About Banks and the Power of Compassion

It was a typical Wednesday at the office in June of 2017 when our receptionist forwarded a not-so-typical phone call to me. “This is Aubrie, “I answered, “how may I help you?” The response was unexpected. “My name is Shirley Schofield, I run the Food Bank of North Alabama, and I’m hoping you can help me with a cat.” Because I was known as “the animal person” in my firm, it was not uncommon for co-workers to ask for help re-homing a pet, seek referral to a veterinarian or to ask some question about unusual dog behavior. I was sometimes contacted by people outside the firm who worked in the building or by one of our security team, but it was unusual to be contacted by people from other businesses or organizations not on our property. I’m not sure how Shirley got my name; I guess word gets around.

Cat sightings in our area were not uncommon. Our office is near to a large apartment complex, and we felt confident most of the cats who came to our property were lost, had been left behind or just needed more to eat. We had a small colony of cats who lived on/near our parcel that our cat care team had been supporting for years - the cats were fed and watered daily and had insulated houses. When a newcomer was spotted, he or she was trapped toward getting the cat back home, into a new home or back out onto the habitat after being sterilized, vaccinated and left-ear tipped. The Food Bank of North Alabama, Inc. warehouse was on the parcel west of ours and the cat had not made it inside our fence, at least that we noticed. Shirley explained she needed help with a small cat who had been hanging around in their parking lot for a few days, hiding under cars, and who seemed to be in trouble. She wanted to take him inside but could not (because of food storage) so she was looking for some help. “Sure,” I told her, “If you can have someone bring him over, I’ll put him in my office until the rescue group can get him.” And so began the story of a young cat in need of help who was later named “Banks O’Malley” in honor of the Food Bank of North Alabama.

Banks was a pitiful sight to behold that first day. He was small, did not vocalize and seemed dehydrated and weak. He seemed social to people, but it was impossible to tell considering his condition. I put him under a table in my office and offered him bowls of water and kitten chow. He wanted nothing to do with them as he curled up in a ball and went to sleep. Thankfully he wasn’t with us for long. The rescue group which has helped the folks at my office with community cats for going on 20 years now – Forgotten Felines, Inc. – came within an hours and whisked Banks away to get him the veterinary care he needed. We were later told Banks was about 2 years old and had road rash and an abscess on one of his back legs. It was likely he had trouble moving, probably after having been hit by a car, and it was a miracle he was still alive. It took Banks months to recover.

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Fast forward and Banks was a sight to behold with his mouse-tache, green eyes and his “shirt and suit" coloring. We joked at work that all he needed was an eye monocle, a top hat and maybe a classic banker’s lamp with a green glass shade to complete the image. He was adopted by a woman from northern Florida along with another cat named Q-Tip and the woman’s sister adopted a third cat. For all the jokes about his name, Banks had won the cat lottery and went on to lead a great life with his new family. Until a few weeks ago when his life took a sudden turn.
 
Banks' adopter was traveling north with her fiance and their cats on a move to Pennsylvania. They were stopped at a rest stop at the South/North Carolina border when Banks escaped. They looked for him for hours and when they could not find them, they begrudgingly moved on, hoping someone else would find and help him. Luckily for Banks, another family was also traveling north, stopped at the rest stop that same evening and found Banks. They knew from his condition that he had to belong to someone and rather than leave him, they decided to take him with them for the rest of their trip home to Michigan. They took Banks to a veterinarian after they got home to see if he was chipped and he was – the microchip was registered to Forgotten Felines, Inc. The family called the rescue group to report they had Banks, Michelle Maroon of the rescue group (a genuine rocket scientist) reached out to the very relieved adopter and a plan was forged for them to travel from Pennsylvania to Michigan to get him.  “We’ll do whatever it takes to get him back,” Michelle was told. I am happy to share that Banks is safely back home with his loving family in Pennsylvania. He will see snow for the first time in his life.

When Michelle called me to tell me about Banks’ adventure almost 10 years after he was found, three things came to mind. The first thing is that people are inherently good. Shirley and her team could have just ignored Banks or presumed he would leave the parking lot eventually. They saw he was in trouble and reached out for assistance. They showed compassion. Our amazing partners with Forgotten Felines, Inc. jumped into action to help Banks right away, They showed compassion, as they have for so many years in support of our local cats. The family traveling to Michigan could have left Banks where they found him, but they did not. They correctly presumed he had been lost by another family traveling north and they took it upon themselves to make sure he would be safe, even if his family was never found. They were willing to adopt him if it came to that. They showed him compassion. 

The second thing was that microchipping works. I have heard many stories before of companion animals lost while traveling and later found thousands of miles away, sometimes years later. This was the first time a cat I knew traveled almost 2,000 miles and made it back to his family. I know a lot of people don’t have their cats chipped because they live inside. All cats and dogs should be microchipped to help them get back home as quickly as possible, no matter where they end up. (There is also the added benefit of being able to prove a lost animal belongs to you and not someone else).

The third thing was that TNR – trap, neuter, return - works. We began doing TNR in 2009 after some landscapers disturbed a kitten nest and a frantic co-worker told me to "come quick!" before the kittens were injured. We originally helped cats in two locations for many years - on our property and a property to our east - after we learned the cats were moving between the two parcels through the storm drain system. We learned right away that TNR helps not just feral cats but socialized cats who have been pets. Banks (and many of the other cats and kittens we helped) was not trapped and he was not the only one. Some cats helped by Forgotten Felines were so tired or sick they let us pick them up.  But for our reputation in the area and relationship with the rescue group, we likely would not have been contacted by Shirley and we would not have been in a position to help Banks. In all the years of doing TNR at our office and the dozens of cats we helped, more than 90% of them were pet cats. Some were lost. Some were sick. One had a shattered leg that could have been amputated but was saved through orthopedic surgery. There were a handful of cats who were genuinely feral and who were put back in their habitat where they were born and had lived for a long time. There were some cats who were so sick or injured when we found them that the most humane thing to do was for them to be euthanized. But for cats like Chloe, Abernathy, Channing, Ford, Lanier, Sweetpea, Tumbleweed, Latte, Romey, Audobon, Squeaky, Minny, Locke, Sky, Larry and Murphy, being attracted to our feeding station saved their lives and helped them find new homes when their former homes could not be found.

Banks has traveled more in the last month than many of us have traveled in years. It warms my heart to know he is safely back his family. I’m thinking of sending him a bow tie. And maybe a small briefcase for travel.

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