Page 3 - Kind News, May/June 2023

HUMANE HERO

Alivia Smith was just four

years old when her family began taking
in kittens who had lost their mothers. There was
Shadow, a nervous nine-week-old tabby pulled from
OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP: MEADE CADOT; CYNTHIA ZHOU; LARISIKSTEFANIA/BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM; ALE-KSBIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM;
a dog’s mouth, and four-week-old Laney, who was
found near Alivia's house and needed her kibble
softened in water. Now, nine-year-old Alivia and
her family volunteer as foster caregivers for
Marlboro County Humane Society in South
Carolina, feeding, giving medications, and
cleaning up after cats in their own home. Alivia
reads to them. “I've mostly read Junie B. Jones
and Lily to the Rescue,” says Alivia. “Sometimes I
have to stop because they try to jump on my book.
When I follow the words with my finger, they grab it!
But sometimes they fall asleep.”
(RAJA APP IMAGES) BRYAN HUFF. THIS PAGE: ALICE SMITH. But Alivia’s family decided to adopt more than one have litters out in the wild, and the kittens have
Foster caregivers have to say goodbye when
the cats are healthy or old enough for adoption.
Alivia’s advice for helping cats? “A lot of cats
themselves, including a little gray cat Alivia named
Rocky. She always helped bottle-feed him with her
to find their own food,” Alivia
explained. “If you see a cat in
mom, and he stayed in her bed. “He was so sick
and needed medication,” Alivia says, “but he lived.
need, give them water or
food. If you think a cat is
In every baby picture, I was holding him. I kind of
raised him. Now Rocky will knead on my legs, purr,
hurt, call your local shelter.”
and lay curled up by me.”
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WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO RABBITS LISTEN TO? May/Jun 2023 | 3
RIDDLE RAT!
(answer on p. 7)