Dog Honored By Cats

300 Cats To Attend Dog's Memorial Service
Ginny Saved Hundreds Of Cats

It could be a first: a dog's memorial service attended by 300 cats.
That's what will happen Nov. 19 at the Westchester Cat Show in White Plains when a schnauzer-Siberian husky mix named Ginny is eulogized.
Ginny's not just any dog, though. She's an honorary cat.
Ginny was named Cat of the Year in 1998 for her uncanny skill and bravery in finding and rescuing endangered tabbies.
Ginny died in August at age 17, after a long career as a one-dog rescue party for cats on Long Island's South Shore. The club says she saved hundreds of cats who were abandoned, injured or in harm's way.
One time, she threw herself against a vertical pipe at a construction site to topple it and reveal kittens trapped inside.
Her owner, Philip Gonzalez, said the adopted shelter dog wasn't trained to do that -- she was "just magical in a way." He wrote two books about Ginny.
“I didn’t train her,” he said. “Ginny was just magical in a way. I adopted her from a shelter, and they said she’s never been with cats before. But she just had this knack of knowing when a cat was in trouble.”
As he used to do with Ginny, Gonzalez still goes out every night to feed stray cats in the area. The cats seem to miss Ginny too, he said.
“They want nothing to do with my other dogs,” he said. “They used to come up to Ginny and rub against her, even if I was putting food out.”
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. November 10, 2005 WHITE