On Saving 3 Little Kittens

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Some things have always been true about me. These include my always having had a soft spot for animals, and my always being willing to rise to the occasion – to try to do something, anything – if I think that I can make a difference.

While I didn’t think of it in those terms way back when, it turns out that I was this way even as a young child.

Here’s an example.

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, a family friend had a cat, and the cat had four kittens. I talked my father, with whom I lived at the time, into letting me keep one of the kittens. But the other three kittens were not spoken for, and if homes were not found for them, they were going to be taken to the humane society to be euthanized.

Well, as far as I was concerned, this just wouldn’t do! These three little kittens were not going to be put to death if I had any say in the matter, and, what was more, I made sure that I did have a say in the matter!

I hand-drew posters, and put them up all over the small town of Putney, Vermont, in which we were living at the time.

I’ve never been a very good artist, and certainly not one of note, but to this day I can see in my mind’s eye the picture that I drew on each poster. It was a picture of a kitten, standing on its hind legs in front of a door, with one paw raised, as if to knock on the door.

The caption read:

“3 Kittens are Knocking at Death’s Door.

Don’t YOU open it for them!”

(And then at the bottom it had the details for contacting our friend in order to adopt a kitten.)

I have to say that to this day, this was one of the most successful marketing campaigns I have ever run – all three kittens found homes.