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NoTail
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Missing black cat without a tail, lost pet, lost cat
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Search Updates
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05/27/04 Thursday
C returned home after 4 days working out of town 65 miles away to find NoTail missing. He immediately searched the area of the 281 apartments where he lives. But no sign of NoTail.
05/28/04 Friday
My phone rang at 7 am, C with the most dreadful message imaginable about my cats: “NoTail is gone.” Thought this was a joke, how can he be gone? The patio door was always open he said, I didn’t know…. I yelled at him “We will never see him again!” Hurried through work so I could start looking. Asked coworkers how to ask the Mexicans that live in the apartments there in Spanish about missing NoTail. Told my boyfriend that I can’t go on the weekend trip. When I asked him if he understands, he only said “yeap, sure I understand”. He didn't offer any help or comfort. Oh well. 4 pm at the apartments, what a sad area. And my baby out there? Oh dear! Lost, stuck, suffering, hurting, scared to death? Can’t even think about all the possibilities for him dying under such horrible circumstances, can’t allow myself to think about it, have to force myself to stop. He is not dead yet! Thinking of my dear friend and her lost Lettie just a few weeks earlier. She will never come back either. C made flyers with a $200 reward and distributed it to all apartments knocking on all doors. The manager put up a flyer in the lobby. 11:30 am C drove west on Badillo Avenue to the Los Angeles County Animal Control Shelter #4 in Baldwin Park (ACSBP). Searched all animals, talked to staff, left a flyer, and posted a note on the board. He searched the remainder of the day until I arrived. We walked around everywhere. Most people just looked at us strangely. Worst of all, a bunch of cats all over the place that live in the one foot by one foot big openings to the bathtubs and piping in the small alleys behind each row of four apartments. Can’t see around behind the bathtubs. If he is in one of them, he will be to scared to come out. Searched until 2 am. An Animal Control Officer from Baldwin Park was at the apartments, we asked him for NoTail. He suggested to put out traps. That would be the only way to catch him. Went home to get my trap and set it outside the patio. Within minutes after setting it with sardines we caught a black stray. Set it again and caught another one right away. A couple of kids said, they saw a cat without a tail but couldn’t remember when. An older couple saw him chasing their cat at the west end of the complex during the day. I cant imagine he would do that, as scared as he would be right now. Barely slept that night. Cried on the way home.
05/29/04 Saturday
Another cat in the trap. Bought tons of dry food at Costco. Bought two traps in feed store in San Dimas after calling a dozen first. Very dreadful mood. Searched all day and most of the night, talked to everyone we met in the apartments. Neighbors are out looking for the cat without a tail. My boyfriend went on the weekend trip without me. What was C thinking leaving them alone like this? Couldn’t do anything during the day, all cats there hide. Looked in the opening under her bathtub, a mother called her girls to tell us that they saw him running north towards the school? They didn’t remember when. Put out all three traps. Set my old trap in front of his door. C bought a collar and had a tag made for Fuzzy at Petsmart today. None for NoTail!
05/30/04 Sunday
Cat in every trap, just not NoTail. Little sleep, searched most of the day and night. Checked under every bush, every opening behind the apartments. Set all traps close by between the garages and the schoolyard to the north. We already saw so many cats there at dusk the night before. So on edge, in a hurry, time is so of the essence, but so much time has passed already. He got out maybe on Monday already, Tuesday. It is too late. It is too late. Too much time has passed. He didn’t come back. He is dead! Three boys came up to me and said they saw NoTail on Wednesday around 8 pm crossing the road southwest towards Badillo. Gave them each a dollar and told them to keep looking. Walked around the west end and saw a Siamese cat with a baby sparrow. Put it in a bush in a nest of paper towels high up. Two days later it was gone, it was almost ready to fly. Hope it made it. Legs hurt from all that walking, so sad, but still have some hope.
05/31/04 Memorial Day
A cat in every trap again. Found pet store in Temple City, bought third trap and five bowls with outer bowl for water. No expense is too much right now (I had no idea how bad it would get!). Ants are a big problem for the sardines. We ate sardines for days, along with the cats in the traps. We searched and searched and searched. Three woman reported that they saw him across the street between the homes at 11 am in the morning last Friday and they all say he was black without a tail. But at 11 am in the morning???? Just when C was passing out flyers in that area? That is not like him. And then he ran away towards the holes they said. We set traps there every night for the next two weeks. Looked at all holes again, all alleys, all bushes. Spoke to everyone we saw. Set a big bowl in the alley behind C’s apartment. Cats started coming every night to eat.
