Urgent appeal

On Monday, March 13th, Caroline, a feral cat caregiver and grandmother in Grand Saline, Texas was arrested for feeding cats. She was booked, photographed, and cited with two violations. Luckily, she was able to post bail and is now safe at home fighting for the right to feed the outdoor colony of cats she has taken care of for several years.

After more than 150 letters sent to the Mayor Terry Tolar over the last two weeks by Alley Cat Allies supporters in Texas, three phone messages, and a letter from Alley Cat Allies, we have still received no reply. We need your help now! Tell the mayor that caregivers will not be frightened out of feeding the city’s outdoor cats and trap-remove schemes will not solve the outdoor cat issue. Only Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) will reduce the population and decrease unwanted behavior and complaint calls.

The city of Grand Saline, Texas passed a feeding ban several months ago. Since that time, the city has made it clear to feral cat caregivers that they are no longer allowed to feed outdoor cats - going as far as putting a feeder into handcuffs in an incident before Caroline was jailed. The city's enforcement of the measure has caused fear amongst caregivers and concern for the cats living within the city. The city plans to trap, hold briefly, and then kill feral cats, but is telling the public a different story - that they are looking for a rescue group to relocate all of the cats outside of the city.

Take action now to stop the trapping and killing of healthy outdoor cats and help Grand Saline create a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. Tell Mayor Tolar to stop wasting taxpayer money arresting the good Samaritans of Grand Saline and help honestly protect the cats.


We must take care of eachothers!
Love, Miss Vieno

Kitten!?

Today My human visited Helsinki Humane Society (Hesy). That's the place I came from.

First of all, My human was sad to see three cats she knows all too well. They've been living in Hesy for 1-2 years now!
That's a long time for a cat to live in a shelter, even in a premium shelter like Hesy is. One might say by that time you're institutionalized :) (I'm trying to make lame jokes about a serious matter.)

Anyway, I lived there for six months so I know what I'm talking about. I truly wish those cats are adopted very soon. It's much nicer to spend Christmas in a real home!

Back to Hesy...
My human asked about kittens and find out there really are kittens available! (This autumn has been very warm.) So she went to the nurseryroom to see all those tiny kittens and bigger ones too.

After she came home she's been in her thoughts but with a smile on her face. What do you think it means?
I hope it means she finally thinks I'm ready for a kitten.
Because I am.
I truly am.
I promise.

I will tell you as soon as she decides what she's gonna do!

Oh, this is so exciting!


2005-12-11 18:22:54

For people in Louisiana

This e-mail came from Alley Cat Allies. I would love to help but it's impossible since I live in Finland. Maybe you live in Lousiana?

Volunteers *STILL* Needed in Louisiana Immediately

Animals are still being rescued from homes and streets in New Orleans. Alley Cat Allies needs immediate help with animal rescue and animal care at our hurricane relief Base Camp in Bogalusa, Louisiana!

If you can join our cat rescue/recovery team immediately, please contact Pilara Felgate at pfelgate@alleycat.org . This campaign will continue for several months, so please click here to see how you can further participate.
Ongoing needs include:

· Animal handlers/trappers
· Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians
· People skilled with computers
· Data entry and other clerical assistance with animals being admitted to the shelter
· Handy men/women
· Caregivers to feed and care for animals (mostly cats) at base camp
· Photographers
· People with disaster rescue training
· Cage assemblers and cleaners
· Supply inventory organizers who can also run errands to area stores as necessary
· Vegetarian cooks
· Humane trappers and transporters for cats, prior Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) experience a big plus
· Transporters for cats who are to be reunited with evacuated families, or those going to foster homes, shelters, and
barn homes outside the area

Alley Cat Allies cannot operate our rescue and restoration project in the Gulf States without the hard and generous work of committed volunteers. There’s nothing glamorous, fun, or easy about this work -- but you are guaranteed to go to bed at night knowing that YOU ARE MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THEIR WORLD !


2005-10-16 01:44:07

My Birthday

It's my birthday today!

