The work of an animal rescuer is not only demanding but also never-ending. Every day, calls come pouring in with urgent situations that require immediate attention.
And yet, despite the challenges, rescuers meet each case with determination and smiles on their faces.
For them, saving animals isn’t just a job. It’s a calling. The joy of giving a helpless creature a second chance fills their hearts with happiness, pushing them to do it all over again.
Peggy Harrell, shelter director and co-founder of the Animal Rescue Fund (ARF) of Mississippi, knows this feeling better than anyone.
Rescue Mission
On a rainy day, Harrell received a phone call about a small fur baby who had gotten herself into serious trouble.
The kitten was stranded in marshy terrain right above a stormwater pond at an apartment complex in Byram, Mississippi.
“The kitten was [on] a bog of growing grasses and vines. The bog was floating, and the kitten had found a woven maze of roots that was in the middle part of the floating bog,” Pippa Jackson, the other cofounder of ARF, told The Dodo.
The rescuers quickly realized that the kitten’s tiny size and weight were the only things keeping her from sinking into the rushing water below.
Volunteer Kelly Collins immediately rushed to the scene. But when she arrived, she saw that this would be far more complicated than she had expected.
“Kelly was… very unsure about getting into the bog and falling through, and was scared she would send the kitten running and then the kitten would drown,” Jackson said.
New Plan Of Action
Upon closer inspection, Collins confirmed the animal was indeed a kitten. But since she couldn’t safely reach her, she returned to the shelter for help. Even with this setback, the team knew they couldn’t give up.
“We knew the kitten had little chance of survival overnight, between the water flushing through the storm drain, snakes and [the kitten] getting weak and cold and just succumbing to the elements,” Jackson wrote in a Facebook post.
To increase their chances, Jackson organized a rescue team that included inmates from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.
“She started SCREAMING to us, ‘HELP ME!’ We began trying to find her, trying to figure out how to get to her without getting waist deep in the cold water and figure out where exactly she was,” Jackson wrote.
Some volunteers waded into the water, which luckily wasn’t too deep, though it turned into one of the muddiest rescues ARF had ever attempted.
“If you have never been to an apartment complex, in the rain, with 14 inmates in stripes, wading around in a pond, you just ain’t living right. We had quite an audience across the street trying to figure out what this posse was doing, slip sliding around the pond, in the weeds and calling out in kitten speak,” Jackson wrote.
At last, one rescuer managed to scoop up the frightened kitten as she darted through the vines and roots. She was finally safe.
The kitten, later named Marsha, was bathed, examined, and given a clean bill of health.
“Marsha is quite affectionate, loves to snuggle and being held. She is also partial to hamburgers!” Jackson said.
Home Sweet Home
Just a month after her dramatic rescue, Marsha blossomed into a playful, affectionate kitty, ready for her forever home.
“She’s something special. She’s sassy but incredibly sweet, loves snuggles, and followed me around all day in the cat room, curious about what all I was doing. Oh, and she’s GORGEOUS!” Jackson wrote.
It’s only a matter of time before this beautiful little princess finds the family she’s been waiting for and gets to live the dream life every cat deserves.