06/01/04 Tuesday
3:30 am, more cats in every trap. Had to let them all go, so very sorry. What am I going to do??? Put big ad in San Gabriel Valley Newspaper, Whittier Star News, Pasadena Star News, and Impacto (Spanish newspaper). Internet search, www.lostandfound.com, www.pets911.com, put ads in all sorts of website, don’t even remember them all anymore. Searched for found pets. Searched for information on lost pet behavior, how to find your lost pet, etc., etc. Annual review at work. Couldn’t even listen. Met C at ACSBP. While standing in line, a kitten was bitten in the arm by dog outside, an officer said and then he carried it in paper towels through the lobby to the back. All I saw was one arm sticking out of the towels, oh dear! Took the list of dead animals outside, scary in there, can’t get the poor kitten out of my head. He said it was really playful and the dog bit it. I am sure they will put it to sleep. That is why C has to go to the kennels and look at the animals. I can’t do this! A woman with her son adopted two tiny kittens, brothers, they already got fixed today, that is good, no cats out unfixed. Microchip??? If NoTail only had at least that! But no, he didn’t even have his vaccinations in two years. Found one entry 1.4 miles west of the apartments that could match, dead black male cat. Officer Villegas picked that one up, not his usual route, he substituted for someone else that day. NoTail couldn’t have gone that far, right? C’s neighbor got her puppy back. She left it alone for 5 days in the patio adjacent to C’s. It was barking a lot and maybe that scared NoTail. C was feeding it and then it got out through the fence. The neighbors across took him in until she came back. She said that I wouldn’t have to give her any money if she finds NoTail. She also said she heard people across the street talking about NoTail and looking for him. That was good. We walked back and forth and around and around. Set up three traps across the street and one in front is always set. My dear friend and neighbor (she has two cats) left message that they will have an assembly in the school north of the apartments tomorrow, where her son goes to school, and will announce NoTail is missing. Wow, that is something. C bought a huge flashlight, that will help in the dark. Checked two storm drains in the street outside his apartment. I pray he didn’t go in there. Because there is no way out!
06/02/04 Wednesday
Many birds sang beautifully in the middle of the night at my house in Azusa. Up at 5 am. A cat in each of three traps. Beautiful gray in one. Trying to reach Animal Control Officer Luis Villegas of the Downey Shelter, phone always busy. Drove there after work, but he was off today. The apartment manager Manuel came out at 10:30 pm while we looked into the holes by the bathtubs of the apartments and said we shouldn’t look in there because that’s the peoples bathroom. I had started opening each one of them. Manuel said that no one opened or closed any holes in a very long time. No one cares as much. So that is eliminated too. Although in the coming days and weeks I still periodically checked every hole. No one had complained to us yet about the noise we made and the huge flashlight we shone in there. There was no sign of dead animal smells either. Really beginning to worry about the black cat that was picked up by Officer Villegas. Did he run away that far wanting to come to my house???
06/03/04 Thursday
C found one cat in the trap at 3:30 am and I found another at 6 am. 7 am at LA County Animal Control Shelter in Downey. Finally found Officer Luis Villegas. What a nice guy. Last week Tuesday was not his normal run, he just helped out and even before I mentioned the color of the cat, he said oh the black cat on Second Street. He said it was about 3 years old and had a tail. So that is eliminated too. But then where is he?????? I have eliminated all immediate possibilities except maybe that someone found him dead or hit him and threw him in the trash and now is not coming forward. The maintenance crew there didn’t see him, they say. Even the manager said that everyone knows and is looking for our cat already. This is such a mystery. Some people leave food out for the cats and there is always water dripping from the pipes in the holes. Put out a lot of sardines every night, calling his name…. People ask us all the time if we found our cat yet, as we are walking around. Can they be trusted to tell the truth? But why would they not tell the truth?
06/04/04 Friday
The end of the first week of search. It doesn’t look good at all. Time is racing away. Again cats in the trap this morning, other cats always. At night we searched again, the same areas close by without any luck. Set a trap at the school yard for two hours. Nothing. Then set the traps in the quiet area. Was in tears on my way home. This is so unreal and incomprehensible, such a nightmare. My cats don’t just get lost! Of all the cats I ever had, he is my baby, he is the one I love the most. I beg for his return, but I am loosing hope. I think he died the first night out and that is why he is not coming back. Because he can’t anymore.
