Justice for Molly

After a week of thinking that Molly had been hit and killed by a car the real truth started to be uncovered. Last Wednesday a neighbor came by and knocked on our door. I was stepping out of the shower so Chris answered the door. I heard a woman's voice and I heard Chris step outside to talk to her. When he came back inside a few minutes later I asked him what that was all about. He replied "You don't want to know, it is about Molly." Of course I wanted to know! He went on to tell me that the lady lives a few streets over and she had been walking her dogs the previous Tuesday night when her dogs and a white cat got into a "scuffle". She told Chris that she ended up with a scratched arm from Molly and that she wanted to make sure that Molly did not have rabies and that she was up to date on her shots. Chris had then told her that Molly had been hit by a car later that night but that she was up to date on her shots and did not have rabies. The neighbor had told Chris that she was sorry to hear that Molly had gotten hit by a car, but so relieved to hear that she didn't have rabies. Chris believed this story. I did not. I knew there was more to it. I remember instantly saying "Oh my gosh. Those dogs killed Molly!" Chris replied, "Jess, we found her collar in the street run over, remember?" I did remember that, but I also remembered that Molly had a break away collar that could have easily been ripped off in a fight and then run over later. I also remembered the blood trail from the street to where we found her. And I also remembered that from the moment I saw her dead body I did not think that she had been run over. I ended up deciding to believe it because I had nothing else to believe. But she did not look like a run over cat. All that was wrong with her was a gash on her face and neck. The dogs had killed Molly. I just knew it in my gut. Why would the neighbor have gotten scratched if it was just a "scuffle"? Molly would have run away if she could. I knew that the only way that woman would have gotten scratched was if Molly was being hurt and trying to defend herself. So, I was determined to visit this neighbor and get the full story. I went to her house three times over the next week. The first time her husband was home but she was not, the second two times no one was home. Finally, this past Sunday, I saw a car in their driveway and I knocked on their door. She and her husband were home and invited me in. I said no, but she insisted. I wish I would have stood my ground and stayed on her porch. Once I entered her house I encountered her dogs who would not stop licking me and she had no problem watching them jump on and lick me. I love dogs, but wasn't in the mood to be licked by the dogs who killed my cat. She was oblivious to this. I sat in her living room trying hard to ignore her dogs while I asked her to tell me the story of what happened. The next 10 minutes I sat in that chair listening to the most selfish, heartless story. She said that Molly had "attacked" her two dogs while she walked them on a leash at 10:15 p.m. that night and that she got scratched trying to rip them apart from each other. She said she was so upset that her arm was scratched and that her dogs had blood in their mouths that she ran home to wash Molly's blood out of their mouths and clean her arm. She never mentioned any concern that Molly was injured. The majority of the story was about how her dogs have been depressed ever since the fight and that she has been to Care Now, a PCP and was about to start a rabies shot series just to be safe. She only decided to try to locate the cats owner when she found out that the rabies preventative shots were going to cost $2700 and she didn't want to "waste money on it" if the cat was some one's pet and was up to date on her shots. So, that is why she came to our house a week later. She had to ask one neighbor across the street who the white cat belonged to and she was instantly directed to our house. Everyone knew and loved Molly. Then after finding out that Molly had died she still did not describe the reality of the "scuffle" to Chris and was perfectly fine with letting us believe that Molly had been killed by a car. She wouldn't have even told us about the incident if she hadn't been concerned for her arm (which, by the way, was already completely healed with no scar). So, as I listened to her talk about herself ,without any remorse or excuse for not letting us know that Molly was hurt, I had had enough. Enough of her bullshit, enough of her dogs licking me, enough of it all. I stood up and walked out her front door hysterical. When I got home and was able to calm down enough to tell Chris what had happened he hopped in his truck and drove to her house and had it out with her and her husband. How could someone (especially a fellow pet owner, who treats her pets like her children) leave an animal injured in the street to suffer and die. Why couldn't she have taken the time to find us that night when we could have possibly rushed Molly to an animal hospital and saved her life, or at least made her comfortable. She had no problem finding us a week later when it involved her health. This is the part that keeps me awake at night. And this is why I contacted the Arlington Animal Services and filed a report and this is why I passed out over 60 awareness notes to every house in our neighborhood. I have 18 more houses to go. I will finish tomorrow. RIP sweet Molly girl.