News Briefs for the Week of March 17, 2002
By Marcella Durand for Cat Facts
- Siamese Receives ASPCA Award for Animal Heroism
According to her owner, the eight dogs, posh surroundings, and crowds of people didn't faze Marbles one bit. "She stepped on every table," says Donna Ballotta, from Woodbridge, New Jersey, a volunteer for TheraPet, Inc. "Everybody had to have a kitty fix."
Marbles, a 12-year-old Tortie/Siamese mix, was one of the recipients -- along with eight dogs -- of a Trooper Award for Animal Heroism from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). The awards luncheon, held in February at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, honored animals, people and organizations who "demonstrated outstanding compassion, dedication and courage" during the search, rescue and recovery efforts after September 11th.
Marbles was right there on Pier 94 in New York City, where the families, victims and volunteers of the tragedy gathered, to bring comfort to all. "The first little girl we met," says Ballotta, "she was just sitting there petting -- she must have petted Marbles for close to 30 minutes and didn't say a word. As I was leaving, she said, 'Goodbye, Marbles,' and people said that she hadn't spoken in the 10 days she had been there."
According to Ballotta, Marbles is particularly good with children. "Children who didn't want to talk, who didn't want to tell the adults what was going on, could talk to her -- she couldn't spread their secrets. A lot of people who were there had left their pets behind, or were away from home volunteering -- they just needed a kitty fix. That's what we call it, a kitty fix." Marbles and Ballotta usually work two hours a day, but at Pier 94 they worked five hours every day, and Marbles came through, well, like a trooper.
Maybe Marbles is so good at bringing comfort to others because she's had her own dark times. According to Ballotta, Marbles lived in an abusive home, where she was regularly thrown against the wall, before she was rescued. While Marbles was shy at first, with a lot of TLC, she overcame her traumas. "The more they're socialized, the more social they become," says Elaine Shoe, another volunteer at TheraPet. "They expect it, anticipate it, want it." And, unlike many therapy dogs who worked at Ground Zero and who are now suffering stress-related ailments, Marbles is doing just great. "She's much more affectionate now than she was before September 11th," says Ballotta. "She greets people at the door now."
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