My morning started off badly with a kitty hit by a car on the road in front of my house.

[hamsterjill]

By way of background, I have had the great privilege of moving out of the city and building a cat sanctuary that I have always dreamed of having. I've been in rescue over 40 years and two years ago, my family was able to purchase a small piece of property outside of the city, and I built a cat sanctuary. My 501(c)(3) cares for cats that we had rescued in the city who had been TNR'd and were living in colonies. We consolidated all of these kitties into this sanctuary, and they live in an enclosed, safe area. There is a heated and cooled building, which leads to a large "catio", which leads to another large enclosed "kennel" type of structure with a top on it. All of this is a little over 3,000 square feet and sits under old, established oak trees. Every single cat WITHOUT EXCEPTION has been spayed or neutered. We are no longer taking in any new ones. The responsibility is to these, for them to live out their lives in peace and safety, and hopefully for me (I'm in my sixties) to live to see them all through their lifetimes without leaving a "mess" for anyone else. Many of them are quite old and some have health issues.

It has been a dream come true!

When we moved out here, there were several kitties that came with the property. We got them all fixed, and let them back out to continue to have free roam of the property. They are savvy and seem to be doing well. They are fed well, and they rarely leave the back porch area. Fast forward to this morning...

When I got up and went outside, I could see a small body on the road in front of the house. It was a kitty that I was not familiar with. We've had recent rain storms, and he was most likely a feral who had been roaming and hiding during the rain, and had gotten desperate and was searching for food. It broke my heart to think that he was trying to get to our property desperate for food. I buried him amongst the other babies that I've lost. I've never seen this guy before, and I do watch on our cameras for visitors, etc.

Now to the point of my story.

We have deer out here, and I leave a little treat for them each night. We've had a total of seven deer at one time one night, but it's usually about three total. This morning, across the road in an undeveloped area, there were at least TWENTY-FIVE deer standing and watching me. They were not moving, not stirring, and were definitely not afraid of me. They watched as I picked up the little, lifeless body and carried it back to the back of the property. Their heads all bowed almost in unison. I believe with all of my heart that they were paying their respects. It was simply an incredible, sweet, and meaningful moment for me to witness.

No one will EVER make me believe that animals - ALL animals - don't have a soul. They know. They just KNOW! They knew I wasn't a threat, and they knew I was sad at the loss, and they knew I was trying to give that little body a last bit of dignity and love.

Something that I just felt that I wanted to share. Thanks for reading.