Helen Keller once said (and I am paraphrasing) that it was her desire to accomplish great works, but it was her destiny to accomplish small tasks as if they were great.  With that in mind, we would like to suggest that you perform a small task that may avert a tragedy for an animal.

Simply tap on the hood of your car before you start the engine.  The tap must be strong enough to make noise.  Cats that are outside have a habit of hiding in engines.  We strongly urge people to knock on the hood of the car before it is started.  Hopefully, this will scare the cat enough to make its presence known, or to run away.  Our first choice, of course, would be for the cat to be brought to the shelter where it has a greater chance of being helped, instead of having to face a bad life on the streets.

Many times throughout the year, we receive many reports of kittens in car engines.  In cold weather, they must seek out the warmth.  In hot weather, I suppose they just want to feel safe.  No matter the reason, a car engine is a very dangerous place for kittens and cats to be.

Some of the worst memories from the past twenty years involve cats or kittens that are stuck in car motors.  I have to make a conscious effort to erase those pictures when they come into my mind.  Sometimes, the injuries are so horrible that the cats do not survive.  In other cases, the cats or kittens survive, and are adopted into wonderful homes.

On and on the stories go.  We have been called out late at night to help extricate cats and kittens from various neighborhoods, and we have gone to parking lots all over town to rescue scared, injured cats from car motors.  Each year, citizens bring cats or kittens to us when they have arrived home only to find that a cat has crawled up in their engine and has survived the trip.

Early Wednesday morning, a woman brought a beautiful orange kitten to us.  The kitten, a girl, is about four weeks old.  She had been spotted in the engine of the woman’s car on Monday, and she had not driven her car until they were able to extricate the kitten on Tuesday evening.  The kitten was placed in a box and brought to the shelter.   She was shaking worse than I have ever seen a little kitten shake.  When she was put in a cage with some canned cat food, she pounced on the food and ate for a long time.  She yowled and meowed for a few hours, and then finally fell asleep because she was exhausted.

After she fulfills her stray time requirements, she will become our property and will be available for adoption.  We believe she would do well in our new adoption center.

Cats and kittens belong inside, but the reality is that many live outside.  We urge everyone to tap on the hood of your car before starting the engine.  It is a simple thing that could save a life.