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In the pound someone brought in a little dilute calico a couple months old. She was very scared and just crouched and glared at the back of her cage, but within several weeks she really grew to be a wonderful cat. She would at first, once she let me touch her (no one else wanted to try - they were afraid she would bite or scratch) she would just crouch very very still, not physically showing her enjoyment of being touched, but you could hear her purring away. Gradually she let me pick her up, and she would then bury her face in the crook of my elbow as if she was afraid of all these warm feelings overwhelming her, and purr and purr. She got more and more confident as time went by and became a sassy silly little thing. I tell you, I was dying to take her home. She was a huge flirt and absolute snuggler. I would have taken her except that when we were debating it we brought my hubby in to meet her, and we figured out he is miserably allergic to them. argh. I tried to sell her on everyone that came to adopt, but no one took her. Everyone knew I was attached to her and they put off her euthanasia for months. Eventually we had to make room for the newcomers. I still feel bad about that little sweetie.

We had one lady come in looking for a cat. One by one she found something to object to. "this one's too wild" (the playful calico) "this one sheds too much" "Idon't like this one's color..." blah blah. She walked out without a cat. I was ready to holler after her "go to the toy store and pick one out of the stuffed animal section!"

You write persuasively, and your posting about the cat in the pound adds a new dimension. It may be that our differences are less than I perceived them to be. The approach you advocate here is very different from the wanton killing that I seem to detect from some others...and seems (to me) to be how a good steward would handle it.

So I suppose I shall conclude with a respectful tip of the hat in your direction. (absolutely no sarcasm of any kind)