a home, without a cat.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk
Exocat - 08 Nov 2005 17:41 GMT
> When I got there I found a very beautiful, very dead
> large orange tabby cat.
> Please join me in purring this poor thing finds his way
> to the bridge painlessly, and this his humans may learn
> of his fate instead of worrying and never knowing.
Purrs that the little guy makes a smooth transition to a better place
Gordon & the FF
Still missing their red tabby boy.
Kreisleriana - 08 Nov 2005 17:52 GMT
>I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
>the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
>Dan
Purrs for the poor fellow. A similar thing happened to me when a
regular neighborhood tom died in my backyard last summer. I felt so
bad.
Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com
Make Levees, Not War
glsummer@neptunelink.com - 08 Nov 2005 18:50 GMT
>I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
>the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
>Dan
{{{{{Dan}}}}}
It gets to me every time, and breaks my heart. Bless you for doing
what you could for the poor little orange one.
Purrs for his gentle journey to The Bridge.
Ginger-lyn
Home Pages:
http://www.spiritrealm.com/summer/
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy)
http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
Animals in Movies Website)
Helen Miles - 08 Nov 2005 20:25 GMT
> When I got there I found a very beautiful, very dead
> large orange tabby cat. From the injuries he sustained
> I could tell that he died instantly and painlessly.//
Purrs that the poor boy makes it safely to the bridge and that his
humans find out his fate so that they know to meet him there. :o(
Helen M
jmcquown - 08 Nov 2005 21:12 GMT
> I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
> the office. I normally take one of two freeway routes,
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Dan
Purrs on the way for the unknown kitty :(
I have to relate this, which has a good ending but which scared the crap out
of me at the time.
I was on my way early one summer Saturday morning (approximately 5:30AM),
driving down a normally busy 6 lane divided street. Had it not been
Saturday or so very early, there probably would have been a much different
outcome. I'm driving along, no traffic to speak of. I see what appears to
be a small tire, strip of rubber, or rubbish in the road. Suddenly the
"rubbish" turned its head and I could see it was a gorgeous long-haired
black cat with green eyes.
OMG! It was entirely too late for me to swerve so I just gritted my teeth
and begged it, please don't move! I can't believe I didn't crush it with
the tires of my car; I've never been any good at avoiding stuff in the
middle of the street, you know?
I heard a slight thunk but as I looked in my rearview mirror the cat ran off
behind me. It ran up a large grass incline towards some houses. The way it
dashed off, I was 99.999% certain it wasn't hurt, just scared. The thunk, I
think, was it jumping and hitting my rear bumper as I miraculously
maneuvered over the cat without hitting it with any of my tires. I, myself,
was shaking.
I turned around at the next intersection and went back and tried to find the
cat. The fact that I didn't find it dead, dying or injured made me feel
pretty certain it was okay and had gone back home. I couldn't bring myself
to knock on doors at 6AM. I was so upset I'm sure I would have said some
really nasty things if they'd said to me, "Oh, we have a cat like that...
he/she is fine; just came home." I'd have cussed them up one side and down
the other for letting this cat roam loose. For being irresponsible pet
owners. For not only endangering the cat, who decided to nap on the warm
pavement as the sun came up, but also for scaring the crap out of the cat
and me. GRRRRRRR.
Jill
polonca12000@yahoo.com - 08 Nov 2005 22:01 GMT
Poor kitty! Thank you for what you did, Dan.
Lots of purrs,
Polonca and Soncek
> I make a 120 mile commute every day between home and
> the office. <snip>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Dan
Victor Martinez - 09 Nov 2005 01:21 GMT
> I managed to avoid hitting it then found a spot where
> I could safely make a U-turn and go back.
You are a very kind soul Dan, there is a special place for you at the RB.

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Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov
Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com
Marina - 09 Nov 2005 03:51 GMT
> Please join me in purring this poor thing finds his way
> to the bridge painlessly, and this his humans may learn
> of his fate instead of worrying and never knowing.
So sad. Many purrs for the poor mite.

Signature
Marina, Frank, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki