POCATELLO — Jona Jacobson said that when she saw a call for help to transport a rescued cat to its new home, volunteering was a no-brainer.
“I thought this was one way I could help cats without actually bringing every rescue into our house,” she said. “I figured I could do this and it would be my way of helping.”
Jacobson, who lives in Firth, recently lost a Bengal cat she rescued from some unqualified individuals in the Seattle area who were breeding it for profit. It’s a loss she and her partner are still feeling, making Jacobson reluctant to bring any rescues home right now.
Her decision to volunteer brought Jacobson to Pocatello on Sunday, where she met up with Mary Ann and Jim Hubbell, who live in Logan, Utah, at the Maverick Country Store, located at 2100 E. Center St.
The Hubbells had picked up Luke earlier in the morning from someone in Brigham City, Utah, and drove the cat to Pocatello.
Mary Ann said she and Jim were pulled into the mix by her cousin in Illinois, who called her asking if she could find someone to help transport the cat from her area to Pocatello.
“I volunteered to do it immediately,” she said. “I decided it would be fun to do it ourselves.”
She said her and Jim had the shortest leg of the trip for the Utah and Idaho transport of Luke, who started his journey in Mesa, Ariz. The person from whom they picked up Luke drove four hours south from Brigham City to pick up the cat, only to turn around and bring him home for the night.
Mary Ann said the experience has been a good one, and one she said her and Jim would be willing to repeat in the future.
“I wouldn’t mind doing it again,” she said.
The move of Luke from Mesa to Dell, Montana, a small community in Beaverhead County, located in the southwestern part of the state, bordering Idaho, was organized by Tina LaBlanc, founder of Underground Railroad Rescued Kitty Network.
LaBlanc, who resides in Avondale, Ariz., organized the network last fall, its official start date being Oct. 31, 2011. She was prompted to do so after reading about Jack the Cat, a pet lost by an airline last fall while it was in transport. It was 61 days before Jack was finally found and by then he was so badly injured, his outlook was not good.
He died 12 days later, in early November.
But Jack the Cat served as a reminder to LaBlanc, a reminder of a time when an airline lost her cat. It was 1997 when LaBlanc’s husband was transferred from Germany back to the U.S. and in transport, one of her cats was lost.
“She was only missing for a few days and was located in another state,” LaBlanc said. “We were able to get her in intensive care and she survived, thankfully.”
But hearing about Jack stirred up all those memories and also shocked LaBlanc a bit, the idea that airlines were still having difficulty keeping tabs on an animal so many years after her ordeal.
“I thought, somebody has to do something about this,” she said. “Then I had that quiet voice in my head that said, ‘You are somebody,’”
That was all she needed.
One goal of the Underground Railroad Rescued Kitty Network is to link potential owners with cats — regardless of where in the country each is at — in need of adoption, thereby rescuing them from being euthanized. The other goal is to then get that cat to that new owner.
While she’s awaiting approval of her nonprofit status, she’s not waiting to get cats moved around the country.
“Luke is our 50th transport,” she said. “We are growing like a runaway train. It’s wonderful. It’s a lot of fun.”
And while Luke just happens to be from LaBlanc’s home state, that is far from the norm. In fact, she’s not only helping cats connect with people all around the U.S., she got people wanting to mimic what she is doing in several other countries.
“Most of our cats are actually from out East,” she said. “Once my nonprofit is approved, I have people set to go in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Ireland and England. So we are set to go international as soon as we get that nonprofit status.”
Once a real estate sales agent, LaBlanc now dedicates her full attention to the Underground Railroad Rescued Kitty Network.
Like the Hubbells, Jacobson says she too is looking forward to transporting other cats in the future.
“Oh yeah, absolutely. It would be great,” she said. “To get little kitties to their new homes, I can’t think of much better when it comes to cats.”
(13) comments
Tina, it's a great thing you're doing. Don't worry about WYSKWY. Wherever there is someone who is trying to do good, there are people who will come out of the woodworks to insult them.
I've had to transport my cats across country multiple times. They are generally more comfortable in the carrier for the trip since they get motion sickness very easily if they can see out of the windows. As long as you give them some time to walk around, stretch their legs, and some privacy they're happy.
I think URRKN does great work, I guess you missed that part, and I hope they continue to do more great work. As for kitty stress, your kitties were with YOU the whole time. This kitty had been in a shelter with strangers, had been passed around from stranger to stranger for two days, had not eaten in almost two days because he was so stressed, looked TERRIFIED in that picture above, and I do not believe it was necessary to take more time out of an already stressful situation to sit the kitty in a picnic table to give an interview in the middle of a transport. If the kitties are the first concern, this poor baby wasn't getting any concern at all. The publicity is welcome I am sure, but I feel it was in very poor taste to not only have a reporter at supposedly secret safe meeting places, but to have poor stressed out kitty sit in a carrier on top of a picnic table while a plug for the organization was being done is NOT putting kitty as first priority.
Tina, my concern for Luke was the fact that he had been in a carrier for two days with many different people; he was already terrified, just look at that face with Jona! To stop a transport of a stressed kitty for a photo-op and video is unconscionable, especially in this heat, making the kitty sit in a carrier at a picnic bench. Shame on you.
I'm sorry, but why is that unconscionable? You don't know what the heat was there, you don't know what was going on before and after the photo, and when you have a cat outside you ALWAYS want it in a carrier.
Why are you trying to shame an organization that is doing everything they can to help cats? What's unconscionable is your judgmental attitude.
@WYSKWY I understand your concern for Luke. We always take into account of how a transport will affect a cat before we agree to one. Luke was offered time in a closed vehicle at each stop and given the chance to eat, drink and use the litter box. Luke also stayed in a a special Bed & Breakfast set up just for him overnight before his journey continued the next day.
We do everything that we can to ensure that our kitties travel in first class the entire journey. Its inevitable that they will be scared from time to time in the process, we do our best to minimize that. I assure you, it is far less stressful on that journey then it is at a high kill shelter.
When looking at what the alternative is I think this is a much better option.
What a great write-up for a good organization! Too bad that no one seems to care about the health and stress level of a kitty who has been in a carrier for two days. That pic makes me sad, look how scared he is. :-(
Wonderful article thank you so much for running it. If I may clear up one small inconsistency. We only transport, we simply do not have the resources to help match up pets and new homes. Transporting is a full time job that we do very well. We take the barrier of distance out of adoptions. You can join us here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/URRKN/ Thank you! [wink]
Great story! I, too, am a cat person and love my kitties. They're my kids:) I didn't know this URRKN existed? I'd like to know more. Is there a Facebook page or website? Mabye I can contribute somehow. That's what's missing from the article is how to become involved?
rmavila: Yes, URRKN does have a FB page and it is located here:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/URRKN/
All the kitties appreciate you wanting to help and anyone can join!!
Come on over and ask to join and I hope I'm the one to accept your request!!
It is so unusual to see happy news make the front page of a newspaper. As a member of URRKN (Underground Railroad Rescued Kitty Network), let me say I am extremely pleased to see your coverage of such a small event. Thank you so much for your article.
granted, i maybe new to the URRKN movement. I am a proud member. This wouldn't be done with all the conductors and leaders new and old.
I would like this news source for printing this wonderful news story,being a cat guy,,love these stories about kitties with a happy ending....[beam]
As a part of URRKN I would just like to say, "Thank You" to the Idaho State Journal for making Luke and his conductors part of your paper and state coverage! URRKN is doing GREAT things and with the help of publications such as yours, we can branch out and cover the entire United States, Canada and points beyond!! No kitty left behind, is my motto! Thank you again for your coverage of Luke and URRKN!
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