Of cats and birds of prey

When did I become such a bleeding heart? I guess I always have been, but who knew I would take the death of an animal so hard. I would say that I care more about animals than people, but that wouldn't explain why I do the job that I do, so I suppose I just *care*.

I've been taking care of a semi-stray cat at work. She's absolutely gorgeous, with stunning light blonde and brown colors and a big fluffy tail. I say 'semi-stray' because she looks very well-kept for an outside, homeless cat. I feed her every morning and she mews at me, lets me scratch her head, rubs on my leg, and, on occasion, allows me to pick her up. I put a box outside with old towels in it for her to sleep in on these cold nites. She's very friendly with people, and she's become good buddies with a couple of the residents' weenie dogs, following them on their walks and playing with them. It's all very adorable. I'd very much like to find a home for her, so if you know anyone, let me know. She would make a great pet, and a fabulous Christmas gift!

Yesterday, a large hawk flew into one of the windows at the building and injured himself severely. I made a dozen or so calls, trying to find someone to rescue the poor bird. Do you know how damn hard it is to find an agency that will rescue a wild bird in this town? Well, lemme tell ya, it's damn near impossible. Myself and a couple of other folks contacted every agency we could think of, and finally we were referred to a Wildlife Rescue group. Unfortunately, they are staffed strictly with volunteers, and no one was on hand to come and aid the hawk. We also contacted the City of Dallas animal control. Yeah, that's a good idea. Hmph. I went outside, gave him some water, we put some leaves and things around him to try and keep him warm, but to no avail. By the time some idiot from the city showed up, he was dead. And I felt just awful.

I don't even know what I'll do if I ever encounter a dead person, or have to watch someone die. It killed me to watch that bird suffer.