Fire station cat, Edna, has lived with the firefighters since she was a feral kitten
IN THE MEWS — SAN FRANCISCO by JeffyJeffyBadBoy
Employees and firefighters at a San Francisco Fire Station 49 are devastated after their beloved mental health specialist, firehouse cat Edna, was fired by San Francisco Fire Department administration for simply being a cat. Edna came to the station as a feral kitten and was part of the firehouse family. However, after five years of helping firefighter deal with stress, the department removed Edna from the facility because of an anonymous complaint.
A spokesperson for the department said they banished Edna due to concern about “the animal’s own safety and well-being.” Yeah, right. The statement claimed, that since the facility contains “medical supplies, equipment and pharmaceuticals,”the department stated that “having the cat in the facility compromised the sterility” of the supplies and equipment.
SF Fire Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese is fighting to return Edna to work at station #40
Despite the #ednastays campaign, Edna was taken away from the station on Monday. One of the firefighters is stepped up to adopt her. SFFD is planning a “pet adoption day specifically for First Responders” so they can adopt a pet to cope with their stress. Wow, amazing compassion.
According to Dion Lim a reporter for ABC7 in San Francisco, SF Fire Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese is fighting to return Edna to her rightful post. Apparently Commissioner Alioto knows fire station animals provide vital for emotional support to first responder. He will present a new animal policy to the fire commission at their meeting today. Commissioner Alioto says other stations have animal mascots. One station has a rooster. (And we know how sterile bird crap is.)
What would you like to say to the San Francisco Fire Department? Tell me in the comments below.
Check out Edna’s Instagram page fire_cat_edna.
Don’t forget to read important cat news at dustycatwriter.com, and Jeffy’sDailyMews on Instagram and Facebook.
JeffyJeffyBadBoy, acclaimed feline journalist, wants you to support this animal cruelty bill
JEFFY’S DAILY MEWS FLORIDA If two congressmen from Florida have their way, animal cruelty could finally become a federal felony. The two Floridians reintroduced a bipartisan bill making malicious acts of animal cruelty and bestiality a felony under federal law.
The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, was sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-West Boca. Humans convicted of the crime could face up to seven years in prison. The bill does contain exceptions for normal veterinary care, hunting and humans protecting their lives.
Decades ago, the FBI recognized the between animal cruelty and escalating violence toward humans, so it’s not just we kitties who have skin in this fight.
In the past, the Senate unanimously passed the PACT Act. That bill earned 284 bipartisan House cosponsors and over 200 law enforcement endorsements in the last congressional session. But former House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., blocked the measure from coming to the floor. (Who in their right mind would block that? What is wrong with you and who are you taking money from?) Fortunately, Goodlatte is no longer in Congress.
Contact your congresshuman and urge him or her to support this bill.
LIVERPOOL, UK. Ever noticed that dog owners and their pets look alike? (It’s the stuff of nightmares, isn’t it?) Well a recently study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, found a correlation between cats’ personalities and their humans’.
Researchers asked 126 humans to score their own personality traits as well as the questions about Fluffy’s temperament. (I’m somewhat offended that they didn’t quiz the kitties themselves.) The questionnaire asked about three of the human’s Big Five traits (agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism), dominance, impulsiveness, the Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy). It also asked about human satisfaction with their feline housemate. The cat section assessed the Feline Five (agreeableness, dominance, extraversion, impulsiveness, neuroticism). Humans who showed to be highly dominant were more likely to live with dominant, impulsive, extroverted, and neurotic cats, while impulsive humans frequently saw their own impulsivity in their Fluffies.
Like Their Kitties
Cats described by humans as dominant, neurotic, and impulsive were more likely to live with humans who scored higher on the Dark Triad traits. “Dominant cats are greedy, defiant, and aggressive and bullying towards people/other cats, which could be attractive to potential owners who have similar tendencies in their own social interactions,” the study suggested. “Impulsive cats are excitable and erratic, which could be pleasing to impulsive owners.”
