Featured Visitor: A Firefighter Who Melts For Cats
This last spring, John Dudas of Cleveland, OH was in the neighborhood of Best Friends. Well, he was in Grand Junction, CO for a surface ice training class, and Grand Junction was a LOT closer to Kanab, UT than Cleveland. Many of John’s friends and (most importantly his mom) are members of Best Friends, so he made the detour to come and visit, and volunteer.
John is a Firefighter in Cleveland, and it was due to his job that Shambles (the first of his rescues) came to live with him 13 years ago. John was putting out a fire, when he noticed a kitten peering out from the confines of a basement. It was one of those situations where you can’t get a picture out of your head, and he kept thinking about that little kitten. Early the next morning, he went back to the scene of the fire to search for the kitten. Apparently what often happens in the case of a fire, is all the of the animals run to safety at the first smell of smoke, and it seemed as though the kittens mother left him on his own. The kitten was only about a week old, and John scooped him up and immediately took him to a vet. The vet checked the kitten out, and realized he had a congenital spine defect that caused him to have severe bow legs, and was also born missing ½ his upper eye lids, so he would always squint. Because of the kittens age, the vet told John that someone would need to take care of him right away, and the kitten became Shambles, and John became his guardian. John currently has three cats, Shambles, Tooters, & Jake.
While John was at Best Friends, he volunteered with – you guessed it! – the cats. He particularly enjoyed working at Bentons House with some of the special needs cats, and particularly enjoyed hanging out with Gimbel, who has neurological issues. He also took Bob out for a walk (on a harness) and said that Bob has mastered the art of Trick or Treating – by going to all the other cat buildings and begging for treats.
He had a sleepover with a beautiful cat named Kirk, from Niblets Nest in Bentons House who probably made him feel a bit more at home.
When asked what his favorite part of being at Best Friends was, his answer was a trifle unexpected. He said it was when he went up on his own to visit Angels Rest, the pet cemetery. He said he just stood looking at the front gates, while he heard the wind chimes ringing almost in a wave, affecting him emotionally in a way that reminded him of when he was at the Oklahoma Bombing site years ago.
John commented that many times he has saved people from near tragedy, but the only “life” he ever saved was his cats. John – from animal lovers everywhere – thank you for saving them, and thank you for all that you do!
Written by Laura Rethoret & Jennifer Johnson
Photo by Laura Rethoret