Regarding opposition to Senate Bill 06:

Senate Bill 06 affects and imposes Draconian restrictions upon all small rescues in Oregon. None were consulted about the effects of this bill or asked for input yet they must live with the consequences. The bill is poorly drafted, costly and fails to achieve its purpose.

These are some of the objections:

• Under the guise of providing modest accountability, this bill grants unfettered police powers to enforcement agencies to search and inspect the private property of rescues, often their homes and homes of foster families, without the need to show probable cause. That violation of civil rights lends itself to broad abuse and is incompatible with Oregon’s democratic values.

• An entire group, private rescue, is presumed guilty and placed under close surveillance as if they were scofflaws. There is no evidence to support that prejudice.

• The cases used to buttress the need for legislation don’t fit the bill’s provisions. Alicia Inglish’s case was not about a small animal rescue but about long-standing criminality. The existing system worked. Complaints were filed, a warrant was issued and the dogs were seized in accordance with animal neglect and abuse laws that are already in place.

• Animal neglect and abuse laws already in place work effectively. Why target an entire group of small rescues, stripping them of many basic rights, when enforcement of existing laws can be effective?

• The base rate for failed abusive rescues is incredibly low. A law focusing on all rescues is not needed.

• The effect of this bill will be the loss of support of small rescues critical to saving companion animal lives in Oregon. They were not consulted; or included in the development of this bill yet it singularly negatively affects them.

New additions to SB 06

SECTION 12. { + This 2013 Act being necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an
emergency is declared to exist, and this 2013 Act takes effect on
its passage. +

They’ve changed the bill, again, adding this to the end, changed section 10 and added 11, which describes lots of civil penalties, rescues can be given. .

Just got a call from a local farmer. He and his wife were getting ready to torch their burn pile when they heard mewing sounds. They removed some of the logs and waste in the pile and unearthed 3 kittens who aren’t sounding (by their description) as if they are doing very good. They are on the way here to drop them off and then I will go and sit at the vet’s office till they can work me in. I have already been there once today (Jedi is having her lumps removed).

If on the first of the month, anyone can send some monies for the cats, it would be appreciated. I lost my one donation of cat food source. They decided to give to the local shelter instead. So anything sent here would be used for the good of these cats.
Please pray for these three babies. I have no idea how old they are, what kind they are but I was told they are all three shivering and it is 70 degrees outside right now- 🙁 I will fill you in when I return from the vet as they will be working me in- don’t know when i will return.

5:00 p.m. update- Kittens needed warming fluids, food and are full of fleas but are to weak to put anything chemical on them right now. Icy to the touch when they arrived here- one of them was just flat. She was lying on a towel with her head completely buried down in the towel mewing loudly. When I touched her it was like touching a block of ice! I had coffee so she got a few drops of coffee and Karo and thankfully, she swallowed it. We rushed off the vet at 1:30 and we just now got home.

They are four weeks old, cute as the devil and they look like Maine Coon mixes (all girls or so the vet thinks) I have sub cu fluids to give to all three of them, and they are on AD at the moment. They dove into their food. The two bigger kittens rebounded quickly after the fluids, but the kitten who was flat, she is still on the edge and I hope I can pull her through. She is so weak and wobbly. I have her near me in a warming cage and she is eating with assistance so that is good. I am grateful they were found before the burn pile had been torched.

This is the kitten who felt most like an ice cube. I am calling her Gypsy and I am praying she won’t die-

At 8:27 p.m. Gypsy passed over the Bridge

This is her luckier sister (no name yet)

And then here is the third kitten also a girl

Meet Calico, although she is a dilute calico, the film makes her look darker. I think she also migh have Norweigan Forest Cat in her as well.

On Weds morning, I received a call from my mom’s best friend, Annie. She was fit-to-be-tied (by the sound of her voice) and still only meeting me once a few days prior, she was unsure what type of person I really am.
“If I told you that your two sisters were reprehensible, how would you respond?” She asked

“I would tell you , that you hit the nail on the head Annie, what is going on?”