The researchers concluded that humans are drawn to cats who reflect their own personalities, or are more likely to keep a kitty who’s similar to them. If this is true, why won’t my human go rat hunting with me? You can read the study, “The purrfect match: The influence of personality on owner satisfaction with their domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus)” at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328430244_The_purrfect_match_The_influence_of_personality_on_owner_satisfaction_with_their_domestic_cat_Felis_silvestris_catus
About the Author
JeffyJeffy BadBoy is a rescued kitten with a nose for news. His unique talent has qualified him to be the official journalist for Stupid Gravity Press. Follow Jeffy’s Daily Mews on Facebook and Instagram.
By Jeffy Jeffy Bad Boy Cat Halloween CostumesCat Halloween Costumes
Halloween is a scary time for cats. Yes there are horrible wackos out there who want to do unspeakable things to kitties, but there’s also a threat closer to home—namely, home. It’s time for kitty costumes. All over the country cat (and dog owners) are purr-using the internet looking for “adorable” cat Halloween costumes for their future-formerly dignified pets. In an attempt to combat this, kitties use the computer keyboard as a treadmill hoping to block access to online costume markets. Unfortunately that strategy didn’t work at my house. The human still managed to get a hold of contraband pet clothing from PetKrewe.com and so the embarrassment begins.
I admit, unlike the other members of the household, I was too young and naïve to realize what was happening. The other kitties hid (which run did not save them from humiliation). One minute I was happily hanging out, the next I was shanghaied and inducted into the navy.
Since my dignity is now resides in the bottom of the trashcan beneath yesterday’s litter clumps, I may as well come out of the costume closet.
One final note: No cats were harmed in the taking of these photographs, we were, however, abased and embarrassed. I wasn’t a fan of the hats at first, but after a lot of treats I finally got used to them. The human posted these shots cuz they’re funnier. (All the costumes below came from PetKrewe.com except for the prisoner costume. They cost around $15.95. There’s info about the costumes at PetKrewe.com)
Hello Sailor
As they ask in the military, “With all due respect, are you crazy?” I have to admit, I look hot in Pet Krewe navy dress whites for cats and small dogs. Although officers might gripe that I’m out of uniform, I didn’t mind the Anchors Away look once we lost the hat.
Hopefully I’ll get less time time for good behavior
Somehow this innocent mug of mine wound up with the name Jeffy Jeffy Bad Boy. So the human decided I should model this little ditty because of my propensity to get into things she says I shouldn’t. I look good in stripes, don’t you think? This Lighthouse prison costume for cats and small dogs comes with a hat (which I refused to wear.) It costs under $10.
It’s a pirate’s life for me Cat Halloween Costumes
Yo ho, or is it “yoohoo”? Burt the dog works this striking Pet Krewe pirate ensemble complete with hooked hands and a pirate hat. It comes in small, medium and large sizes. Just add your own eye patch.
I’m not lion; it’s the mane event
Cats are actually related to the King of the Jungle, not dogs, but Burt sports a lion’s mane that could make a canine want to purr. The Velcro™-style strap holds secure. Doesn’t it make you want to kiss his nose…or not. Available in small sizes for kitties and medium and large dogs.
Jeffy the day of his rescue. His eyes were so swollen he couldn’t open them. Photo by Dusty Rainbolt.
In May, something happened, both shocking and horrible and touching and beautiful at the same time. A man passing through Highland Village, Texas stopped at Walmart to pick up something when he found a kitten laying motionless in the parking lot. Someone had dumped him.
The good Samaritin took him across the street to Petco where the veterinary office, The Pet Vet, had recently opened. They gave him glucose, which revived him—a little. Petco called Animal Allies of Texas’ cage manager Marjorie, who called me and asked me to take a look at the kitten.
(Personal tangent: There is a special place in Hell for a person who would dump an unconscious kitten (or puppy or any animal) in a parking lot. I have to wonder how many people pulled in and out of that car park ignoring a dying kitten. What is wrong with people? Petco was right across the street for God’s sake.)
