By Kyla Laquian
Courier Staff Reporter
The day a person gets a pet, is the day that a new light is breathed into your life. It is a fluffy package of potential goodness, to bring happiness for years to come. Last February, when three newborn kittens were found on the Logan campus, and were up for adoption, was such a gleeful day for Mr. Carini. Though it is anticipated that the bundle of kittens and Mr. Carini should have spent long, happy years together, unfortunately their sweet story took an unexpected turn, and the kittens died a few days later after adoption.
Vince Beloni, the custodian who first came upon the three kitties in room 68 on a Friday morning, found them to be newly born the night before, with their eyes barely open and the umbilical chords still attached. It was clear they were still in need of immediate care. He sent an urgent email to all of the teachers inquiring if any of them would like to adopt the new kittens. Mr. Carini, who is not generally a cat person, was compelled to adopt the kittens that day because “there was something, a combination of the calico female meowing for milk and the really bad week he had…” that he felt like adopting the kittens. Upon meeting the three kittens, Mr. Carini, Rene Dutra, a counselor, and Anna Reyna, a secretary, and another “para-professional” whose name cannot be recalled, attempted to keep the kittens warm and give them water in the mean time before they sought professional help.
When lunch finally commenced, Mr. Carini hurriedly brought the kittens to the Fremont Animal Shelter; the kittens were still very cold and hungry. The doctors at the Fremont Animal Shelter forewarned Mr. Carini that they probably would not make it. Mr. Carini though, who had grown attached to the kittens had already named them. In retrospect, he feels he should not have named them so early because it “made things more devastating when (he) heard Tuesday night that they had died. He named the calico female Rocky and the black and white male Bullwinkle.” Both names were inspired from cartoon characters when he was a kid.
Though the kitties died a little earlier for Mr. Carini who should have spent long happy years with them, we can all learn from his example, as a person had never had a cat before, but readily adopted kittens in need.