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Home > Out of the Cage! > Summer 2007 > A Sunny Day for Midnight A Sunny Day for Midnight
by Valerie Sicignano, NYC Feral Cat Initiative There it was — an e-mail forwarded to us from a local animal shelter. They received it in the morning, but by the time it got to us it was lunchtime. It read, "A woman called us saying a cat was trapped in a net and had cried all night long. He was still crying when she left for work. The cat was in the backyard of the house next to hers at such and such address — could we help save the cat?" The NYC Feral Cat Initiative staff e-mailed and called the woman but were not able to reach her. We went to the address to see if we could find the cat. The house was multi-level and had several tenants. No one answered their doorbells, but we saw a candle burning in one window so we knew someone was home. We waited. Finally, the candle-burner opened the door to us. "There is no cat in our yard, and I didn't hear any cat cry last night." Can we take a look in the yard anyway?" we asked. "No!" came the stern reply and the door was slammed in our face. We stayed anyway, hoping for the woman who lived next door who had sent the e-mail to return home from work. At 6:30 p.m. she came home, and let us into her yard. Through a hole in the fence we saw him — a black cat wrapped in a huge basketball net. The net had been strung between the two houses in an attempt to stop basketballs from going over into the next yard, but instead caught this cat who jumped, not realizing the net was there. We caught him and cut off the net. We took him to another borough, where a vet was waiting to check him for injuries. The vet called us saying the cat was a male and he was fine — no injuries. He said he was holding the cat in his arms and that the cat had his paws wrapped tightly around his neck and wouldn't let go. He said the cat was very affectionate — and definately domestic, not feral. He had a bit of a cold, probably from being stuck out in the cold all night. He was purring so loudly we could hardly hear the vet. We named the cat Midnight, and the next morning, the Humane Society of New York took him in, renamed him Riff, and nursed him back to health. He is now up for adoption to a good home. If you are interested in giving Midnight (a.k.a. Riff) a permanent home — preferably one without any nets around! — please contact the Humane Society of New York at (212) 752-4842. They are located at 306 East 59th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, in Manhattan. Adoption hours are seven days a week, 10:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
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Valerie
Sicignano oversees the |
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