A Grieving Widow Risks Her Life in Order to Save Cosmo from the Jaws of a Hungry Coyote in Thousand Oaks

Cosmo Was Placed in  an Elizabethan Collar after the Attack

"The feelings I had at the time ran so deep. My husband had died just a few days before, and I just couldn't watch that kitty die."
-- Jennifer Foster

The twists, turns, and nuances of what is called the cycle of life, death, and rebirth continue to astound.

Jennifer Foster of Thousand Oaks, California lost her fifty-eight-year-old husband, Wheeler, to a freak accident in the parking lot of a Ventura restaurant in early November. Still in mourning, she was on her way home from, ironically, another eatery on November 15th when she spied a coyote with a cat in its mouth.

With little or no thought as to her own safety, she ordered her son to stop the car and promptly jumped out even while the vehicle was still in motion. She then chucked off her shoes and took out after the coyote.

"Drop it! Drop it!" she yelled at the animal as she simultaneously clapped her hands. So intent was she upon saving the cat that she failed to notice that there was another coyote right behind her.

"The feelings I had at the time ran so deep. My husband had died just a few days before and I just couldn't watch that kitty die," Foster later told the Thousand Oaks Acorn on November 29th. (See "Neighbor Saves Cat from Teeth of Coyote.")

Because the black cat weighed a whopping seventeen-pounds, the coyote was unable to make its getaway while toting such a heavy load and as the result it dropped the moggy. Foster and her son then retrieved the cat and took it to a veterinarian.

The cat, known as Cosmo, was having difficulty breathing as the result of puncture wounds to its lungs and neck. She required three-days of hospitalization that included emergency surgery, X-rays, and blood work but is expected to recover.

After leaving the vet's office, another surprise awaited Foster when she returned home. Upon arrival she discovered her neighbors, Jackie York and Bob Gerace, scouring the community with flashlights for their cat that had gone AWOL. Informed by Foster of what she had seen and done, York and Gerace realized to their horror that the cat she had saved was their beloved ten-year-old Cosmo.

"Cosmo is our baby. Our cats are our children. They are warm, affectionate and need us," York told the Acorn. "I would've been devastated if she hadn't saved Cosmo. There are no words to describe how much you love your cats."

That is all true enough, but predation of both house and feral cats by coyotes and fishers has become a very big problem. (See Cat Defender posts of August 28, 2007 and July 19, 2007 entitled, respectively, "TNR Programs, Domestic Cats, Dogs, and Humans Imperiled by Wildlife Proponents' Use and Abuse of Coyotes and Fishers" and "Up to Their Old Tricks, Wildlife Officials Reintroduce Fishers to the Northeast to Prey Upon Cats and to Provide Income for Fur Traffickers.")

Although Cosmo is described as an indoor cat, it is not known if she has been declawed and sterilized. If her weight is anything to go by, she may have been spayed.

Cats in general do not stand much of a chance when pitted against coyotes, fishers, and raccoons, but declawed cats do not have any hope of survival at all. Cats should not be allowed outside unsupervised in areas where these predators are known to exist and this is doubly true for those that are obese and have been declawed.

The veterinarian charged York and Gerace the outrageous sum of $5,000 for patching up Cosmo. Even more outrageous, emergency treatment was withheld until Foster magnanimously agreed to be responsible for the bill. To her credit, she had initially thought that the cat was feral and therefore had no expectation of ever being reimbursed.

Something drastically needs to be done not only to stop veterinarians from gouging animal lovers but also to compel them to provide free emergency care for all homeless animals as well as the pets of the indigent. (See Cat Defender post of September 25, 2007 entitled "Acid Attack Leaves Solskjaer with Severe Injuries and Horrific Pain as His Heartbroken and Cash-Strapped Family Struggles to Cope.")

Being made of money should not be a prerequisite for either humans or animals to receive the medical attention that they need and deserve. Something is terribly wrong with any society that purposefully withholds medical coverage, food, housing, and basic fundamental rights from both its citizens and animals.

As for Jennifer, she is a real-life hero! Her spouse was cruelly and inexplicably taken from her but Cosmo is alive today because of her valor and generosity. Like the seasons of the year, the cycle of life, death, and rebirth goes on; sometimes there is a clearly defined objective while at other times the meaning of it all is as black as night.

Photo: Bob Gerace.