The recently departed

Yesterday we had a minor tragedy here at the TASC office.

As I may have mentioned previously, a couple of months ago one of the many stray cats that hang out around here had a litter of kittens. I don't know how many were originally in the litter, because the momma cat chose a secret spot hidden in another building. About a month ago, though, during a particularly heavy rain, momma cat decided to move the litter to prevent the kittens from drowning.

In order to make that move, momma cat had to bring the kittens, one at a time, over a stone wall about 10' high. Apparently all but two of the litter had perished by this time, because the attempted move only involved two kittens. One, an orange one, made it safely. A second went missing; a few days later it was found, barely alive, wedged into a crevice between the base of the wall and some other structure. It had apparently fallen during transport, and mamma lost it. Anyway, that one didn't make it more than a couple more days. So momma was left with one healthy orange-haired kitten.

The crucial player I've left out of this tale of woe is our secretary, Gail. She is the reason that these animals hang out here. She lives about 2 hours away, which makes for a heck of a commute, but still makes it a point to come in even on her days off to care for these animals. She routinely picks up strays from the street who are ill and nurses them back to health. She has a coterie of animals around the city that she travels to visit. She gives chicken and rice, medicine and medical care, to any animal she sees "in need." This is somewhat endearing, I suppose, but also just out of touch with reality. There is no animal control in Bangkok, so stray dogs and cats are everywhere and pose a real health problem. In fact, animal attacks, mostly by dogs, is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the country.

So this kitten, who's was born of a stray cat and was in this world for all of about 2 months, was run over yesterday. Gail immediately jumped into action, but was unable to get it to medical care in time. It died in transit. The rest of the afternoon (about 3 hours) was spent with her mourning the death of this kitten. She placed it on her desk (in the office), prostrated herself on top of it and kissed its head for a good 10 minutes. She performed a buddhist ceremony outside, then proceeded to use the kitchen counter to wrap it in a burial shroud. There were many tears, of course. We don't know what happened to it next, but we think she took it home (remember, a 2 hour trip) to bury it in her yard.

All of us here think this behavior crossed the line... it was really creepy. We all tried to be sympathetic and supportive for "her loss", but if it happens again, something will be said and/or done by one of the bosses to keep that kind of stuff out of the workplace. It's one thing to like animals, its another thing to turn your place of work into a pet mortuary for an afternoon.

*Shivers*

Thupt!

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