She proceeded to tell me that sister had left word that anything not of value left in the house was to be thrown away and this included all of my Dad’s war stuff, photos of the family, and anything else “they” found that wasn’t going to fetch high prices!

I was horrified and Annie agreed that was the right emotion. She said that she started pulling the photo albums, and anything else she could out of the dumpster and putting it in her car! She asked if we could come up and get the items because shipping them would be more expensive that ever. She also said Mother was so miserable and she was rapidly losing weight and she was powerless to get her to a better place.

I told her I would see what I could put together.
As often happens in my life, God smiles on me and provided the means and the monies to make this 900 mile journey was made possible. People were lined up to care for the cats, horse, roosters and we were on our way. The bad part about the trip is we had to take Mike’s truck a 2009 Expedition that guzzles more gas than my car does.

Our first stop when we arrived was to visit Mother and see how she was doing. It didn’t look good- she looked so defeated and lost. I talked with her a good while then she called Annie, and Mike and I left to go to the house. We arrived at our destation early Thursday morning and the estate sale was planned for Fri and Sat of that weekend.

It hurt my heart so to see that house completely stripped bare! All of Mother and Daddy’s lives packed up in boxes, fine furniture slapped with prices that were so cheap I gasped. Dad’s tool shop had been laid bare, his tools and equipment already given away and it was just so sad.

Annie arrived and even before we started unloading her car, I could see that if we put everything in the truck she had- there wouldn’t be any room for B-Dog or for us!

Off we went to rent a trailor. Back to the old home and before we loaded the trailer, Annie handed me her phone and told me Mother wanted to talk to me. She told me to go through all the possessions and what I wanted just to take home with me. So, I ended up with not only the life of the Love family in photos, my Dad’s naval career and journies but their big couch, my dad’s recliner, a cedar chest and a computer chair. a model ship of the USS Constitution my Dad had been building from scratch but had to stop when he couldn’t see any longer. (Mike is going to finish it in honor of Daddy)

Then I went into the garage where Mother’s friends were pricing items and the memories just flooded me as I saw their “life” on the workbenches. I took Mother’s cookie sheets that she never washed and they make the best cookies in the world because of that! She would just wipe them off and stick them back in cupboard. I have her roaster that I remember as a kid coming home from school and seeing her pull out the dinner. The meat just simmering inside this roaster. Her original mixer that still works, and all of her wind chimes. Good thing we rented the trailer!

Went back to Mother’s “cell”, spent some lovely time with my Mom and gave her a stern lecture before I left. I told her is she stays where they put her, she will die. I told her that she isn’t dying- she is NOT senile as my older sister keeps insisting she is- and she has a lot of living, and BINGO games to get through yet! I told her that Annie had my permission to find her a better place to live, then I asked her “Mother, where do you want to live?”

Surprisingly, she didn’t say the house. I think the memories would do her in eventually. She told me that she wanted to go to Independent Living by the hospital, have a second floor terraced apartment and live there with dignity! She told me that this morning, she had asked for a towel so she could take a shower. A common request – but you know what they told her? “Mrs. Love, you just had a shower TWO DAYS AGO, you don’t need another one right now!”

I was HISSED! I know the shower is across the hall- but really- telling her she doesn’t need a shower.
Annie had arrived by then with Calico and as I loaded the kitty into the car, I gave Annie a fierce hug and said “Get her the Hell out of here!”

Then, because of the time frame of the rental, we headed for home. I stopped at the house for a final goodbye and I was holding it together pretty well until the neighbors came over one-by-one. They started sharing with Mike (I was out of sight leaning against the rental trailer) about first their outrage and what happened to Mother losing this house and her husband and her life- and then they started sharing stories about how much they love Mr. Love, how nice he is, what they remember. I broke apart when they shared their stories about him. They heard me blubbering and came around the truck and gave me big hugs and told me how sorry they were. One woman leaned over and whispered in my ear “Thank ya Darlin for NOT being like your other sisters!”

Then we left. Calico rode pretty well- Brandi stayed up front, and I put Calico in the back. It is a 14 hour drive straight through and about 3 hours from our home, Calico decided she was so tired of being in this cat carrier and the LET ME OUT NOW Meow started!

