Adopted 12-Year-Old Feline Returns Reading Woman's Kindness
For Immediate Release:
June 20, 2011
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Reading, Pa. — After Reading resident and retired nurse Claire Nelson began having chest pains on June 8, her 12-year-old cat, Rusty, whom she had adopted from the Humane Society of Berks County when he was 10, began acting strangely. He started following Nelson around, vocalizing in a way that she had never heard before and continually jumping up on her with his front paws. Nelson decided to put stock in Rusty's concern and went to see her doctor. But before she reached the doctor's office, the pains got worse, so she called 911. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital, where doctors determined that she was having a heart attack. The doctors opened a completely blocked artery, and Nelson was released from the hospital three days later.
For saving his guardian's life, Rusty will receive a special gift package filled to the brim with his very favorite toys: catnip toys. Also, PETA is sending Nelson a copy of Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.'s potentially lifesaving book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure, which explains how a vegan diet can help prevent—and even reverse—heart disease.
"If Rusty's love, intelligence, and perseverance don't prove that amazing cats are awaiting adoption at animal shelters, I don't know what will," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "The powerful bonds that develop between companion animals and their guardians cannot be underestimated, and no one knows that better than Claire Nelson and Rusty."
PETA's gift basket is an acknowledgement of the many rewards of sharing our lives with animal companions—and the importance of valuing their devotion by becoming the best guardian possible. The group encourages anyone with the time, willingness, ability, and resources to properly care for an animal to adopt one from a shelter rather than contributing to the animal homelessness crisis by buying from a breeder or a pet store.
Adopting from a shelter is something that Nelson strongly believes in. "I wish everyone would adopt a cat from a shelter," she said.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.