Saving Animals

One of the few depressing aspects of cycling across country is road kill (see Mike Novak's blog from Aug '06 www.bike4peace.org). The Catalysts, especially Tala, have been preventing road kill one animal at a time. The eleven-year-old heroine has, as of this writing, carried two turtles off the pavement, raising the question "do you save a turtle by taking it back to where it came from or taking it over to where it's headed?"

We witnessed a dog getting wounded by a hit and run driver the other day. This made us more glad we'd managed to shake off the dog who followed us for several miles the day before. He was freaking us out because he had no fear of cars. We finally found an empty chicken-wired yard with a gate we could open and latch him inside. I'm sure whoever came home to find a dog from miles down the road was surprised, but at least the dog was alive.

The greatest rescue was the one Michele pulled off the other day. When she spied the small, spotted faun about to dash in front of cars, she began to yell loudly and ride between them. She continued to chase the baby deer down the barrow pit until the dangerous cars had passed, when she allowed it to continue to search for its mother. And the Catalysts of HOPE ride on, saving the world one animal at a time.