[Vision2020] Caturday (August 20, 2011)

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Moose Jaw Times Herald (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada) at:

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Living/Family/2011-08-18/article-2712366/A-story-with-a-purrfect-ending/1

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Family's dramatic search for missing cat pays off

The bond one often forms with a family pet can be incredibly nurturing and rewarding. Likewise, the suffering one feels when tragedy befalls a beloved pet is equally painful.

For the Dayton family of Moose Jaw, it was a difficult time when their cat Dexter ran away from the 400 block of Lillooet Street West about a month ago…

… Actually, lets start this story sometime earlier.

It was a cold day in December.

Fifteen-year-old Logan Dayton was on a routine walk to school, crossing the Fourth Avenue Bridge, when he happened across an injured orange kitty in the Moose Jaw snow.

“It was a tiny thing,” said Logan’s dad Marc, adding the moment his son picked up the vulnerable animal, it was destined to become an important member of the Dayton tribe.
“He just worked out so good and became such a good member of the family.”
Marc said Logan especially developed a bond with the cat, named Dexter. He said his son felt a certain protectoral pride in having rescued the animal from likely frigid winter death.
And so Logan “took it as a failure” of his responsibilities when he let Dexter outside momentarily one day in July and the cat ran off, leaving the teenager with an incredible sense of guilt over the uncertainty of his vulnerable lost pet.
With their cat disappeared, Marc decided to do two things. One, he used the experience to help teach his son about loss and how to deal with the emptiness that can arise when closure is unobtainable by any means.
“You have to give yourself that closure if nobody else will.”
Second, Marc and Logan got to work and set out to find that darn cat.
“At least if we did something, he had a chance.”
So the family set out posting “Missing Cat” posters about the city, offering a reward to anyone who found Dexter.
Along with the posters, Marc said Times-Herald display advertising sales manager Glenn Haug — himself moved by the story of Logan and his missing cat — agreed to offer a month of advertising in the local daily newspaper at “a severely discounted rate.”
Once the Times-Herald got on board with the cause, Marc said the calls just started rolling in. He said a lot of concerned citizens were expressing sympathy, calling to report sightings of cats matching the description and, in some cases, even offering new kittens if all else failed.
“Honestly, I saw just the best of people in that month.”
There were a couple close calls as well.
Marc said South Hill resident Jan Radwanski found an orange stray soon after, which looked almost identical to Dexter. In fact, upon inspection, Marc concluded the cat Radwanski found must have been from the same litter.
However, after one disappointment came relief, as the Friendly City’s Cordell and Doreen Paulhus contacted Marc with a different cat they found on the 600 block of Duffield West. On Aug. 8, the search was over.
“We got there and it was our cat.”
According to Marc, Dexter is happily back with the family and will be staying indoors for the foreseeable future. Marc, a father of two teenage boys (Logan and 13-year-old Tyrol) said he feels a great deal of gratitude for the whole community that came together to help reunite his family.
“Thank you all,” he said, adding he went around town replacing the “Missing Cat” posters with ones expressing appreciation to all who cared.
Since nobody would accept the $60 reward, Marc donated $60 worth of cat food to Moose Jaw Humane Society.
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Moose Jaw's Logan Dayton holds the family cat Dexter recently.


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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown

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