Sheltering an Animal’s Perspective

by Gregory M. Simpson

A Wesleyan University student asked recently how I got involved in animal welfare.  The answer was reflexive, "I adopted my first cat."
The 1981 trip to the Connecticut Humane Society, one of the oldest humane societies in the country, is clear in my memory.  A playful orange tabby, just a year old, grabbed my attention from one of the stainless steel cages and I was instantly engaged.  "Are you going to adopt that one?" asked a young woman who added that she was looking for an orange tabby.  "Yes," I said, announcing my decision to adopt my first cat.  "Yes, I am."
Adopting "Cinnamon", my most beloved cat ever, was indeed a day that changed my life and impacted how much of my free time would be spent from that day forward.
For the next 17 years, over half of my adult life, Cinnamon was my constant companion.  To paraphrase the writer, Hillaire Belloc, she was my cat and I was her human.  Disproving the myth that a cat is more attached to place than person, Cinnamon was content as long as she was with me, whether riding in the car, visiting relatives overnight, watching television, or sleeping on my bed. 
The sad time came for Cinnamon’s inevitable passing.  It was one of my saddest days and I still miss the unconditional love she brought into my life.  Yet she taught me what Maude counseled Harold in the classic film, Harold and Maude, to "Go and love some more."  To that end, I have devoted an avocation to improving the lives of felines, including by adopting more strays whose paths have crossed mine.
Almost three decades have passed since adopting that first cat.  I have played many roles in memory of Cinnamon, including serving on boards of directors for four Connecticut animal welfare organizations, and as state advisor to the national Friends of Animals, Inc.
After publishing dozens of letters to the editor through the years, in 2002 I began writing "Sheltering an Animal’s Perspective" columns for several newspapers, with the aim of providing humane education and advancing animal welfare.  Membership in the Cat Writers’ Association followed.
I have been at this a long time.  I have testified at the State Capitol with the late Cleveland Amory, founder of Fund for Animals and have been in protests with Wayne Pacelle, President, and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States – when he was a Yale undergraduate!  Some of the best in the field have trained me, including Bryan Kortis, executive director of Neighborhood Cats in New York City.  I have mentored others and have been mentored myself by Ellen Perry Berkeley, author of Maverick Cats and board member of the national Alley Cat Allies.  Having trapped, neutered and spayed, fund raised, placed animals in loving homes, coordinated volunteers, cleaned cages, and spent quality time with shelter cats awaiting homes, I was honored when chosen by CAT FANCY magazine as one of the ultimate cat lovers in the U.S.
All of this was done for no compensation other than the unconditional love from one special cat – a cat that taught me that contentment comes from simplicity – the simplicity of loving, playing and living in the moment.  As the sculptor, Rodin, aptly wrote, "The more simple we are, the more complete we become." 
Because of the love of that cat, I believe as an epithet in a pet cemetery reads, "O heaven will not heaven be, unless my cats are there to welcome me."  So, until we meet again, Cinnamon, I will fight the good fight to see that others like you get the same opportunities that each of us wants – to love and be loved, a good home, and the ability to live a life without pain and misery.
The Wesleyan University student wanted to know how I got started because she was looking to find her "passion".  I will be eternally grateful to one cat named Cinnamon who helped me find mine.
 
For the animals,
Gregory M. Simpson