The Tale of Four Turkish Tabbies

About 1-1/2 years ago, I joined a Facebook group called the Underground Railroad Rescue Kitty Network.  The URRKN is a non-profit organization that was founded in Arizona with the idea to help cats get safe transportation from one point to another.  A majority of these cats were in shelters, but were "vetted" and in foster care before they get their ticket to "ride the rails" to their forever home, no matter how far that is from their original location.

When a "ticket to ride" is issued, coordinators post when the event will go live and members of the group request to be tagged for the event.  Once the event goes live, members go to signupgenius with the code they've been given and volunteer to be a "conductor" on a leg of the cat(s) journey.  Legs generally are between 50 and 100 miles, and I've actually followed a couple of cats that were transported from one coast to the other.

I observed the group for quite a while, but had never taken the giant leap to pitch in.  Honestly, my biggest fear was whether I would be able to do it without getting overly attached.  Don't get me wrong, I've done a relatively good job of only keeping the ones that needed me the most, with the exception of Jasper, but I was still a bit leery.  In early July, I decided I was ready to apply to be a conductor.  I downloaded all of the paperwork, filled it out, sent it in, and on July 2nd, I got the happy email that I was now an URRKN approved conductor.

My first opportunity was for a cat named Titi that was traveling from Sunrise, Florida to Belvidere, Illinois on July 20th and 21st.  I didn't move fast enough so I ended up as a backup conductor.  The transport was canceled when her forever home was upended by a sudden death in the family.  She eventually, thank goodness, went to a different owner and didn't run through our area.

My second opportunity was for a beautiful blonde Turkish girl named Tabitha.  By Turkish, I mean by way of Avsallar, Turkey.  Tabitha was adopted by someone who followed a rescue group in Turkey by the name of Adoption Time and fell in love with her.  When her event went live, I, once again, moved too slow and ended up as first backup driver for her final leg from Beloit to Madison, Wisconsin on September 22nd.  Via signupgenius, I offered to swap with the primary driver.

Yours truly and the Fab Four

As the event drew closer, more cats were added.  Three additional Turkish lasses would be traveling on the love train with Tabitha; Nina, Olivia, and Daisy.  Tabitha's final destination was Madison, while the other three girls were traveling on to their forever home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On September 17th, I got the email I'd been hoping for - the primary driver had agreed to swap with me and I would finally get to be a conductor for URRKN!!  The best part is I would get to be the last connection to one of these cats' forever person and home.  It was a very emotional moment for me.  Yes, I cried.

top to bottom, left to right
Tabitha, Olivia, Nina, and Daisy

I spent the day before coordinating with the conductors before and after me, as well as Tabitha's new mom's aunt to work out meeting places.  The leg before me went right through Rockford before going to Beloit, so I offered to meet the Elgin to Beloit driver in Rockford and she agreed.

On September 21st, the day came . . . . and I was a nervous wreck.  I made sure we had water and food, and Paul took care of getting Millie's (our Escape) seats in position.  He had one back seat down and the other up so I could sit in back with our passengers.  We had been informed that all four cats were in separate carriers so there was plenty of room.

Nina

I had received a phone call from the coordinator letting me know that the start of the trip would be an hour late as one of the girls had a rough morning.  They were staying with Katherine, a lady that had graciously volunteered her residence as a Bed & Breakfast for a couple of days and, when it was time for them to get loaded up for their final journey, one of the girls had bitten Katherine.  As Nina was the last one to get loaded into her carrier, she was already upset by the meows of the other three and did not want to go in.  An hour, and five bites of her B & B owner later, the girls were on the road.

Daisy

Three conductors later, I got a message that time had been made up and the girls would be on schedule to land in Rockford around 4:30.  We met Trish, the Elgin conductor, at The Clock Tower Inn.  She, and her boyfriend helped us load the ladies into Millie.  They had all been covered with towels as they seemed to travel better that way.  As we pulled back the towels, I was greeted by the meows of four beautiful felines.  I discovered that Meow is truly a universal language!!

We hugged and said goodbye to Trish and her boyfriend and, after getting acquainted with the little ladies and offering some water inside the safety of Millie, we got on our way.  We did not travel with the carriers as you see them pictured.   Nina and Daisy rode furthest back with the doors to their carriers facing towards where I was sitting, and Olivia and Tabitha sat to my left.

The Weinermobile!!

The girls were quite well behaved with the occasional burst of meows but nothing as horrible as my brood on car trips.  I spent most of my time with my hand in Olivia's soft carrier petting her as she was the only one without a good view.  I unzipped it just enough for my hand to fit as URRKN does not allow carriers to be open when the vehicle is moving.

Olivia

The trip to Madison felt like it took about 15 minutes.  I was so busy talking to the ladies, and petting Olivia, that the time flew.  At one point, we even had a Weinermobile escort!!  That one got quite a laugh when I posted to the URRKN Facebook page that the girls had been properly welcomed to America by the Weinermobile.

Tabitha

We pulled into the designated meeting area and met up with Kaye and her niece Else, Tabitha's new mom, as well as Sharon, who was the conductor for Nina, Olivia, and Daisy on the next leg of their journey.  Many pictures were taken, hugs were exchanged, and kitties were loaded into other vehicles . . . . . and I did it without one single tear, but my heart sure was full of happy.

The conductor before me had wondered why people would adopt cats from Turkey.  I told her several people had asked me the same thing when I told them about this opportunity and what I told them - it's not my place to ask why, it's my place to help them on their journey to their new home, and that's all I care about.  A glorious journey it was, indeed.