A Robbery attempt gone horribly wrong...

[ollie]

Where exactly is "crack central" in Ottawa? I'm getting a centretown vibe but I'm curious if it's a specific area I should avoid. Where was the park exactly?

Glad everything worked out ok for you YATS!

[bradm]

Was one of those cats Pumpkin?

Aloha,

Brad

[StoneMtn]

No. If it had been Pumpkin, those crack-heads wouldn't have had a chance, and he wouldn't have needed rescuing. I would have simply taken him from the home after he massacred all the crack-heads there.

These were two entirely unrelated cats, and I really don't know their story. I was called that day to do the rescue, and that's about all I know.

EDIT TO ADD:

... although, had it been Pumpkin, the story would certainly have jibed well with the lyrics to his song by The Tummies, eh? lol

Edited June 5, 2006 by Guest

[bradm]

Ah, I understand. Based on the lyrics to "Pumpkin", it seemed natural/fitting that he (assuming Pumpkin was a he) had been rescued from a crack house.

Aloha,

Brad

[StoneMtn]

The Story of Pumpkin (aka Pumpkinhead)

I first met Pumpkin in Ottawa in winter. He lived outside, and the tips of his ears were frozen off. His left fore-paw was frozen and he didn't put it down on the ground due to pain. He was starving and frozen; and very feral.

We tried to feed him when we could, but he was really skittish and clearly dangerous. We also set up a little bed outside with blankets, so he had marginal warmth.

One day, though, there was an announcement that it would be the coldest day in Ottawa's recorded history the next day. We were worried about the poor street cat, and I knew I'd feel terrible if I just never saw him again after that day, so I lured him inside with chicken. I slammed the door behind him. It turned out that it was the three coldest days in Ottawa's history, and Pumpkin screamed and howled at the door all three of those days. We then let him back out.

He came back, and (in the loosest possible sense, if you count financially supporting as "owning") he was then my cat thereafter.

Unfortunately, he also had FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus; Cat AIDS) so he was ofen sick and even went into hepatic failure at one time, and we were reluctant to neuter him due to the strain on his system. (He survived the liver failure because another of my cats donated his own blood for a transfusion to Pumpkin.)

He eventually grew into a plump, fluffy healthy cat. When that happened we took him to be neutered. That was the day we learned he also had heart problems, and he died due to cardiac arrest as a result of the anaesthetic; in his sleep; plump and happy.

The song, in tribute, came later.

[bradm]

I read that, and then the first line of your signature. My eyes are watering a bit...OK, more than a bit.

Aloha,

Brad

[Sunshine]

Watch out for peeping-toms in centre town!

[Davey Boy 2.0]

you mean peeping trevors?

[Sunshine]

Luckily trev was off the hook, as he soon came to the aid of Gateaux flying out the door with ski-poles in their hands.....

[meggo]

One of the girls in this building has had someone peeping around lately, too.

And someone seems to have tried to get into meggo's place from the fireescape exit?

(^-- says drawk without paying attention to who was logged in ...)

Edited June 5, 2006 by Guest

[Calamity Jane]

wow............and I thought TO was the place to flee. I feel very safe here in the country (at least the weirdos here are weirdos you know, and we haven't yet seen any crackheads around )

It's funny to hear that the Herongate area has gone so "downhill", as I spent my highschool years working at the mall there (Zellers)....but certainly the last time I was there, the mall seemed on its last legs with many stores out of business or closing.

anyway, YATS...glad yer safe and sane, sense of humour intact. (and yes, just where IS the park of which you speak?)

[phorbesie]

Glad you weren't hurt. (...or robbed!)

[YearsAlongTheSea]

I take it back, I was mis-informed. It's not the most dangerous park in Ottawa. This is all making more sense.