06/05/04 Saturday
Nightmares, hot flashes, first thought in the morning that he is dead, died a horrible lonely and very painful death. I am so scared for him, I am so sorry I didn’t get him out of there sooner. I think I know that he has been dead even before C started looking. C didn’t call after he checked the traps in the morning, so no NoTail. My dear friend who lost her Lettie, send an email about a radio program about lost pets. “When a cat is lost (compared to a dog) it's usually a lot closer to home than we think. Just hiding. Its first instinct is to stay hidden and most importantly not to make any noise. Especially if its a skittish, timid animal to start with (which NoTail is). They can do this for weeks and weeks and eventually will join the feral population. It wouldn't necessarily come to its owner either. We can't think like a cat but we sure as hell can try! And if anyone can find him, you can.” She wrote. “Don't give up. I know you're exhausted. But they don't just disappear. At least not in an area like C lives”. That made me cry. And that made me hope again. Yes, he is hiding…. He will not come out for a long time. Checked all the holes again, no dead animal smell ANYWHERE. People there will call the manager for a bad smell to clean it up, they told me. Where is he, where could he be other than the holes???? 6 pm, walked around and looked and called, sat at the school yard to the north and watched. At dusk two cats came out between the garages from nowhere, orange white and black, we already trapped them. And another black, all with tails. Looked through the cabinets in the garages, nothing. Asked more people, some laughed, then they asked “oh the one with the reward”? I said yes, and the guy then said we look and let you know, I thanked them. Another young man later walked by and asked “still looking”? I said yes and he said “me too”, I thanked him too. Everyone is looking. Amazing and more amazing that no one has seen him in a week… Told C to cut a hole in the fence, put the trap in the patio, and leave the glass door open. Maybe he will come home on his own. He wasn't able to get back over the fence after he jumped out. The cross braces are only on the inside. Took Fuzzy home, finally! Walked around some more, set the traps for the night. Raised reward to $400 and put up new flyers outside C’s apartment and big pictures of NoTail. Days later someone took one of the pictures off. My soon to be ex-boyfriend went on another weekend trip to visit friends for barbecues…
06/06/04 Sunday
C had to work. Starbucks with my neighbor in the shopping center across Badillo. Drove through the apartments and she too said that he must be hiding somewhere. How much longer will I be able to do this? Two cats in the traps this morning. C talked to the cat lady in the quiet area at the west end. She feeds them there. C posted a flyer outside the Vons in the shopping center with the managers permission. But he took it down after a few days. Went back at night, set three traps, walked around, put up more flyers. But nothing new. Couldn’t sleep all night.
06/07/04 Monday
Checked traps in the morning, had two cats. Back to ACSBP. Met C there, he looked at the animals, I looked at the records of dead animals. At night searched and searched and searched, nothing. Set all traps in other areas. Called Pennysaver and put an ad in their paper for next three weeks.
06/08/04 Tuesday
Checked traps, nothing again. Just other cats. Extended ad in the newspapers. In the evening, neighbor Irma came up to me to tell me that she heard a cat cry in one of the openings behind her apartment for several nights now, why didn’t she tell me that sooner??? I checked and checked and just couldn’t see far enough under the bathtub. Got real worried and frantic. What if he is in there, injured or weak, and can’t come out. By now it was 11:30 at night and I didn’t know what to do. C already had gone to sleep when I talked to her. What to do??? What to do now??? Called Roto Rooter and they said they can be out in one hour. But then everyone would be asleep and we needed electricity and would make a lot of noise. Made the decision to wait until the morning. Very worried. Why isn’t anyone helping me with this????? My boyfriend is a search and rescue volunteer, but he offered no help at all. My other cats are very attentive right now. Specially Fuzzy. Spend one very worried night without sleep. Did I make the right decision to wait?