Second day. He does have eyes. Photo by Dusty Rainbolt.
Thrown Away Like Trash
The Siamese-mix could fit in my hand. Even though he had all of his baby teeth, including premolars (meaning he was at least six weeks old), he weighed only .6 of a pound. He should have weighed at least a 1.5 pounds. With sunken eyes swollen shut and bony to the touch, odds of survival were long. Were I a betting person, I wouldn’t not have taken that bet. Still, I had to at least give it a try, didn’t I? At home we celebrated when I got one cc of liquefied Hill’s a/d down him. That was it. A whopping single cc of nutrition. By the end of the day, he took three ccs at once. What a victory.
The next day I took the kitten to my vet, Cassie Epstein at the Animal Hospital on Teasley Lane in Denton. What’s his name the vet tech asked. He didn’t have a name. I don’t like to name foster kittens because you get attached to them. Arg. Okay. The first name to came to me was…Jeff? His name is Jeff, for now…until he’s adopted…by someone else…hopefully very soon.
Cassie’s diagnosis: herpes upper respiratory infection and starvation—sick little kidden
Cassie’s prognosis: guarded
Treatment: Antibiotics, eye ointment, worming and groceries, groceries, groceries.
A week after he was found in a Walmart parking lot, Jeffy is growing a belly filled with food, not parasites. Photo by Dusty Rainbolt.
I could still only get three ccs down Jeffy at a sitting, so we sat every hour. Even late at night. It was like having a critically ill bottle baby. The following day he could finally open his eyes a little. The lights were on. Was there really a functional kitten inside there?
After three days, he would voluntarily take five ccs. Then more and more, until he had a ravenous appetite (which thrives to this day.)
The Transformation
A month later, an amazing ugly, sick cat-erpillar transformed into a butterfly. He was beautiful. It was time to find Jeffy a home. My hubby did his photography magic and took the most endearing photo of Jeff with a plush kitty. Animal Allies of Texas could post him on the pet adoption sites and get him a new home. I kept asking Hubby to forward the photos and he always had an excuse not to send them to me.
Already Jeffy monopolizes the remote so he can watch Animal Planet. Photo by Dusty Rainbolt.
Finally, he ‘fessed up, “You’re not paying attention. That kitten is really bonded to you.”
So, I’ve fostered thousands of kittens in my 30+ years in cat rescue. They all bond to you. But when they go to their forever homes, they will bond with their new people. It’s part of the process.
Yes, Jeffy followed everywhere like a puppy. Yes, he snuggled. Yes, there was something special there. We don’t need another cat. (For the record, our elderly cat population took a huge hit the last two years. We lost four cats in 2017 to lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma and an abdominal mass. 2016 was also tough on our golden oldies.)
“Look at him. He’s a blue mink Tonkinese,” Weems insisted. Yes, by appearance, Jeffy is a blue mink—only the second one I’ve rescued in three decades. The last one was Nixie, my heart cat, my muse and our photography model. Her death four years at the age of 18 still makes me cry. Weems insisted, Jeffy was sent to help me heal after the death of my father, mom and so many amazing cats.
Jeffy already has experience as both an actor and a professional model. Here’s one of the profile photos that never made it to Petfinder. Photo by Weems S. Hutto.
Next thing I know, I’m filling out adoption forms and hubby is paying the adoption fee. It was official. Jeffy (why did I name him Jeff?) is mine.
Jeffy is now six months. He sits on command, shakes hands and high fives. We’re working on other tricks. Jeffy has a greater Instagram following than I do.Hundreds of people keep up with him on Instagram. He loves walking on my computer keyboard. (Who knows, there might be a future connected with writing.) In the meantime,
Thank you, God for sending a half-pound angel to me. Thank you, Weems for recognizing a gift when you see it. Thank you to the good Samaritan who found Jeff and didn’t walk past. And to the jerk who left Jeff to die in a parking lot, shame on you. You are teaching your kids your value of life. Trust me. It will come back to haunt you when you get old and they abandon you. Good luck with that.