I'm officially grown-up cat now!
My human promised I can behave like a kitten whenever I feel the need. I had such a hard life before and I didn't had a chance to be irresponsible so now it's my time to enjoy life!

Miss Vieno, 2 years
Vieno's World


2005-09-20 10:08:11

New photo

Hi guys,

I wanted you to see some new photos of me but since I've been so busy lately there's only one available at the moment. It's photo nro 10 which is taken on July.
My human brough us the red and white tunnel-toy and we both fell in love with it! Even Kirre runs through it every day! My human hates the coloring and the sound the toy makes when we touch it but says that as long as we're happy with it she's happy too.

Kirre has a new primary photo, check it out. He's so very handsome boy!

I also want to thank my friend Keiser for the rosette she has given to me. It looks very pretty on my page with it's blue coloring matching with my photo, don't you think :)


Purrs, Vieno from Vieno's World

2005-08-21 18:23:55

The special sniff

Today I did something for the first time!

My human came home and I was greeting her at the door, like every single day. Then I run to the window to check if something had happened outside while I was napping. My human put her bags on the table and took off her coat and came to talk to me. This is what she does every day:

She keeps her arms behind her back (she knows I'm afraid of hands) and she leans towards me and talks to me and does not look at me at all, she looks the other way so that I wouldn't scare her eyes when she's so close to me. Nowdays I trust her enough to let her come 10 cms from me and I can still safely study her face. She's very careful not to overcross the thin line between us. But today I did something I've never done before:

I sniffed her nose! For a brief moment my nose touched her nose! And the most amazing part was, I didn't run away after that! My human was the one who pulled away from the situation, slowly. She tried to look like everything was normal but I saw how thrilled she was. She kept saying: "Good girl Vieno" for several times. I guess, once again, I made her day :)


My very own blog Vieno's World tells you all about my story, all about my life!

2005-08-14 23:41:06

Blue treat

You really made my day by giving me so many treats! My treatcolor has never been blue before!

♥ Thank you who ever you are ♥

Vieno


2005-07-21 23:56:18

My blog!

I have my very own blog now!
I'm so excited!

♥, Miss Vieno Impala


2005-07-03 11:41:59

Spotted flycatcher

We are not allowed to the balcony nowdays because there's a birdnest on a tree in front of the balcony.
My human is outraged! This is what happened:

She heard a special knocking sound and thought workers were building something outside. It took couple of days before she started to wonder where the sound really came from...

She went outside to the balcony (we use a window to get to the balcony) and saw a horrorshow! One bird was flapping her wings, in the air, in front of me (and the balcony window) trying to scare me. As if!
But those birds just went nuts when they saw me!

My poor human.
She almost got a heart-attack when she realized what was going on.
The knocking sound came from the birds, it's a warning sound and there was a 'red code' whenever I entered the balcony. They were forced to leave the nest and try to misguide me and scare me away. And the eggs were left alone...
So, if you know my human at all you can easily guess how she feels now.
Ofcourse she blames herself for the whole incident! She thinks she should have seen the situation even though there's never been nest in that tree before and even though she's no bird specialist. She prays the eggs are fine.

I think she's too hard on herself but there's no point telling her that. She values All Life very highly and doesn't appriciate any kind of destructive interfering with the nature. But, she explained to me that if I lived outdoors alone it would be natural for me to catch those birds. But not now since I have food inside. And that it's plain evil to frighten those birds in vain, just for fun!
I actually got it! She's right. But I can't help thinking how amazing feeling it is to put my jaws around that little bird...

My human says it's a pity that birds don't understand there's a glass between me and the nest. I couldn't hurt them. And the nest is inside the tree so I can't even see it!
Anyway, we must let the bird-couple (Muscicapa striata) hatch the eggs in peace. Besides, in Finland all the birds are protected by law at their nesting time (even seagulls and pigeons).

Once again, I'll leave you with something to think about:

To my mind the life of a lamb is
no less precious than that of a human being.
I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb
for the sake of the human body.
I hold that, the more helpless a creature,
the more entitled it is to the protection by man
from the cruelty of man.

~ Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) ~


A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him,
that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men,
and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.

~ Albert Schweitzer, German philosopher (1875-1965)

Purrs,
Vieno ♥

2005-06-28 20:12:25

It's Midsummer Eve!

The biggest and the most loved celebration of the year in Finland is Juhannus (Midsummer).

"Midsummer is the period of time centered upon the summer solstice. Midsummer-related holidays, traditions and celebrations are particularly important in Finland and Sweden, but found also in other parts of Northern Europe, Great Britain and elsewhere. Midsummer is an important Neopagan holiday.

The solstice itself has remained a special moment of the annual cycle of the year since neolithic times. The concentration of the observance is not on the day as we reckon it, commencing at midnight or at dawn, but the pre-Christian beginning of the day, which falls on the previous eve. Midsummer has been later Christianized as the feast of Saint John the Baptist.

People believed that at midsummer plants had miraculous and healing powers and they therefore picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southwards again.

The burning of the Midsummer kokko (bonfire) with beliefs concerning fertility, cleansing and the banishing of evil spirits has in the 20th century spread throughout Finland. It has become the central element in the programme of commercial Midsummer festivities, along with music and dance. Homes are decorated with flowers and birch branches.

Juhannus is also Finland's Flag Day. According to the official rules, flags are raised at six in the evening on Midsummer's Eve and lowered at 21 hours on the evening of the following day."


My human was coming home today before 2pm and she saw two middleaged tourists wondering in front of one of the shopping-centers in Vantaa town. She went to ask if she could help them (they looked a little bit lost) and they said it's only 1.30pm and the doors of the center are closed even though it says that the center is open untill 10 pm, what's going on...?
So my human explained that it's Midsummer Eve and almost the whole country is closed now (shops by the law)! Those tourist said that they knew tomorrow is Midsummer Day but didn't understand the influence on today's schedule.

Tonight is time to lit the bonfires near lakes, tonight it's time to dance and, mostly, be near nature. That's why the city and towns are deserted! My human walked half a mile in the centre of Vantaa and saw total of five people of which three were youngsters hanging outside in the sun and two were adults rushing home with shopping bags, probably from some sunny terrace (it's been a lovely day, 24C/76F degrees and sunny).

What finnish people love to do at Midsummer weekend is to escape to the countryside! Preferably near a lake! We have well over 100 000 lakes in Finland (yes, well over one hundred thousand) so there's plenty to choose from :)

The most popular time of the year to get married is... yes yes!
Midsummer eve!
All the churches throughout the country are booked, the most popular of them many many years before! And Midsummer is the most popular time to start summer vacation! That's all because this time of the summer is the most beautiful time!
If you're ever gonna travel to Finland at summertime I recommend June! In Finland you'll never know if it's hot hot hot summer or not so hot summer. Sometimes May is hot and sometimes it's June, July or August. You can't depend on that. You can only trust that June is the most beautiful time. June is the Bride of the Summer.

In Finland you really live through the seasons. Today sun rised at 3.55am and will set 10.50pm (after that there's so called blue moment which lasts for two hours) , and on January there's only few hours with light on the sky. And that's only in south Finland! In north the bad is worse and the good is better! At summertime, in south Finland, sun almost never sets but in Lapland it doesn't set for almost two months!



This info if from Embassy of Finland, Washingon pages:

* Finland ranks as the most competitive country in the world according to the World Economic Forum (The US holds the second place).

* According to the OECD, 15-year-old Finns have the best literary skills in the world

* For several consecutive years, Finland has been ranked the least corrupt country in the world.

*Finland comes up number one when freedom of the press is measured.


And... all the female cats should be interested in the fact that Finland was the first country in Europe to give the right for women to vote, 1906! That's something, ain't it!?


Have a wonderfully relaxing and awesome Midsummertime, wherever you are!

Vieno ♥


2005-06-23 21:38:43