I don't go out often and in fact, I despise going out specially if it will require me to drive. It's stressful enough to blend in with the worst drivers of all time, but to see ran over cats, that's another story. It's like 9 out of 10 times of driving, I see dead cats.
I was going to pickup the tripod i sent for service a month ago and was suppose to meet up with my friends for lunch. I took EDSA, the highway where numerous times I have seen either ran over cats, or cats trapped at the middle, which of course, have zero chance to survive. The traffic was moderate to slow moving, and as I approached the Rockwell ramp, i noticed a tiny thing sitting at the foot of the pole foundation of the fly over. I momentarily went blank, and didn't know what to do, and then just drove by.
Ok, I gotta call someone. But I was driving and can't reach my phone.
Ok, I will pull over then call someone. But it's still a few kilometers more to have a safe spot for pulling over.
Shit. Who do I call?
Alright, I'll come back for it after lunch. Only, it's going to take a while.
Can you wait little fellow?
(just a special note here, I am not generalizing, I know a lot of people who would die to help but there's really nothing in their power to do anything at certain instances.)
So I always hated reading people's posts on those animal welfare sites I am a member of about animals getting abused, or trapped somewhere, or sick animals needing urgent help, because that's all they do. Post, express their sentiments and empathy. Tell the rest of the world how sorry they feel, but really, all there is to it was just somehow relieve themselves of the guilt by telling an NGO to go pick it up, help it, so they can convince themselves they did something, clear their conscience and move on with life - when in these times, we all need to move a finger, do something and act in order to get a good change. Hah, I sound so self-righteous which really gives me goosebumps, but just a little sentiment over my own kind...
And there it hit me. I knew that if I just call the Animal Welfare NGOs, or post it to the animal advocacy facebook pages, there's a bigger chance I'm just gonna be passed around, receive empathy posts that i wish could help. I guess I would feel less guilty and would be inclined to really seek help from the NGO or police or whoever has the power IF the traffic was fast moving and that if I do it myself, I will endanger my life and the lives of others. But no, the traffic was pretty bad. I felt like a hypocrite for a moment. I know exactly what's the right thing to do, I wasn't just convince to do it because I was afraid. But given the traffic condition, I felt like there's a way if I just chose to stop - and I didn't. It sucks that it took me a while before I said, fuck it, I'm going to turn around. I did a huge circle, exited the highway, drove all over the city just to get back to it on the same lane, praying that the traffic was still slow moving and that the cat's still there, praying that she doesn't get desperate enough to cross or do something stupid.
My heart was pounding hard and I'm pretty scared, I have never stopped at the middle of a highway EVER, let alone step out and walk around. I was afraid of many things. Getting hit by a stupid truck driver, getting people pissed because my car is in full stop, getting traffic police's attention and get a ticket, afraid to scare the cat, run off and send her to her death. Afraid that she might bite or scratch me because I have nothing to catch her with except my bare hands. And then I reached the lane. When I got back, the traffic was still relatively slow. I slowed down, and then went to a full stop when I reached the spot. I immediately jumped out of my car to the foot of the fly over, grabbed the kitty as fast as I could, put her at the back seat, then drove off like nothing happened. I was fairly surprised that I didn't get honkings from the cars behind me. Great success!
The kitty was crying so loud in distress. I couldn't comfort her as I drive. As soon as I exited the highway, I pulled over, gave her something to eat ( i keep cat food in the car yeah!) and it was a heart breaking sight. She was starving. She was munching the food with sound, like a starving sound. Who knows how long she's been in that condition?
She's skin and bones and so filthy. I didn't know if she was hurt so I went to the animal clinic, to which, unfortunately, is too filled for me to even get a parking. I stalled for about 15 minutes and see how she's going to stabilize after eating. And then she seemed to walk OK. Then she started rubbing her head against my hand when i reached to her. Then she meowed normally. So I decided to go home, cleaned her up, fed her more, then vet tomorrow.
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