Usually, when animals are abandoned by their former owners and left to fend for themselves, it’s because they aren’t wanted anymore.
That’s not always the case though, as was the case recently when Violet the Siamese cat was found in Illinois on Monday, November 25. The cat’s rescuers immediately realised the stray cat had been well looked after and noted she had a ‘very sweet’ nature. Not only that, but a note tied around Violet’s pink collar when she arrived at the Effingham County Animal Shelter hinted at how loved the cat had been in her previous home.The loving letter, which appeared to have been written by a child, was written in purple marker and filled an A4 sheet of paper. It addressed the cat’s new owners, asking them to take good care of her. It read (spelling corrected):Bye Violet. I think that name chose you. I wish I could keep you. Bye Violet, I hope you get a good owner. To owner: Please take good care of her. By the way, I named her. Thank you! Love, Lacey.
The letter broke hearts across the shelter, with animal control officer Vanessa Skavlem telling The Dodo: ‘When we pulled it off and read it it just tugs at your heartstrings. I just envision some child loving this thing, and knowing that they can’t keep it.’Sadly, when the shelter scanned the animal for a microchip, it came back negative and so there was no way to contact Violet’s former owners. Instead, they posted a photo of Violet and the note on social media, leading her to find her forever home. Cindy Murray saw the post and her eyes immediately filled with tears, with the new cat-owner telling The Dodo she could tell the young girl loved Violet ‘but she just wasn’t able to keep her anymore and she wants her to go to a good home’.Cindy explained what happened next:I screenshotted the post and sent it to my husband at work, and said, ‘I want to go get this cat. I love it talk me out of it.’ And he said, ‘You know I can’t do that. If you want it, go get it.’ Upon visiting the cat in the shelter, Cindy realised she was nervous and so decided to bring her home that same day. Once Violet was back in a loving environment, she finally began to relax and has since been purring constantly.Now, Cindy hopes to reach out to the little girl who cared so much about Violet that she wrote a note for her new owner, and is even considering posting a video online in the hope that it reaches her. Her message? ‘Dear Lacey, I adopted your beautiful Violet. She’s going to have a wonderful life full of treats, snuggles and everything we can give her.’ Don’t mind me, I’m just going to go dry my eyes…