06/09/04 Wednesday
Finally day time. At the apartments at 6 am. Checked the traps, the cats are slowing down. They don’t want to go into the traps anymore. Neighbor Gloria closed one of our traps at 5:30 am. She left a note we shouldn’t trap there anymore. And that we already got every cat there. Not true, we are missing one. NoTail! Walked around and around. The manager doesn’t start until 8 am. Finally saw Manuel and asked him if Roto Rooter is okay and he didn’t have a problem at all with looking in the openings with a camera. Benefits him too! Already had called them and Jerry and Jerry came out. Irma let us use her electricity. Earlier, her neighbor Rosie said too that she heard a cat cry at night several times. Is NoTail here? He must be, this is it. Filled with anticipation. We checked under and around the bathtubs with the camera on a cable while I had the carrier ready to catch him. But there was nothing, not even a mouse or a roach. I asked them to check again and again, and two more holes. Nothing. I was devastated. I hoped so much he was in there. Roto Rooter didn’t charge me the full $300. They were very nice and helpful. Most everyone there has been really helpful! Then why doesn't anyone see him anymore????? Where is he??? The manager then closed the two holes that we checked. Didn’t tell him about the third one. I was so sure that he was in there. Begged all night for him not to be injured or dead by the time I could get to him. Already thought of how to break the wall to get to him out. He is still alive somewhere there I know it! At 3:20 pm I received a call regarding NoTail. Sounded like an older black guy. He said he has my cat, I said really. He said yes, I picked him up from the West Covina Animal Shelter last week. He is black and has no tail and he is really a cool cat (???) he said. I asked to confirm, the West Covina Animal Shelter???? (there is none). I asked for his name and we were briefly disconnected or so it sounded. The call came from a blocked phone line. I asked are you still there and he said yes, yes. I asked him how he knows and he said from the newspaper ad. (That one offers the biggest reward!) I said I would have to come look at him and he said certainly. He said he is in West Covina. I asked him again for his name and again we were disconnected. He never called back. Called Nextel to track the number, they couldn’t. Called 411 for the shelter, there is no West Covina Animal Shelter. Called City Hall and they said too there is none in West Covina. Black men usually don’t adopt black cats and NoTail wouldn’t be a cool cat to anyone but us! This was a scammer that got cold feet. Told C and he said don’t go to anyone alone. And he is right, I never even thought of it. I would have flown over to wherever the guy told me he was without thinking at all. And would have walked straight into a trap myself and not a humane one! Went to the shelter again, found no match in the records, and talked to Leila for a long time. She was a lot more friendly today and remembered me. I signed up with Petclub.org two days ago. They provide a fax search service by notifying all shelters within a 60 mile radius of the missing pet. But I don’t think they really send anything to the shelters or she would have mentioned it. Paid them $39 for a 4 months search. They probably didn’t send a fax alert for NoTail anywhere and the shelters don’t give them info either anyway. Everyone has to come in person! Checked the dead animal log and there was nothing. C got there shortly after and checked the animals in the cages. A kitten was running free there. Let it be, it may have a chance at life! Not in a cage, it will be killed. Back to his place at night. Searched more and set the traps, short time today. Too tired. Boyfriend went on a search to find a missing person that got himself in trouble… But he wouldn’t come here to help me…
06/10/04 Thursday
Repeat of every day before. Other cats in traps, just not NoTail. Someone called C on the flyer yesterday but it was the wrong cat with a one inch stub. Went to San Gabriel Humane Society. Talked to someone named Steve, he was very nice. He said, they are getting a lot of complaints about the Animal Control Shelter in Baldwin Park about how they treat people. He doesn't even remember when he last saw a cat without a tail. He put up the flyer himself and said he will let me know. He checked the log back to June 1. Stopped at a couple of animal hospitals in the area and left a flyer. Everything blends together, can’t remember anymore what I did when? At night same as usual, found three new places for the traps, set the bowls etc. And then I went home, exhausted. Fuzzy finally got her vaccinations today.
06/11/04 Friday
Checked all traps and collected them in the morning. Long haired gray we didn’t catch before in number three by the church. Never counted all the ones we did catch. Stopped at a spy supply shop in Whittier if they had anything that I could use in my search. The sales guy there told me, yes, he understands how I feel, he has a cat too. She is indoors only and she is fixed and declawed – dear God, what is it with people???? He said his mom didn’t want the expensive furniture scratched. Home after work and to the apartments at 9:20 pm, C was in deep sleep. Never woke as I went in and out to search. Prepared the traps and set one. Waited, looked, always the same cats and no NoTail. Where is he??? Passed out the new flyers with the $500 reward very late, was a bit scared there. A guy asked me, if I found my cat yet, I said no and thanked him for asking. Staked out quiet area again. I looked and looked and waited. 