85-Year-Old NC Man Rescues Cats From a Paper Bag

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85 year old Chuck Campbell was driving along an old, dusty road in North Carolina when he noticed something out of the ordinary. It was something that most people probably wouldn’t have even registered and if they had, it’s likely they would have just continued driving as if nothing at all had happened. After all, he saw a paper bag just lying there along the roadside, something that is unfortunately seen on a lot of roadsides throughout this country. However, one thing was different. He knew that there had been an issue with people abandoning both dogs and cats in the area and this particular field seemed to be ground zero for such activities. Something in his brain clicked and he began to wonder if the old paper bag might have actually been an abandoned animal. As opposed to driving on like most people would probably have done, he decided to stop and take a look for himself.

Saving Lives

As it turns out, his actions saved four lives that day. Indeed, there were five kittens that were wrapped up in that old paper bag, abandoned and thrown out the side of a vehicle like yesterday’s trash. Fortunately, all of the unwanted kittens were still alive when Campbell found them. As opposed to just leaving them there, he contacted the local animal shelter. Campbell made one of the most selfless decisions that any person could ever make. He decided to take the time to help the kittens in hopes that they could be nursed back to health. This is something that very few people would choose to do, but Campbell felt instinctively that it was the only choice he could make. According to him, the kittens had already been abandoned once, literally having been thrown away as if their lives never mattered at all. That was the last thing that Campbell wanted to do. As a result, he decided to do what he could to set things straight.

An Urgent Situation

Unfortunately, not all of the cats survived. Out of the five kittens that Campbell found in the paper bag, one of them ended up passing away. According to the animal shelter where the cats were ultimately taken, it was Campbell’s actions that prevented the situation from having a far worse outcome. The day that the kittens were abandoned, the weather was quite hot. No one knows exactly how long the kittens had already been out there, but Campbell says that when he found them they were all struggling for breath. Since one of the five passed away shortly thereafter, it only stands to reason that the other four would likely have followed suit in rather short order. This is something that experts at the animal shelter agree with wholeheartedly, especially given the fact that they spent weeks nursing the kittens back to health.

Community Helping Community

Without the help of the SPCA, the kittens probably would not have survived. According to Campbell, their help was very much needed to get the kittens healthy again, something that he didn’t possess the necessary expertise or equipment to do effectively. By the same token, the local SPCA is quick to point out that without Campbell’s actions, they never would have even known about the kittens in time to save them. The point is that it takes everyone within a community working together in order to protect all those who are unable to protect themselves, whether that involves human beings or animals. In short, it’s all about people from all walks of life, coming together for the greater good.

The Kittens Are Making Progress

As previously mentioned, the kittens had to receive significant medical care in order to have a shot at survival. In fact, they were cared for around the clock for the first two weeks that they were at the animal shelter. This is largely because they were only two weeks old when they were abandoned, but it also has a great deal to do with the condition that they were in when they were found. Unfortunately, they were so weak that they had to have around the clock care in order to offer them any genuine hope for survival. Today, the kittens are doing much better. In fact, all four of the kittens that survived through the initial incident are now thriving, even to the point that they have been able to leave the main hospital and spend time with a foster family. The local Humane Society is quick to point out that they are always dealing with an overcrowding issue, but it is the foster families that make it possible for them to care for as many animals as possible. As such, the family that took in these cats opens the door for the local SPCA to do more good work in the future when other animals need their help.

Unfortunately, there will probably always be animals that need this kind of help. It is still staggering to think how many animals are simply abandoned on an annual basis and it happens all over the country. Unfortunately, there has been an uptick in this kind of activity as a direct result of the pandemic. People got animals to help them through the pandemic when they couldn’t go out. Now that things are seemingly beginning to return to normal, many of those same people are returning to their normal lives and discovering that they no longer have room in their life for a pet. As such, many of these animals are sadly abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Fortunately, it is the people like Campbell who come to help these animals in need when the situation requires it most. As far as Campbell himself is concerned, it all comes down to doing your part and helping out whenever you can. Fortunately, he doesn’t just say this because it sounds good to do so. He lives by those words, something that saved the lives of four innocent kittens.