http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...,3661064.story
This man serves and protects?????
Cat finds the way home from 'Glades
By Jaime Hernandez
Staff Writer
Posted February 26 2005
A Fort Lauderdale firefighter is facing theft charges after he told police that he snatched a neighborhood cat and dumped it in the Everglades because it scratched his truck.
The firefighter's 11-year-old neighbor, Maggie Leonard, was celebrating her birthday Feb. 5 when she realized her pet was gone. She started crying when she learned Cristopher Cortes, who has had a months-long spat with her family, got rid of Mr. Kibbles.
Luckily for Maggie, the cat showed up at her front door Feb. 18 -- apparently on his own.
"It was like a miracle," said Maggie's mother, Nancy Leonard. "Maggie loves this cat like royalty."
Coconut Creek police charged the firefighter, Christopher Cortes, 32, and his fiancee with petty theft and gave them notices to appear in court. Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue says it has opened an internal investigation, but Cortes is still on duty.
No one, except for Mr. Kibbles, knows how he got home, located in the 5900 block of Northwest 47th Way in Coconut Creek. He wasn't wearing ID tags.
Dr. Deborah Niedermiller, a veterinarian who examined the cat Monday, said he was in good health, tired, and "looked like he had traveled a little bit" because of his hardened paws.
Cortes' attorney, James Benjamin, said the cat was a stray and that his client saved the animal's life by not leaving it at an animal shelter, where it could have been killed.
"He took it to a safe-looking place where there are a lot of mice," Benjamin said. The attorney said the cat was left somewhere in the Loxahatchee area but would not be more specific.
The Leonards said they took in Mr. Kibbles as a stray kitten two years ago. He eats and sleeps in their home every day, and the family says they had him neutered and vaccinated.
When he vanished, the Leonards started asking around. Neighbor James Maloney told police and the Leonards that he saw Cortes' fiancee, Iris Zuckerman, lure Mr. Kibbles with cat food. At the time, Maloney said, he thought Zuckerman only wanted to feed the cat. He said it was "common knowledge in the neighborhood" that Mr. Kibbles belonged to the Leonards, according to a police report.
The family said they asked Cortes and Zuckerman about the cat, and that the couple told them what happened. The Leonards called police Feb. 14.
Some cats have made longer, more incredible journeys than Mr. Kibbles. In 1966, a couple from New Jersey lost their black Persian cat while vacationing in Florida. Three months later, the cat showed up at the couple's home, according to the Orange County Register.
Animal experts credit everything from telepathy to familiarity with the sun's positions or the earth's geomagnetic pull for animals' abilities to find their home. Still, Dr. Donald Chesen, a veterinarian of 50 years who runs the Village Royale Animal Clinic in Royal Palm Beach, said the phenomenon of animals finding their way home may be inexplicable.
"I think it's a natural instinct," he said. "Some cats can get odors that they can hone in on and follow that and often that will guide them. The true nature of it, I don't think anyone has proven."
Cortes has been suspended twice by his department -- once in April 2003 for arguing with another firefighter while on duty and again in October 2003 for abusing sick time, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief Stephen McInerny said. Cortes was commended in April 2002 for saving the life of a patient who was in cardiac arrest, McInerny said.
Still, Maggie said Cortes failed his duty as a public servant by trying to get rid of Mr. Kibbles.
"Firefighters are supposed to help people," Maggie said, "and not dump animals in the Everglades."
Reply With Quote
12/02
Bookmarks