Westchester Cat Show to Celebrate the Life of a Dog Who Rescued Hundreds of Cats on Long Island

At 3 p.m. this Saturday the thirtieth annual Westchester Cat Show will pause to hold a memorial service for a dog. With more than three-hundred cats and their handlers looking on, a schnauzer-Siberian husky mix named Ginny from Long Beach, Long Island will be remembered for rescuing an estimated eight-hundred abandoned and injured cats during her seventeen years on this earth. The beautiful dog (See photo on the left and the one below taken in 1996 with a cat named Blondie.) was killed by her owner, Philip Gonzalez, on August 25th after she had become incontinent, arthritic, and had stopped eating. (See Ginny, a Dog Who Rescued Cats, Is Killed Off By Her Owner on Long Island, Cat Defender, September 2, 2005.)

This will be the second time that the Show has honored Ginny. Back in 1998 she had the dubious distinction of being named Cat of the Year. Although she is now sadly gone, her memory and exploits live on in a myriad of ways. Most notably, Gonzalez has written and published two books about her: The Dog Who Rescues Cats. The True Story of Ginny (1995) and The Blessing of the Animals (1996). She also has her own fan club and web site at www.ginnyfanclub.com and the Ginny Fund raises money for the care of feral cats on Long Island's South Shore.

Immediately following the memorial service, Zoe, an eight-year-old ragdoll from Larchmont, New York will be honored as this year's Cat of the Year for saving her guardian from carbon monoxide poisoning. Past honorees have included a cat with a cleft palate who taught herself to hold a feeding tube and a cat who campaigned against rules barring pets from senior housing projects.

The show, which is being held at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, runs through Sunday.

Photos: Sydney Morning Herald and Associated Press.