SALEM For donated cat, good will helps

Officials don't know why the healthy animal was abandoned.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- It wasn't what you would call your typical Goodwill donation.
Instead of a bundle of clothing, some moldy record albums or a collection of banged-up pots and pans, someone stuffed a full-grown cat inside a pillowcase and dumped the animal at the outdoor donation center behind the Goodwill store on Broadway Avenue.
That was more than a week ago, and since then, with the help of police and a local humane society, a happy ending has been achieved with a new home for the forsaken feline.
After being alerted to the cat's abandonment by a woman who was donating items at Goodwill and noticed the pillowcase move, police investigated. They contacted a humane officer, who turned the cat over to the Salem Area Humane Society.
Full-grown female
The agency took in the feline, which was described by society president Mary Lou Popa as a full-grown female that had been spayed and declawed.
"She's a beautiful cat," said Popa, who represents the 1st Ward on city council.
It's unclear why someone would want to get rid of a healthy feline, Popa added.
"Maybe it was somebody who just couldn't keep her," she said.
The humane society waited three days for someone to claim the animal. When no one did, the agency set out to find a new home for it.
It wasn't a long search.
Dean and Edith Hively of Salem were without a cat and wanted one.
The Hivelys, who couldn't be reached to comment, were very happy with the new addition to the family, Popa said.
"She has a good home," she added.