2 am I left for home. Incredibly tired and exhausted. Crawling home on the streets at night now for fear that I will run him over myself, if he is on the way to my house. Drove really slow up Glendora Avenue. Then remembered to check a heap of leaves for a dead animal in the center divider on Grand Avenue. Nothing, just long black hair, no NoTail. Crossed back over to north bound Glendora on east bound Covina Boulevard. Drove by Aurora Clinic for Children with behavioral problems. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a cat walking to the bushes on the east side of the building. It didn’t have a tail and was dark colored! I couldn’t believe it. Jumped out of the car with a flash light. The cat walked away from me, it was NoTail??? He walked around a bush, then I called him and he looked at me with big frightened eyes and I yelled NoTail. His face looked like NoTail too. He ran away towards the courtyard of the complex, I jumped into my car and drove after him. Frantically I called C. It was NoTail, I was so sure. He didn’t pick up. Finally he did after the third call. I yelled at him to come over here as fast as he could. I didn’t even know where I was. By the time he did get there, I already set two traps. Had to send him back to bring the other two traps and lots of sardines. I was beside myself. How could this be that I find him over 1 mile away just driving on a street where I hadn’t been yet????? Impossible. He was trying to come home? Crossing all those streets, so dangerous, I started to break apart. It is just not possible, that I would find him like that. It was almost 3 am now. Told a woman I saw in a laundry room that I am looking for my cat here. She waved her arms frantically and said “you cant be here, you cant be here. Go to the lobby over there”. So I went there to ask for permission. A woman came out and I told her my story, she said she was sorry and she has sympathy but there are children here and I can’t set up traps. The children would get hurt. I asked where the children were at 3 am in the morning? Over there, she said and pointed to the east side. They were all asleep and surprisingly not out playing at 3 am. Then she said, oh the cat with a stub, I have seen him. I said no, no stub at all. I asked to speak to the supervisor. Another woman came back after a very long time. And she too said the supervisor will not allow this. Again I asked to speak to the supervisor in person. Again I was left waiting for a very long time. Meanwhile I watched C walk around with the traps, I waved for him to stay out of sight. Finally, Madeline the supervisor came out. I was in tears by then and I told her my story again. I was sure it was NoTail, so sure! She said, oh the white cat? No, black. She had no idea what a humane trap was. But I convinced her. But she had to tell me she knows how I feel because her cat gave birth to three kittens on her bed this morning. Well, she just signed the death warrant for another three kitties in the pound. People! She gave me until shift change at 7 am, plenty of time to catch NoTail. He must be starving. He looked so ragged and dirty. We set a total of four traps in a wide circle. Checked the area, 10 foot brick walls on the north, east, and west side, street to the south. Perfect place, no other way out, safe to hide for a long time. Later the women from the lobby went to the laundry room and told the other woman about my quest. They laughed so loud about that joke, that all the kids should have woken! Then I heard the trap jump. Oh dear, I was shaking, it must be NoTail. What are the chances to find another cat without a tail here? I couldn’t go to the trap, I send C. He came back with his head down. It was not NoTail. And I nearly broke down. It wasn't him, impossible. I can’t even describe the emotions I went through from the second I saw this cat to the second when I confirmed that it wasn't NoTail. Awful, so high, the search finally over, can live again, have my baby back. He didn’t need to run away that far, I would have brought him home anyway. But no, it was just a very nasty trick played on me. We checked under the big flashlights to make sure it wasn't him before we released him. This poor guy was gray and he had lost his tail, had a stub indeed. Was very ragged and scarred and wild. The stub was hairless and bleeding too from thrashing in the cage but he ate the sardines. It was just to easy to catch this one. We let him go after spreading more sardines fro him to find. Devastated again we went back to the apartment to drop everything off. I went home, it was now 6 am and daylight. While I waited to catch him, my dear friend's words kept going around and around in my head: “If anyone can find him – you can!”.
06/12/04 Saturday
Slept until 2:30 pm. Back to the apartments at 9 pm. Drove around in the area. Sprinkled flower in the closed holes to see if there would be any paw prints. There never were. Checked the storm drains again with a mirror, couldn’t really see into it well enough. There are five storm drains total that we found. Two on Wanamaker Drive and two on Nearglen Drive, and we found a fifth hidden behind bushes at the west end. Smelled a dead animal near there. Instant fear it might be NoTail. C looked in the trash bin and it was a turkey from the supermarket. The stench was awful for days. Even after the bin was emptied. If he was dead out there, we would have smelled it or someone else would have. Drove to Wingate Park half a mile north. Perfect place to hang out for a while. Set two traps there, saw two cats, one b/w the other orange. Two hours later we collected the traps empty. Saw them both again while waiting. Set the trap behind the garage again like every night. Passed out flyers in the last row since I ran out last night and on several telephone poles north of the school. I fell in bed exhausted after too much coke and too much walking.
