Post by Paul on Nov 15, 2005 9:31:02 GMT 9.5
She's not what you think
November 11, 2005 - 2:54PM
Ginny ... the late and unusual Cat of the Year to be honoured.
A dog that won the title Cat of the Year for its uncanny ability to rescue tabbies is to get a special feline send off.
Ginny, a 17-year-old schnauzer-Siberian husky who died in August, will be eulogised next weekend at the Westchester Cat Show in New York, where she was named Cat of the Year in 1998 for rescuing hundreds of tabbies on Long Island's South Shore.
Her owner, Philip Gonzalez of Long Beach, has written two books about her exploits - including one when she rammed a pipe at a construction site to topple it and reveal the kittens trapped inside.
She once ignored the cuts on her paws as she dug through a box full of broken glass to find an injured cat inside.
Gonzalez, 55, who goes out daily to feed stray cats, said he had been unable to train other dogs to rescue cats like that.
"I didn't train her," he said. "Ginny was just magical in a way.
"I adopted her from a shelter, and they said she's never been with cats before. But she just had this knack of knowing when a cat was in trouble."
The memorial service will be followed by this year's Cat of the Year award, which is going to an actual cat - Zoe, an 8-year-old ragdoll from Larchmont who saved her owner from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Other cats of the year have included a cat with a cleft palate who taught herself to hold her feeding tube and a cat who campaigns against rules that prohibit pets in senior housing.
Besides the memorial service, the Cat of the Year award and the best-of-breed judging, the show features a household pet competition, an agility contest for cats and a book signing by Allia Zobel, author of "101 Reasons Why a Cat is Better Than a Man."
In addition, about 80 cats from shelters will be up for adoption.
AP
November 11, 2005 - 2:54PM
Ginny ... the late and unusual Cat of the Year to be honoured.
A dog that won the title Cat of the Year for its uncanny ability to rescue tabbies is to get a special feline send off.
Ginny, a 17-year-old schnauzer-Siberian husky who died in August, will be eulogised next weekend at the Westchester Cat Show in New York, where she was named Cat of the Year in 1998 for rescuing hundreds of tabbies on Long Island's South Shore.
Her owner, Philip Gonzalez of Long Beach, has written two books about her exploits - including one when she rammed a pipe at a construction site to topple it and reveal the kittens trapped inside.
She once ignored the cuts on her paws as she dug through a box full of broken glass to find an injured cat inside.
Gonzalez, 55, who goes out daily to feed stray cats, said he had been unable to train other dogs to rescue cats like that.
"I didn't train her," he said. "Ginny was just magical in a way.
"I adopted her from a shelter, and they said she's never been with cats before. But she just had this knack of knowing when a cat was in trouble."
The memorial service will be followed by this year's Cat of the Year award, which is going to an actual cat - Zoe, an 8-year-old ragdoll from Larchmont who saved her owner from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Other cats of the year have included a cat with a cleft palate who taught herself to hold her feeding tube and a cat who campaigns against rules that prohibit pets in senior housing.
Besides the memorial service, the Cat of the Year award and the best-of-breed judging, the show features a household pet competition, an agility contest for cats and a book signing by Allia Zobel, author of "101 Reasons Why a Cat is Better Than a Man."
In addition, about 80 cats from shelters will be up for adoption.
AP
