Without a name

 Please know that you have been loved by the universe. You have been loved by the ones that found you and the ones that tried to heal you. From here, we wish you the most auspicious next life. May you be free from pain. May you be free from fear. May you now experience a sacred sendoff.  -Sarah Bowmen

I often don't want to write about the ones that we couldn't save. It could be because the next rescue comes in and there isn't time. Or it could be that I feel like we failed somehow. Or that it is just too hard for me to really sit with the feelings of sadness for a life cut short in suffering.

In mid-July, two kittens came in just days apart found by passer-bys in completely different areas of the city. Both with puncture wounds and difficulty moving. Both taken to local vet clinics. The black and white kitten the morning after she arrived at HEART. The black kitten just minutes after we took her in.  Same prognosis. Same outcome for both little lives.
Wounds most likely caused by a bite with abdominal injuries causing internal damage. Both kittens died. One while waiting to be examined. The other the morning after being admitted.  

We live in the countryside of Japan. In a place that needs to embrace that the community cat problem is everyone's problem. Things are changing for the better but we need a village to help.  They say that only 1 in 10 kittens born outside will live to the age of one. I say let's prevent as many births as possible to prevent the needless suffering.  There is help, there are affordable options, anyone can make an appointment and be taught to trap-neuter and return a cat/cats. There is no special license to capture and take a cat to be spay/neutered and it's not rocket science.  Anyone can do it and we need everyone on board to make the biggest impact.  

It's hard for people to turn a blind eye to animals that are suffering. That's why these two kittens that were in dire need found their way to HEART. I appreciate that. But I wish we could take it one step back and that we lived in a society that saw just a healthy regular cat around and noticed no ear-tip and thought "Hey, let's stop the suffering before it happens. To the spay clinic it is!"  It should be really that easy. Because without that I worry about people like me who are whole-heartedly invested in helping animals in need. Burn-out is real.  Compassion fatigue is real. 

I was hesitant to come back to finish this post I started writing three weeks ago.  To re-live the sadness of losing those two little kittens that died back in July. To not be able to express in words what I really want to say about it all.  

All I can do is to finally give these two a sacred send-off.  And that I can feel somewhat at peace knowing they are free from pain and fear.