In the fall of 2008, Deborah Smith-Callahan, a long time animal rescuer, was notified of approximately 80 sick and emaciated cats living on a dairy farm in South Georgia. Workers at the farm had been feeding the cats, but were directed by the farm owner to stop. Deborah quickly took action by contacting the Best Friends No More Homeless Pets team (now the Community Animal Assistance department) for guidance. She was encouraged to visit the farm and assess the situation which she did the following week.
On the day of Deborah's first visit to the farm, she left with 22 cats and kittens in carriers filling every inch of space in her car. In the weeks that followed, she rescued over 50 cats from the farm, got medical care for them and worked to get them adopted into forever homes. She and other volunteers returned to the farm six times and eventually trapped an additional 55 cats who were spayed or neutered and returned to the farm. The story of the Dairy Cats was told in a story on the Best Friends’ Network, "Community Effort for Community Cats."
At the time of the rescue, one of the cats that particularly touched Deborah’s heart was a tan and white kitten who was thin, had badly infected eyes and was very sick. When she put him in a carrier to bring him to Atlanta, she feared that he wouldn’t even survive the trip. She named him Buddy (shown above) and promised him right then that if he would just hold on and survive she would work hard to find him a safe and loving home.
Fast forward to January 2011. Buddy did survive the trip to Atlanta and is now healthy and full-grown. All of the Dairy Cats have found wonderful homes except for Buddy, who is now with Angels Among Us Pet Rescue (“Angels”) where Deborah is the cat program coordinator. He is a sleek and beautiful boy who was selected as one of the feature cats for the Angels’ 2011 calendar. You can read more about Buddy in the blog on the Angels’ website.
Buddy was initially scared of strangers. Volunteers give him lots of TLC and are very patient with him. He has learned to trust people and is now very affectionate. He loves to be brushed and petted and will even sit in the lap of someone he knows. Deborah says he enjoys the company of other cats and would make a great companion to a cat already established in a household.
So why hasn’t Buddy found his forever home? According to Deborah, he is a thriving, healthy cat – his only issue is one eye that chronically tears a bit. His eye doesn’t bother him and the only extra care required is for someone to pat his eye with a damp tissue once or twice a day. Unfortunately, Buddy does not do well in the Angels adoption center at the Johns Creek PETCO. He is frightened of the people starting at him, children knocking on his cage and the occasional barking dog. He is currently in a foster home with other cats where he has little chance for potential adopters to get to know him and see his great personality.
Buddy has stood by and watched while all of the other Dairy Cats have been adopted into wonderful forever homes. Tony was his best friend who was recently adopted by a family from Alpharetta. Buddy clearly misses his friend. Deborah says that out of all of the deserving rescue cats at Angels, Buddy is “the one for whom we would most like to find a wonderful forever home.”
Are you that special angel that Buddy is looking for? If you would like to meet Buddy and see if you could be a part of “the rest of his life,” contact Deborah at dsmithcallahan@gmail.com or (404) 414-1282.
About Angels Among Us Pet Rescue
Angels Among Us Pet Rescue, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit volunteer-based organization dedicated to rescuing dogs and cats from high-kill shelters in north Georgia. The organization operates through a network of foster homes in the north metro Atlanta area. Their efforts are funded by tax-deductible contributions from individuals and organizations who care and want to help About Angels Among Us Pet Rescue make a difference – one pet at a time.
The mission of Angels is to educate the public on the plight of animals living in high kill shelters throughout Georgia and to save as many animals as possible from these shelters and to place the animals in foster homes until they can find a forever home.
Follow Angels Among Us on Facebook.
For more information:
Photo courtesy of Angels Among Us Pet Rescue