Ginny

With subtitle or not?

It certainly wasn’t the best of starts. Abandoned in an apartment with three puppies to feed, no food or water, basically left to starve to death. Fortunately, they were found by the landlord and taken to a shelter. Their condition was assessed as critical, and euthanasia was considered as an option. Despite their near-death experience, all survived and were put up for adoption. At this point, I would liked to be able to recount how the despicable individual who was responsible for this unbelievably callous act was punished, but sadly, no information is available. Ginny’s origins are a matter of conjecture, but she was undoubtedly a schnauzer mix.

Whilst this was happening, Phillip Gonzalez was a man suffering from depression. Having suffered a work accident, life held little attraction, and he had basically lost the will to live. Now, I have to admit that I have no personal experience with this very common problem, so I can only imagine living a life where even getting out of bed in the morning is a chore. It must be just horrible. What I do know is that people who suffer from depression benefit greatly from love and support, and who better to provide that than man’s best friend, a dog?

Acquire a dog

Phillip Gonzalez was advised to do just that: acquire a dog. It would be company, making sure that he did get out of bed in the morning, ensuring that he got exercise every day and would help his mental health.

The first problem was an unexpected one. Phillip had set his heart on a particular dog in a shelter, but unfortunately, that one had already been adopted, so he was introduced to Ginny.

This potential partnership didn’t get off to a very auspicious start as Ginny wasn’t impressed with Phillip’s truculence. She refused to move until he made eye contact. Fortunately, Phillip Gonzalez is a sensitive man and quickly realised that Ginny also had feelings and he was displaying a seriously bad attitude. Ginny obviously wouldn’t cooperate with someone who considered her second best. Phillip was impressed with this independent-minded canine and considered her rather special. He couldn’t possibly have known how special, as Ginny had a secret passion that would change Phillip’s life forever.

Having completed the adoption formalities, the two of them started to bond, and it didn’t take long for Ginny’s secret to be revealed. On an early walk, Ginny ran off without warning and started to agitate at the end of a pipe, and 5 kittens emerged!!

Her mission begins

This was the start of a mission to rescue cats; it was to dominate her life, and Phillip had little option but to go along with this unusual quest. As the years passed, this intrepid duo rescued hundreds of cats and kittens. They were a familiar sight at the rescue shelters as they deposited their “finds” at regular intervals, particularly those that needed veterinary attention.

Ginny was never happier than when she was roaming around looking for and rounding up stray cats, which led Phillip to adopt the more disadvantaged ones: the blind, the deaf and the maimed. Amongst these are Madame, who was profoundly deaf, and Revlon, who only had one eye. Topsy, a paralysed kitten and Betty Boo, who had no hind feet.

Eventually, when the shelters were unable to take any more, Phillip took it upon himself to feed the rest, so at 4:30 each morning and again in the evening, the two of them set out to feed homeless strays, which Phillip did on very limited funds. At Long Beach, Long Island, New York, those who were around that early would have witnessed dozens of stray cats queuing up for breakfast and later in the day for dinner!! Ginny wouldn’t allow anything to stand in her way, and that included natural disasters like floods and even having to walk over broken glass, failed to stem her commitment to the cause.

There are two books written by Phillip Gonzalez about Ginny.

THE DOG WHO RESCUES CATS

THE BLESSING of the ANIMALS

They have both appeared on American television talk shows and news programmes.

Finally, why did she do it? Well, none of us can be certain, but it probably stems from her close encounter with death, and like her counterpart Jasmine in the UK (see Jasmine 1^st October 2023), her natural sense of compassion was heightened by her life’s experience.

We are told that a near-death experience can have a profound effect on humans, so why not animals?

Ginny would spend the rest of her life rescuing cats before succumbing to ill health.