Foreign Service Animal Rescue

     Well, like most events in this lifestyle, what started out as a simple cat adoption turned out into a completely Foreign Service experience.  We'd been thinking about adding on to our family since our cat Tennyson passed away earlier this year.  My husband and I were doing our grocery shopping when we happened to run into a Hungarian woman who works with him.  She is involved in local animal rescue, so we asked her where the nearest shelter was.  As it turns out, the shelter she helps out was only a mile away from the grocery store.  The stars were aligning, indeed. 

     We drove down a muddy road in the middle of a field and came to a  huge fenced in place with tons of out buildings and, to be honest, a lot of people working there.  There were tons of animals, and they are appear very well-cared for.  I loved seeing like eight cats all sleeping together in beds and under a heat lamp.  The sick animals were caged in the office, where the head of the rescue group sits.  All in all, it seems to be a very good operation.

     A woman approached us right when we arrived.  She was extremely kind from the beginning, but she didn't speak English.  She asked all around until she found a worker who knew a little bit.  He asked us what we were looking for, and we explained.  We decided on a beautiful white cat that has one blue eye and one green.  He explained that she'd just arrived at the shelter the day before and hasn't had any shots.  He told us the price, and we found that 5000 HUF ($20) was very acceptable.  The woman we'd spoken to initially had us fill out some paperwork, and when we were getting ready to go, she asked my husband if he knew Spanish.  He immediately switched from Hungarian to Spanish, explaining how we lived in Ecuador for two years and both speak Spanish.  We all sighed in relief that we could actually communicate now.  Because of that, we were able to learn our new cat's story. 

     As it turns out, she did arrive at the shelter yesterday.  She arrived with her brother and sister.  They'd all been the pets of a very old woman who died recently.  The woman's neighbor had been feeding and caring for the cats, but it got too expensive; so she'd brought them to the rescue group's shelter.  The woman that we spoke to also told us that the car appears very healthy, though she hasn't had any shots or been microchipped.  We'd never have known any of this without finding out she spoke Spanish.  Suffice it to say that it was another totally FS experience we'll always remember. 

    Hedwig Havisham Brown