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THE SPURGEON OUTLOOK -- SEPTEMBER, 2008
PETS & POTPOURRI PAGE
All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful:
the Lord God made them all.
by Cecil Frances Alexander
God’s Creatures Helping Humans:
Tama -- "Superstation Master"
Tokyo - A money-losing Japanese train company has found the purr-fect pet mascot to draw crowds and bring back business - tabby Tama.
All the 9-year-old female cat does is sit by the entrance of Kishi Station in western Japan, wearing a black uniform cap and posing for photos for the tourists who are now flocking in droves from across the nation.
Tama has been doing such a good job of raising revenue for the troubled Kishikawa train line that she was recently promoted to "super-station-master."
"She never complains, even though passengers touch her all over the place. She is an amazing cat. She has patience and charisma," Wakayama Electric Railway Co spokesperson Yoshiko Yamaki told The Associated Press Monday. "She is the perfect station master."
Appointing a cat to turn around fortunes makes cultural sense in Japan, where cats are considered good luck and are believed to bring in business.
People are snatching up novelty goods - postcards, erasers, notebooks and pins - decorated with Tama's photos. There's even a special book of photos of Tama called, "Diary of Tama, the Station Master".
Tama had been on the brink of losing her place to live, with the nearby store where she was raised being torn down. Now, the station is home.
Kishi Station started running without any workers in April 2006 as part of cost cuts. The Kishikawa line had been losing about 1.9 million dollars a year, due to lower passenger numbers. After Tama's appointment last year, passengers have been gradually returning, recently rising 10% to about 2.1 million a year.
In December 2007 Tama was rewarded with bonus pay - all in cat food.
(Many thanks to: http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/)
Going the Extra Mile for God’s Creatures:
New Equipment Aids in Animal Rescues
PASADENA - Firefighters are trained to revive unconscious people pulled from burning structures. But cats? Pasadena firefighters used new pet oxygen masks to rescue two cats who suffered smoke inhalation in a house fire on Thursday, August 7, 2008.
Fortunately, firefighters had at their disposal a specially designed, snout-fitting oxygen mask from the Pasadena Humane Society.
Three unresponsive pet cats were rescued from the home. With help from the masks donated last year to the Fire Department by the Pasadena Humane Society, two of the felines survived.
The society provided animal oxygen masks in three sizes, which can be used on animals as big as large dogs or as small as snakes, said a Fire Department spokeswoman.
Every fire engine in the department now carries the special animal masks, she said. "We often come across animals in a fire. In the past, we've literally done mouth-to-snout CPR to revive them," she added.
As for the two rescued cats, they are now in the care of the Humane Society. But the home did not fare as well. It sustained about $250,000 in damages, fire officials said.
But no one - human, that is - was injured.
(Many thanks to: Whittier Daily News, 08/08/2008)
Thank You, Lord, for tuna tidbits, nice warm sunshine, for my comfy pillow,
for my human who loves me,
.....and for that Christian rock!......Amen.
Is it Halloween yet???
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