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I am not normally the type to share poetry that I write. But there is one short poem that I wrote several years ago that is very near and dear to my heart, that I would like to share. For those of you that are in the animal rescue field, you know all too well that the warm months of summer bring about something that most of the general public is not aware of: kitten season. This is when female cats go into heat and start churning out litters of kitten like little, furry, kitten-factories. I wrote this poem one day at the shelter after a particularly bad day. We had received numerous orphaned kittens, and mother/kitten combos, that we had to euthanize because we had no space from the plethora of other moms and kittens streaming through the door. I was frustrated and fed-up with the state of things, and it just kind of poured out of me as I put pen to paper. This poem is somewhat sad, and perhaps a little resentful, but I suppose the point of putting pen to paper in the moment is to catch a “snapshot” of how you are feeling right then and there. I must warn, it is a very straight-forward peek into the mind of a euthanasia technician: I may have killed your cat today By: Jessica Stout, euthanasia technician This is just a note to say, that I may have killed your cat today I wonder if you had even noticed that she had run away? And do you know about the kittens she had? I think watching us kill them made her pretty sad But soon it was her turn, with sad and frightened eyes Did you know that for every kitten born, another kitten dies? Of course you wouldn’t know that, or bother to even care Because if you did, you would have spayed her, and not let her wander everywhere And of course its all my fault, because I’m the animal killer I bet you think I like my job; death is such a thriller Well I assure that I don’t, and it rips me up inside, to know that for every kitten born, another kitten died.
If I didn't know better I would swear you were hired