We stopped at the next rest area and I carried her carrier to my seat and that’s how we finished the ride home.

I have her in my Introduction Cage and she is eating! YAY! But she hisses and spits and growls because she misses Daddy and she is so unsettled. BUT she allows me to pet her without striking out- so I am hopeful.

The better news is mother is MOVING! She and Annie went to that Independent Living Facility and got a place for Mother. It is so big my mother said, she doesn’t have to sleep in a twin bed now! She doesn’t get anything confiscated from her, can come and go as she pleases and no one just opens her door and enters without knocking! She told me all of this just last night. She was so excited, and I admit to screaming in joy at the news with her. She can move in August 1st AND she can have Calico back!

The rent there is cheaper than what she is paying now and one of her best friends lives right across the hall from her!

So, that is the latest, and I guess the morale of the story is it doesn’t matter how much money you have, or how much money you want in your life which is my sisters focus. If you let your compassion go, your moral compass becomes shattered and you put your selfish needs above anything else- Karma will get you.

Mike and I struggle just to get by every day and it is a story told seven-times seven all over this nation. Even though we couldn’t afford to go on this trip- God provided the way and friends stepped up to say they will help with kittens, cats, roosters and a horse (I am pet sitting some farm animals right now) and we left here Weds night at 10:30 arrived to our destination at 11:00 a.m. the following day and were home Friday morning 4:00 a.m. and I WONDER why I am so tired?

My final thought- Be kind to each other and thanks for listening-

Just got back from a fast/furious return trip to California to get my mom out of the mess my sisters left her in. I am emotionally frayed and exhausted and will fill in the blanks later. But- I have Calico, so I was able to fulfill my dad’s dying wish that I take her.

Talked to my mom tonight and I feel so bad for her. Dad died on Thursday and if that didn’t rock her world enough, she found herself out of her home and in assisted living by the following Monday. My two sisters were in charge of all the details. Never once was I even consulted about the plans.

Mother hasn’t even had time to grieve for Daddy and after 28 years of living with all her fine things so close to hand, she finds herself in a room where the bathroom is across the hall! The room is so small, she has a bed, her recliner, a computer, tv and desk. She has slept in a king-size bed forever, and now she is in a twin! I told her to please order a double bed at least if it fits in the room and have the extra space. I am “supposed” to keep our phone conversations “light and upbeat’ but how can I do that when Mother is crying about losing Daddy and NEEDING to grieve? How I can I dismiss that pain as if it doesn’t matter. It bottom line is no matter what my oldest sister wants me to do, I have to follow my heart and my mother and I both need to grieve.

I asked her in any of the other residents in the home are close to her age, but they are all a lot older (Mother is 89) She said that this morning, they invited her into the sun room so she could bat a balloon around the room with all the others- REALLY? She put up with it for only a few minutes then went back to her room.

I know she can’t live alone- she falls a lot. But I had hoped they would of at least let her stay in the house for at least a month or two with live-in caregiver so she could process Daddy’s passing and be able to say goodbye to her friends and her house in her time. But that didn’t happen and I can’t do a dang thing about it.

I am so unfocused right now. i went to get gas this morning and drove off with the hose still stuck in my tank! Thank God, I noticed it in time and stopped and didn’t do any damage. But, boy do I feel stupid.

On the cat front- the three wild kids upstairs are finally eating. The man was only feeding them greenies and I was having a heck of a time finding any kind of food they liked! I refuse to feed treats as food. I finally found a freeze-dried meal that is brand new Stella and Chewy’s Diet. I bought the duck dinner and they love it. All I have to do is re-purpose it with a bit of warm water.

The cats are still so terrified of everything. Hissing and spitting at me if I even dare come into the room. It makes me so sad how someone could have such beautiful kittens from day one and virtually ignore them.

The ten kittens in the bedroom are growing fast. Jedi is such a baby and when I pick her up and hold her as soon as she feels the comfort of me, she starts to suckle her paw. She’s so sweet- I do hope all is going to turn out okay with her. Mike says she is a keeper, and I have to agree. Besides she is black and they are so hard to find good homes for around here.

