<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><a rel="nofollow" class="outbound_link" target="_blank" href="http://www.fark.com/goto/8998041/potomaclocal.com/2016/01/11/stafford-animal-shelter-kitten-terminally-ill-child/%3Futm_source%3Dfark" style="max-height: 1000000px; text-decoration: none; height: 19px; vertical-align: middle; display: block !important;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Welcome to an extremely dusty Caturday (tissues recommended).</span></font></a></div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of the <i>Potomac Local </i>(Stafford, Virginia) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://potomaclocal.com/2016/01/11/stafford-animal-shelter-kitten-terminally-ill-child/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link">http://potomaclocal.com/2016/01/11/stafford-animal-shelter-kitten-terminally-ill-child/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link</a></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------</div><div><h1 class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.67em; font-family: 'Roboto Condensed', sans-serif; line-height: 1.1em; font-size: 3em; clear: both; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Animal shelter gives kitten to terminally ill child</h1><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ryan Mott got his pick of the litter.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The eight-year-old was wheeled into the Stafford County Animal Shelter at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and picked out his very own kitten.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Do we get to take it home?” Ryan asked his mother, Michelle.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ryan suffers from a rare, terminal form of brain cancer. He is undergoing chemotherapy at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, and has love and support from his mom, dad, and four siblings.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But there was one thing missing in his life.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I want something to cuddle,” said Ryan.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The shelter staff agreed to pay the adoption and spay fees so the family could take home the cat for free.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As soon as Ryan arrived, animal shelter director Capt. Mike Null, of the Stafford sheriff’s office, placed a sheriff’s cap on his head, pinned a badge on his lapel, and handed him a challenge coin.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I want you to hold on to this and every time you see a deputy out there, show it to them and challenge them,” Null told Ryan.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Then, Ryan’s wheelchair was pushed up to a cage where several rescue kittens were waiting. His precious kitten, a female black tortoiseshell.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I’m going name her Sandy,” said Ryan. “I also have a dog named Sammy.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Food, a scratch post, toys, a litter box, litter, and balloons were all arranged on a table for the Mott family, who lives in Stafford County. These, too, were gifts for them.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This is just so amazing,” said Michelle, Ryan’s mother. “He really just wants a cat he can hold,” said Michelle.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Michelle and her husband Lynn were surrounded by a sea of strangers who came to the shelter on Saturday to see Ryan pick out his cat. He was diagnosed with cancer six months ago.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before coming to the shelter and being made ready for adoption, the kittens spend at least eight weeks at a foster home. The woman who cared for asked to remain anonymous and likened raising the kittens to care for a newborn baby.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“You have to feed them, and then you have to burp them,” she said. “By the time you’ve taken care of five three hours have gone by. It’s a full-time job.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When asked why she fosters kittens, she replied, “for the same reason you came here today — to see a child smile.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The family set up a <a href="https://www.youcaring.com/ryan-mott-499158#.VpRh-D8HCtw.facebook" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“YouCaring” donation page</a> that includes more information on Ryan’s cancer, and to help offset $80,000 in past medical bills incurred during his treatment. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Photos</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_011616_01.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_011616_01.jpg</a></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12px 0px;"><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_011616_02.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_011616_02.jpg</a></p></div><div>--------------------------------</div><div><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares"</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>