Espresso and his Island guardian angels!

To remind everyone (and to inform those who may have not read the original article), a cat was found injured and abandoned on the Shore Shore, a few weeks ago. Island resident and SPCA Monteregie volunteer, Angela Hunter, received the call and arranged to pick up the cat and take it to Dr. Arseneau, a nearby veterinarian.

The cat had a severe fracture, which would necessitate costly surgery. Volunteers at the cash-strapped shelter scrambled to raise the money (more than $2,000) and an urgent appeal was sent out to everyone, as well as a website was established, where animal lovers could donate what they could to Espresso's care.

"The support I've received from Islanders was overwhelming," states Angela. "To date, $578 has been raised, in addition to people wanting to adopt him. Even the clinic, where his operation took place, received phone calls from Island residents who wanted regular updates on him and left messages with the receptionist for me to call them personally."

Angela also informs us that the woman who originally found Espresso organized a bake sale at her company in Boucherville and raised an additional $230 for his operation, plus passed the hat around and raised another $75.

Following the operation, Espresso was brought to his foster mother, where he is living with a friendly cat-loving three-legged German Shepherd and several kittens that she's fostering. When he's out of his cage for a few minutes each day, Espresso is walking with a slight limp, which is already a huge improvement from three weeks ago.

Espresso has an appointment with the specialist in early June to ensure that the healing process is moving along nicely. In the meantime, his website www.helpespresso.com will still be updated regularly with pictures, updates and the pay pal button is still operational for anyone who would like to donate to help pay for Espresso's recovery.

"I want to express my thanks to everyone who expressed interest in our little Espresso's unfortunate situation," concludes a grateful Angela.

If, as Milan Kundera wrote, in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, "Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals", than our readers who helped little Espresso back on his feet have much to be proud of.