If there was ever a poster animal for all SCHS does to help animals, Lucia would be that cat. What she has endured in her short little life is almost unbelievable.

We first learned about Lucia from a frantic call from a woman who had rescued her from a terrible situation on a farm. Thankfully, the farmers let her take Lucia home.

Lucia, very pregnant, was found dragging one of her back legs. The woman was told she had survived being caught in a leg hold trap. Of course she had never been treated and was missing part of her foot as a result. The pain must have been agonizing. She also learned Lucia had recently been hit by a car!

Lucia's tail was also greatly deformed. There was no explanation as to what happened, but after the woman got home, most of her tail fell off. The woman tried her best to make Lucia's life a little bit better, but after two weeks, Lucia started to smell. Badly. That's when she brought her to us. Thankfully, we were able to immediately perform surgery, revealing she was full of dead kittens.

Waking up from surgery was problematic for Lucia. That, coupled with the fact that she had previously been hit by a car, was enough for us to send her to the emergency clinic. It was touch and go for a while. Radiographs revealed our worst fears--she had a fractured pelvis and what was left of her tail was severely dislocated. This poor cat had suffered and for a very long time.

Lucia slowly recovered. Her leg nerves slowly started to regenerate and after several weeks of a lot of wobbliness, started to walk and then jump.

Lucia is now sharing my office with me and while she can be a little spitfire, she loves her little cubbies and especially loves to grab onto people, wrap her paws around their necks and purr like there's no tomorrow. For a cat that has been betrayed by so many people, her journey is nothing short of miraculous.

It's for the Lucia's of the world that I am walking and asking for your support. We simply couldn't begin to help animals like Lucia without you.