06/13/04 Sunday
No sign of NoTail. Neighbor in the quiet west, Gloria, called at 10 am, she has seen a small black cat around 9:30 pm last night by the dumpster, but didn’t see if it had a tail. She told me not to get my hopes up, but to check tonight if it is him. Walked the entire length of Wingate Park between Glendora and Grand Avenues in the afternoon. The storm drain with huge gate at the other end of the park was very scary, like in the movies. Then I walked the entire school again. No hiding places there. We put up more flyers north of the school and west of the apartments. One guy asked what we lost. He was very sorry and said that he will keep his eyes open. Walked to the quiet area to watch. A guy asked and who are you waiting for? I said my black cat. Did you see the flyer? I asked. And he said yes, fxxxxxx two weeks ago! I didn’t say anything. He laughed and walked away. Five other cats showed but not NoTail. Thinking about this I come back to the conclusion again, that he never left here. He is very close by, just too afraid to come out. Gloria has so much food there for every cat in the neighborhood. And he is scared of the carriers, so he wouldn’t go into the trap either. I wish I could just see him to make sure he is okay and alive. Just to keep going with hope…. so tired
06/14/04 Monday
C collected the one trap that we set last night and there was no cat in it. I was late, couldn’t get up, so tired and exhausted, and hurting all over. Didn’t go to the apartment this morning for the first time. Instead of a jobsite, I went to City of Covina Parks & Recreation Department to drop off some flyers to be passed out to their maintenance crew, they were not that happy. The assistant said she has to ask her supervisor. I bet they never did. Went to ACSBP, nothing in the log. C went there later to check the animals. Went to two pet shops to hang flyers. A pet groomer too. Drove around, most flyers still up. Asked the Unocal gas station attendant on Grand and San Bernardino Avenue. He didn’t understand what I asked. He didn’t speak any English. Where is my baby? This will drive me crazy for the rest of my life!! Poor cats at home get so neglected. The house is a mess.
06/15/04 Tuesday
Hard to work thinking about NoTail and having to believe that he is not alive anymore. Went to my vet in Duarte and left a flyer there and of course no cat without a tail has come through the office at all. Someone asked me how long I plan on searching and if I don’t think it is time to quit after two weeks? How long would they search for their child? One months, a year, 10 years, forever????? Oh but this is different, right? This is just a cat! Yes, but it is my child nonetheless since I don't have any human children. Went home to rest. I set one trap and prepared the food bowls, then drove around, then walked around, checked all holes in row one and two again. No sign of an animal at all. One neighbor couple left for Arizona and I hope they don't have him. But they have their own cats to worry about. While we stood there, two boys and a girl walked by, after a while they turned around and came back and asked about NoTail. One of them said, his sister had seen a black cat without a tail or thinks to have seen one between Wendys and Panda Express in the shopping center in the evening a week ago. Just sitting there. That couldn’t have been NoTail, impossible. But nevertheless I started searching the parking lot of the shopping center that night and for many nights to come. Couldn’t go to sleep that night. What if it is true? That means he went farther still. And into more dangers. Why would he go so far?
06/16/04 Wednesday
So tired in the morning. No cat in the patio trap. Then a blessing, had to go the field and watch a crew drilling in the street. Thank goodness for small favors. I had all the time I needed to prepare the envelopes for mailing a letter and a flyer to all 56 animal hospital within 10 miles of the apartments. I also addressed letters to all animal shelters in the entire LA Basin. Already had written the letter in the morning and bought stamps. After work I raced to the post office with 3 minutes to spare only to find out that they empty at 5 pm, it was 6 pm when I got there. Then I went straight to the apartments and called and called and called for NoTail. Nothing. Prepared the trap and food. Went to the shopping center, left flyers there and asked people for NoTail. Yesterday, I checked the entire church adjacent west again. The Starbucks people saw a white cat by the dumpster behind the building. Days later I saw that very cat myself. I saw most cats that people talked about through the weeks, but never NoTail. They never strayed far. Flyer at the Smoothie King, they were nice. At the beauty shop, they didn’t speak English and had no idea what I was talking about. One guy helped me to put up a flyer in the apartment complex south of Vons. Then he saw the reward and exclaimed $500! At least he was nice enough to help, even though he laughed a bit. Drove around for a very long time. Stopped by Gloria’s and spoke to her for a while and her daughter. They were both very sympathetic and hugged me fiercely when I left. A small cat with a tail ran by, black, that was probably the one that Gloria saw. And now all my hopes for that sighting are shattered again. How much longer can I do this???? We set the trap. C gave me some money for my expenses. I put it away for the reward for NoTail when someone tells us where he is and he comes home….
06/17/04 Thursday
Back to ACSBP after work. Looked at the entire month again! Saw some records of euthanized animals that I hadn’t seen before. There was one entry that jumped out and I didn’t like at all. A neutered black cat picked up injured from Badillo and Morada Avenue on Friday 5/28 at 12:10 pm after C drove by there at 11:35 am on his way to ACSBP. Maricella said it was put to sleep. Put to sleep! Was this NoTail? Then I checked the entire month again, searching for neutered entries only. And there were none. Not a single neutered cat was picked up. Except this one. NoTail is of course neutered too. Maricella checked the computer for additional information and she said it was a large cat. Is large the same as overweight I asked? She didn’t know. I asked for the color again and she said black, and again black. Then she said and white. Oh dear, was there a mistake? Someone called in for the cat. But that can’t be. I checked the distance driving to the apartments. It was 3.6 miles. That is too far. That really can’t be. Put up more flyers. At night the entry didn’t leave me alone. It was a neutered cat and the only one in the entire month. I have to check on this further. Received a call from petfinders.com. they saw my ad online and asked if I needed help. They provide postcard mailings for lost pets to homes in the area where the pet got lost. I hired them on the spot to start working on the postcard.
