The Ones Left Behind - Scrapalina

PFA is a busy rescue group and there are always more cats that need help than there are spaces in foster care and loving adopters. For every cat that we are able to rescue and get off the street, there are many we are forced to leave behind. We can only try to care for them the best we can outside while we wait for space in foster care to open up.

This is Scrapalina's story.

There's only one item on this humble little girl's wish list: She wants a home with someone to love her and take care of her - forever this time.

Scrapalina's story saddens us a lot. She was essentially evicted from the home she once knew. In an area where many residents have more cats than they have room for or food for, their houses often literally overflow with cats. Scrapalina came from such a place. Someone in the home decided there were too many cats in his house and demanded that some of them be gone. Sweet little Scrapalina was one of the unlucky ones. Imagine her confusion when the door was slammed in her face as she peered up at it day after day for many months wondering why she couldn't go in anymore. Kicked out (probably literally too) to live her life on the street.

Her street is not a pretty place. Strewn with garbage and junk, it is a filthy, depressing scene. Angry residents or neighbourhood kids often yell at the alley cats and chase them or throw things at them. Cars rip down the street or alley, frightening and often narrowly missing them as they dash for cover. Off-leash dogs chase and threaten to severely injure or kill them. It is noisy, dirty, scary, and highly stressful.

And that's in summer. Just fathom adding to that the fight to survive the snow, the intense cold, and the biting winds. The closest thing Scrapalina will have to a cushy bed, and her only hope of staying warm this winter, is a straw-lined styrofoam cooler inside the feeding station.

Please don't let Scrapalina's name fool you. (She is not a scrapper, more likely that she lived on scraps.) She is a sweet-natured, loving, affectionate cat who melts to human touch and whose tractor purr starts if you simply grace her with a glance in her direction. Already spayed and in good health despite all her challenges, this cat is not likely to find a home via our adoption system anytime soon, and her chances of even getting off the street before winter sets in are slim as PFA foster homes are all full to capacity already, and with waiting lists.

Scrapalina seems to get along well with other cats. She shares a primitive shelter and feeding station - and a number of junk piles - with several other area cats, mostly feral in nature.

Then there's Scrapalina. She is so affectionate, it just kills the daily feeders to drive away each day and leave her behind. When we drive up she comes running towards our cars to greet us, and when we leave she looks longingly at us from her post on top of the dumpster or her rickety fence rail. At times she even follows our vehicles as we pull away. It is heartbreaking so we sometimes avoid that last glance in the rear-view mirrror.

We just say a prayer that she'll still be okay - that she'll still be there - the next time we go to feed.

So far, Scrapalina has continued to be there each day. But we know that anything could happen, and at any time. This incredible, wonderful, beautiful cat desperately needs a real home to go to where she will be safe and loved. If any cat deserves that, it's Scrapalina.

If you would like to meet this sweet girl, visitation can be arranged in short order. Scrapalina would graciously welcome you to do so, on site, at her very humble "home". No need to dress up for the occasion for you'd be quite out of place. And no need to bring flowers. Sardines will suffice, they're Scrapalina's favourite. :>)

If you can offer Scrapalina a home, even a temporary one, off the street as winter sets in, she (and People for Animals) would be incredibly grateful. For more information, please e-mail Alanna at abanana71@gmail.com.