23 Aug, 2007
LONG BEACH, Calif.—Authorities euthanized dozens of sickly cats found in a cockroach-infested apartment shared by an elderly woman and her adult daughter, officials said.
Police found 76 unhealthy cats and four dead ones in the women's apartment when they arrived to mediate a dispute with a downstairs neighbor, Officer Jackie Bezart said Tuesday. She said the two women were being held for psychiatric evaluation.
Neighbor Mary Cuevas told KCAL-TV that cockroaches had swarmed from the women's apartment into her own unit.
"I was at my wits end about this, so I yelled out my window that they were filthy pigs," she said. "And so they called the police and said I was harassing them."
Lt. Michelle Quigley of the city's animal control department, which was called to remove the cats, said responding officers found "bags and bags of just trash and defecation, urine, insects, floor-to-ceiling."
All but two of the cats had to be euthanized.
photo courtesy images.google.com & story twincities.com, 8/22/07
Cat collection!
Are you a pack "cat" or do you hoard anything?
Ecclesiastes 5:13 (NLT)
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.
King Solomon was the wisest man in the world according to the Bible. Actually, I'm not super smart, but I know enough to not keep 76 cats in our house! (Dogs would be OK...just kidding you cat lovers!)
Sol's point is simple. If we get too focused on riches, it will cost us! He's really talking about hoarding. What is hoarding? Hoarding is when we obsess to possess! Keeping too much of anything earthly can hurt us.
I don't know if anyone would consider cats to be like "riches", but today's story is a great example of keeping too much.
You and I are poorly mistaken if we think that hoarding some earthly possessions will not be a problem in our lives. We may never go to extreme cat collections, but maybe it's something else like...money...clothes...CDs...video games...food...DVDs...
How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
Answer this question honestly: Are you trying to possess or letting God control your possessions?
- If you think you have a problem with hoarding (that is getting out of control) please talk to your youth leader, your pastor or a Christian counselor.
- Do an inventory of your possessions. Be honest. Is there something that you accumulate that gets in the way of your focus being on Christ?
- The next time you go shopping and you're looking for something you already have a lot of...ask yourself why you want to buy it?
Pray right now...Thank God for His blessings in your life. Praise Him because "every good gift is from above"! Confess anything in this earthly life that has gotten in the way of your relationship with Jesus. If you have been hoarding some possessions, ask God to forgive you and He will. Ask His Spirit to enable you to daily pursue intimacy with Christ rather than earthly possessions.
- If you have a friend or family member in your "storysphere" who owns a cat, use today's story to start a conversation about earthly possessions.
- When you are talking with your friends about possessions, look for opportunities to share part of your story about what God is teaching you about the "obsession for possessions".
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