06/18/04 Friday
Sore throat all day. Email with flyer to Covina City Hall Street Division asking if maintenance staff could be on the lookout. They never replied! Email with flyer to Covina Parks & Recreation Department with the same request again after the visit a few days before. No reply! No one cares! Staked out quiet area in the west for a long time. C fell asleep waiting in the car. Set trap and went home. Need to get some rest.
06/19/04 Saturday
Nothing in the trap anymore in the patio. They all know. Got up at 2 am, really sick now. Staked out quiet area in apartments again, where Gloria feeds lots of strays. On watch until 6 am there, nothing, just other cats. Put up many more flyers all over. Waited for C to get up. I had collected the poop from my cats for a week and this morning, we spread a trail of the poop from the quiet west end all the way to C's apartment. Just in case he was still there and just lost. Glendora Animal Control, left new flyer, checked records, nothing. Waited for 10 am when ACSBP opens. Went back there and asked Maricella again for the entry of the neutered cat. She told me the same thing again. Black cat, black, oh and white. I asked for the Officers name so I could talk to her directly. Officer Figueroa was out working today. Maricella offered to talk to her when she gets off and asked her if the cat had a tail. She took my name and number and exhausted I went home. C looked at the animals later today. Planned on going to sleep at 3 pm and get up at midnight to watch the quiet area again. Then, at 2:14 pm, I got a page on my cell. It was ACSBP. Oh dear. My heart stopped, it was Maricella telling me that the cat didn’t have a tail. I knew it. I called her back and she confirmed my worst fear. “Officer Figueroa said the cat had no tail!” I yelled “3 miles, over 3 miles” and screamed and cried and she was hanging on to the phone, apologizing to tell me the bad news. It cant be, its too far, impossible. But it wasn't. A black neutered cat without a tail! Who else could that be but NoTail. The rest of this day and the next was one big blur.
06/20/04 - 06/25/04
What to do? Never see NoTail again? Really sick all week. Search canceled. Devastated. C never believed it was NoTail. He wanted to talk to the Officer himself. I was sure that this was him. Had to be, must be!
06/21/04 Monday
So sick, couldn’t go to work. Couldn’t stay idle either or that thought of what NoTail accomplished would drive me mad. Sat down on the computer and wrote his story down. His growing up and the journey to his awful death. I thought if someone tells me tomorrow that this was not my cat, I would be so happy that he didn’t suffer this terrible death. As I put the pieces together, NoTail had traveled the unbelievable distance of 3.6 miles in 36 hours or so. He traveled west on Badillo Street and then turned north on this tiniest of streets in a residential area, Morada Avenue. There he somehow got injured and was laying on Morada Avenue on Friday morning when C called me and later drove by that street on his way to ACSBP. At 12:10 pm Officer Figueroa picked up NoTail and continued on her route of whatever calls she had to make, even though she was only one and a quarter mile east of the shelter. She carried injured NoTail on her route for hours. At 11:45 C arrived at the animal shelter and talked to whomever there had an ear for his plight for the tailless black kitty. He talked to the vets assistant and gave her a flyer, which she put in a binder by the clinic on the property. C also posted a flyer in the back by the feral cat compound. He stayed around until 2 pm looking at all the cats they had. He was right there and was insured by the assistant that they would notify him, if a cat without a tail came in. I hoped that C's scent was still in the air at the shelter when they brought NoTail in. And that this may have given him some comfort. Not too long after C left, Officer Figueroa returned with her unfortunate cargo. Sometime after that the vet put NoTail to sleep, he was injured. If C had only seen him on his way to the shelter, just a few feet from where he drove, or my dear neighbor on her way to work in the morning could have seen him, still running along Badillo Street. He could have been saved… Morada Avenue is 3.6 miles east of C's apartment and 1.25 miles east of ACSBP. It seems that he turned north into Morada Avenue, only another 5.9 miles south of my house. He overshot his turn by only eight degrees, if he was traveling with an internal compass. Otherwise all he had to do was travel another 600 yards to Irwindale Avenue north and from there it would have been a much easier travel with less traffic. He already had the worst behind him, Badillo Street for 3.6 miles. An incredible distance. The ACSBP put to sleep the most extraordinary cat that ever came through their doors. And maybe he could have been saved, in the event his injuries were minor, if the assistant had only called C since he had just talked to her, or if she had shown the flyer to the vet, who within an hour or so sealed NoTail’s final fate.