So there are ten spay/neuters waiting in the wings- hopefully in the next few weeks I can raise enough to cover the expenses and these kittens can go off to wonderful lives. That is the hope anyway.

I’ll just keep calling Mom and let her talk about whatever she needs to let off her chest. I can’t dismiss her pain, anymore than I can dismiss my own. It just isn’t natural.

Although she is but ten weeks old, Jedi has developed a tumor on the inside of her left leg. When I first noticed the hairless patch, my initial thought was “Uh oh Ringworm.” But it wasn’t reactive to my blacklight. Then I thought it was an abscess as the kittens are doing a lot of tusseling lately. But, there is no heat and no noticeable bite near it. About three days into observing it, the lump split in half so off to the vet we went. She aspirated it and didn’t get any type of fluid (bad sign) So Jedi has been scheduled for surgery next week. Poor girl. My last hope was that perhaps the other cats had suckled her there (as they seemed to suckle her the most) and created the strange lump- but that turned out to be a bust. They will take it off and run it in for biopsy.

Most of what I am finding out is tumors on kittens are pretty doggone rare. So here is hoping that it is benign and nothing scary.

Daddy passed away at 5:15 this afternoon. According to my sister, it was a peaceful passing. On morphine every two hours- he finally stopped breathing and left us. Goodbye Daddy- I will continue my life as you taught me to live- with integrity, love to all animals and never turning a blind eye to someone or something in need-

Got called out on a hoarding call last night and oh my heavens the house this man lived in was so bad. I could hardly breathe. It took us about 45 minutes to locate any cats and over 3 hours to catch only four of them!

There was cat poop caked everywhere- the air was rancid with urine, the house was trashed and there were little small paths through all the clutter. The man had passed away- he was in his 60’s and living near poverty. Eveyplace I stepped, I was covered with ants and bugs. It was sad, pathetic and really nasty.

I was told the man was getting evicted for not paying rent. Ironically, stacked in the middle of the kitchen were about 200 original boxes of classic cars that were bought in the 1930’s-1950’s! None removed from their boxes and all this man would have had to do was sell them to a collector and live in style.

There are four cats here now and they are about 8 months old and as unsocialized as they come. I have them upstairs now away from all the other cats. I think this is probably the first breath of clean air that they have taken since they were born. They are all long hair and I am just leaving them alone so they can decompress. They have enough food and water for a week- then I will start working with them slowly to start socializing them and hopefully find them good homes. But I still smell that man’s house. It was awful! No matter how many times I get involved in these calls, I can never understand how people can live like this and allow these animals to do the same.

Kittens in hiding-

My Daddy is failing at least now they have him on a morphine drip every two hours. In the last few days, I have been asked by my oldest sister to come back and get Calico! I tried to bring her back with me three times and each time Mother prevented me from taking her. Now, I have been told to come and get her. I can’t afford another trip like that not even. Plus when I got home, the house and the husband was in such crisis. So now, once again I am the bad guy and everything going wrong is all my fault. I told Mike last night I am so tired of being this family’s punching bag. I just want it to end. Things are getting really ugly (because of the money involved) and I just want shut of the whole thing.

Calico will not be easy to place. She hates other cats, dogs, small kids, and she bites and scratches for no reason. I know one of my sisters will take her eventually. I told my mother when I left her home that I wouldn’t be back. And people wonder why I like cats over people? All I seem to be doing lately is crying and sleeping. I called the hospital last night because updates from my sisters have stopped. The nurse remembered me from my visits and told me “Your dad is in incredible pain.” I wish I could trade places with him. He does not deserve this!

So I keep trying to function. Write down things because now I can’t seem to remember my own name. ROscoe went in today to be neutered and I have to say I am so impressed by his future family. Intially, they wanted him right after his neuter (he is 7 weeks old now) but then they called back a few days after signing the adoption papers and told me that they want me to keep him until he is ready to be placed in a home! YAY! I love cat savvy adopters!
So I will keep him an additional month so the separation from the group won’t be so traumatic for him.

Please just ignore my earlier family venting. I just had to get it out of my system and I hope no one thinks less of me for airing dirty laundry in such a public arena.