Fiesta Foibles and A Foreboding Feline

When I celebrate my birthday on Thursday, I think I’ll treat myself to something special by purchasing a ticket to the Santa Barbara Bullriding Contest at the Earl Warren Showgrounds. NOT! Dear readers, you know me better than that. If you’ve been following my tirades about the terrible treatment of animals, you know that I come unglued whenever I hear about animals who are forced to perform for our “entertainment.” This includes circuses, dog fighting, horse racing, marine parks and yes, the rodeo. I know, I know, the rodeo is a Santa Barbara tradition. Well, pardon me for being a tad crude when I say, “buck” tradition. It’s time that we took the bull by the horns—metaphorically speaking of course—and found a more humane way to amuse ourselves.

It puzzles me, quite frankly, how we as a so-called compassionate society cry foul when a sports star like Michael Vick is indicted for dog fighting and then turn right around and shell out our hard-earned money to watch terrified calves being prodded, chased and thrown to the ground. Why is one considered cruel and the other considered cool?

We may have dropped the ball in the past when it came to protecting our animal friends, but it’s not too late to rebound from our mistakes. Last week, Nike “just did it” when the high-profile sports and fitness company suspended Vick’s contract without pay and announced they will not sell any more of his products in response to charges of cruelty to animals. Reebok followed suit when they agreed to stop selling Michael Vick-branded goods. You know the arguments; you’ve heard my pleas. Now just do it and stop attending abhorrent animal-centric “sports.” Enough said.

Things that make you go Hmmm….. Have you heard about Oscar the cat? For those of you tuning in late, Oscar, the resident feline at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, has the uncanny, though morbid, ability to predict when patients are about to check out of the hospital—for good.

As doctors and nurses make their rounds on the third floor of the hospital’s dementia ward, so does Oscar. He enters a room, sniffs the patient and then saunters out. He seems to sense when death is near and reappears in the last hours of a patient’s life. In the two years since Oscar was adopted, he has curled up next to more than 25 patients, who then died within a few hours.

Experts are baffled at this furry Grim Reaper’s talent for detecting impending death. Some suggest that he might be perceiving a subtle change in a person’s metabolism—after all, felines are as acutely sensitive to smells as dogs—but are stumped as to why he would show interest in a dying patient. Like I said, things that make you go hmmm…..

David Dosa, assistant professor at the Brown University School of Medicine and a geriatric specialist, penned a touching essay about Oscar in the July 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. He writes, “…Within a half hour the family starts to arrive. Chairs are brought into the room, where the relatives begin their vigil. The priest is called to deliver last rites. And still, Oscar has not budged, instead purring and gently nuzzling Mrs. K. A young grandson asks his mother, ‘What is the cat doing here?’ The mother, fighting back tears, tells him, ‘He is here to help Grandma get to heaven.’ Thirty minutes later, Mrs. K. takes her last earthly breath. With this, Oscar sits up, looks around, then departs the room so quietly that the grieving family barely notices.”

When I reach the tail end of my life, I hope there’s someone special like Oscar nearby to help me take that final journey. In the meantime, I’m going to celebrate my birthday and Fiesta with flair. I’ll be the one in De La Guerra Plaza sporting a henna tattoo, clutching a churro, and chanting Viva La Felines, I mean, Fiesta!

 

You can send Karen birthday wishes and let her know your thoughts on the rodeo and other forms of animal “entertainment” by emailing her at karenleestevens@cox.net.

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By Karen Lee Stevens,
Founder & President, ALL FOR ANIMALS, Inc.
Copyright © 2008. All Rights Reserved.

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