I made this story up to explain him being found so far away. It was the only logical explanation. Yet so unbelievable, so incredible, and so tragic. I am so grateful that it wasn't true! Although he still may have tried to come north to my house….
06/22/04 Tuesday
A volunteer from Agoura Animal Shelter called if I found NoTail yet. She saw the flyer and wanted to find out. I told her what happened and she was very sorry.
06/23/04 Wednesday
C went to ACSBP to request Officer Figueroa to call him when she finds some time, since it was difficult to meet with her at the office. She never did call C!
06/26/04 Saturday
Trying to come to terms with NoTail being gone. C at ACSBP. Finally the face to face talk with Officer Figueroa. The cat had a stub, she said. Is this true? Is this not NoTail??? How can I confirm this? Find the person from that street who called ACSBP? How? Hope!?
06/27/04 Sunday
Meeting with C, regroup for renewed search. Walked around everywhere again and called his name, openings, storm drains, bushes. Researched Morada Avenue residences on LA County Assessors website. Found 59 homes in entire street within Covina and LA County area. Prepared letter to Morada Avenue residents for someone to come forward, who knows anything about the injured cat picked up by ACSBP on Friday 5/28.
06/28/04 Monday
Called San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group to put the ad in all the newspapers again right away. At 1 pm visited San Gabriel Valley Humane Society. After long discussion about how they handle stray animals, I made a donation of $50, a bribe really. Asked Jane to notify all five drivers of the cat without a tail. She reluctantly agreed to help. She also searched the entire month of the dead animal record. Very fast, so I hope she didn't miss any. Lots of cats from Azusa every day. On to ACSBP. Searched the entire month again there too. Maricella says she will check euthanized animals record for last week. Many questions on how animal control officers log the dead animals. Missed Officer Figueroa. Made new flyers, dropped all other info, but Black Cat and No Tail and website. Mailed letter to all 59 homes on Morada Avenue by 6 pm. Woman from Covina called at 10 am, she was at the vet and saw flyer. A black cat without a tail has been in her backyard since a month or so. But then she said he has a four inch stub. Oh NoTail, is there hope? I will hope!
06/29/04 Tuesday
Noon, caller from Morada Avenue just received my letter. Bingo, it worked! That cat was his and it had a tail. RELIEF!!!!!! He may still be alive. What did Officer Figueroa see? Call from Petfindersalert.com that provide a calling service to homes in the area. I asked for follow up email with prices and never received any. Website work. Put up more flyers in the south area, we are spreading far now. Checked openings again. Send email to petfinders.com to continue working on the postcard ASAP. Searched for tailless cats on the Internet. Other than Manx cats I found only www.catclaws.com. They have two office cats without a tail. I send them an email and asked for more information on their cats, but they never even replied.
06/30/04 Wednesday
ACSBP after work, looked at the entire month of DOAs again. Questioned all entries of a black cat, male or female. Confirmed that none of them was NoTail. Officer Nelson told me that today a woman came in that had been looking for her dog since November. She found him today. We shall keep looking he said. He was very helpful today and patient. I took up a lot of his time and made him look up many records. C checked all cats. Postcards almost ready to mail. Put up more flyers to the north and west. Checked openings in apartments again. Woman from Glendora called that she had a 4 months old kitten born without a tail looking for a home for it. Another black male without a tail that close??? But it isn’t NoTail. She said the neighbor cat without a tail, also black, got her cat pregnant…. Ordered an aerial map of the area online.
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Note:
I know, people say I am crazy. That’s okay, and yes, I am crazy about my NoTail. They just don’t know what a special little person this one is, if they cared at all! Maybe this will help other people that lost their pet and want it back. I have seen flyers at the animal shelters offering $1,000, $3,000, and $5,000 reward for their cats and dogs. I myself am spending so much money on the search that I am afraid I won’t have much left for the reward. But I would get it together somehow, if I only get him back. But hope is diminishing by the hour every day. I do realize that. I just don’t want to start accepting the fact that he is dead yet. And I don’t know for sure either…
I wrote all this down for my friends, all animal lovers, and others who are interested in understanding, why I expended so much energy and money in trying to find him. For people to understand that there are animals that are not just animals, that there are pets that are not only pets, but little people that have a heart and mind and soul. They sometimes love us more than we can ever imagine. He may still be on his way to my house. But I am sure he will never make it. There are too many roads to cross, train tracks, channels, a freeway, coyote country… If he only stayed close by, I would have brought him home now anyway! I am heartbroken that I can’t find him anywhere. I guess I drove the wrong streets and looked in the wrong places all this time.
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