Hello! We have FOUND a cat belonging to a former military family at West Fort Hood RV Park. Sammy got away from the family when they were moving from Fort Hood to North Carolina about a month ago. Sammy is a ten year old GORGEOUS long haired black cat with yellow eyes. Until he was lost, he was an indoor cat who lived with his same family all his life. I'm sure he just got scared when he bolted out of their car. They gave up hope of ever finding him, but then last Friday night, he barged into our RV and made himself at home like he has always lived here! Funny thing is, when he first came in, I barely noticed him, because he looks EXACTLY like one of my cats! Because of Sammy's tag on his collar I was able to locate his owners, who now live in Lincolnton, North Carolina - over 1200 miles away! Due to the summer heat, we cannot find any commercial transport to take Sammy home.

Sammy is a sweet heart and a perfect gentleman. Unfortunately we already have two cats and a dog in our RV, and one more seems to be upsetting our delicate balance, so we cannot foster Sammy for very long.

The family has some relatives in Dallas who we are hoping will be able to pick Sammy up soon. From there, I'm hoping some generous souls will help with the following route:

Dallas, TX to Tyler, TX 101.7 miles *NEEDED*

Tyler, TX to Shreveport, LA 95.4 miles *NEEDED*

Shreveport, LA to Rayville, LA 125 miles *NEEDED*

Rayville, LA to Jackson, MS 100 miles *NEEDED*

Jackson, MS to Forest, MS 48 miles *NEEDED*

Forest, MS to Tuscaloosa, AL 141 miles *NEEDED*

Tuscaloosa, AL to Birmingham, AL 57.5 miles *NEEDED*

Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA 148 miles *NEEDED*

Atlanta, GA to Anderson, SC 123.5 miles *NEEDED*

From here it would be another 129.4 miles for Sammy's family to pick him up from their home in Lincolnton, North Carolina...I'm not sure how far they can drive, but I'm hoping they might even be able to pick him up in Atlanta.

I have also called the HSUS and SPCA to try to get some help, as well as a local shelter in Killeen, TX.

Also, if anyone in Killeen or Copperas Cove TX can help me de-mat Sammy's gorgeous long hair (I think he needs his belly shaved!) and get him cleaned up (he smells like he was rolling in trash!) I would very much appreciate the help!

Thanks for any and all assistance.

You can e-mail me at [email protected]

NO ONE can help Sammy get home???

have you posted this out to the rescue & transport lists?

Hi Nancy,

Yes I posted to a couple different lists and yes I got NO response. I'm sure there are more lists than I know about that I didn't post to.

I honestly don't mean to sound harsh or critical, but there is no way around it, what I am about to write probably IS going to come across that way.

Truth be told, Sammy has gotten a whole lot more support on lists that were NOT Transportation and Rescue lists - not even animal related lists and even some lists that I did not post to!

From THIS list, I got a lot of well wishes, which I really do appreciate very much and which I will print and send home with Sammy, but I also got more really dumb e-mails from this list than from anywhere else. Like one person e-mailed me: "It only cost me $212.00 to ship my puppy on American Airlines last year!" (That is helpful - how?)

1) I don't happen to have $212.00 in spare change laying around. 2) The airlines aren't shipping air cargo now due to heat.

People NOT on animal rescue lists have even contributed money to help with Sammy's veterinary and grooming expenses and to buy him a carrier, and a couple even gave me some really innovative and USEFUL suggestions for finding him a ride home.

Firstly, this is a military community - surely SOMEBODY will be going home that way on leave.

Secondly, I put a notice on the bulletin board in the office of the RV Park and at the local Wal-Mart hoping maybe one of the RV'ers will be going that way. (Unfortunately this is a slow time of year south of the Mason-Dixon line - most of the snowbirds have already gone North for the summer!)

Thirdly, Sammy's way home is pretty much on the way between the major transportation hubs of Austin, TX and Raleigh, NC. Someone suggested that a kind hearted truck driver might be able to take him in the cab of his truck. And that is a REALLY good idea.

Except that I do not have a CB radio and do not know anyone who has a CB radio, so now I'm trying to figure out how to actually catch a truck driver. What do you use for bait? Or do you do like the family did on the CompUSA commercial and throw a bag over his head just throw him in the car?

Lastly, Sammy's very best bet for getting home is the fact that he landed on my door. I am pretty tenacious. I am also "constantly in motion" I don't throw out one rod, one hook, one worm, I throw out several and find out where the bites are coming from. I'm not inclined to waste my time, I'm also pretty quick to recognize fruitless avenues of pursuit. By the time I had posted that last message, I had already moved on to a different method that was actually helpful.