Imagine Home’s Month of Gratitude, Day 9

I am grateful for the opportunity to step outside the box and bring something new to the transport world.

When we began to put Imagine Home together it was done with much planning and discussion. We talked about all the things that we would like to be for the cat community aside from transport. We are slowly and surely realizing those dreams, but transport is our “bread and butter”.

There is much to consider when transporting kitties. One of those things is the age of the kitty. The seniors are in the greatest danger, they are often passed over at the shelters. Another is length of transport. We don’t feel it’s good for any kitty to be on the road longer than 2 days in a row, especially if those 2 days are long days. But when you work with some of the people that we do, well, they tend to throw those things out the window and make you seek other ways of doing things.

Twelve year old Lillie and ten year old Pudgie were found in the Miami Dade Animal Shelter. MDAS is notoriously high kill, and when it comes to kitties they think are just not adoptable, well the outcome is never good. But somehow, these 2 were seen by the right people. I received a message one day from Mari Moure in Miami, asking me how far away Missouri was from Miami, FL. Really?!? I’m thinking to myself, “Don’t you have google?” But I did not say it and I’m very glad that I withheld my glib comment as I learned more about these 2 seniors that had found a home so very far away. There was no way to get them there in 2 days no matter how I routed it. I was stuck! And so began the plans to get them part of the way then let them have a rest.

Lillie and Pudgie traveled for a day and spent the night with Nessa Delacroix at the best little cat house in GA. The next day they were St. Louis bound. There, with a very trusted Imagine Home friend, you all know her as Kitty Novich, they spent a week relaxing and resting and getting loved and spoiled.

Then on the following Saturday they made their way the rest of the way home. The Lillie and Pudgie transport was our very first “extended stay” transport. It worked so well that we have done it several times since. They are happy and well in their forever home. The needs of kitties will always push us to find ways to help them. In the case of Lillie and Pudgie, a new method of transport was born.  ~Kelly~

Author: Noelle Sparks

Like many of my fellow admins, I knew nothing about pet travel until I heard the story of Jack the Cat. I was appalled to hear that there was no regulation requiring household pets to travel outside of cargo. I wanted to act, I wanted to do something tangible to give people options. With that one decision, I've found a group of ladies who have become sisters to me. Together, and with a whole lot of help, we're making a difference. View all posts by Noelle Sparks