Help our animal friends

To the editor:

In response to Joe Sullivan's column "The stray cat had a mission," I'm a Cape Girardeau resident but am currently spending time in Italy. Recently, an animal visitor came to me for help, and I'm sorry to say I didn't act quickly enough to save her.

She was a beautiful snow-white pigeon who landed in the field behind our house. I noticed her sitting there and figured she was resting. Later that night, she was still there. I didn't know what to do. The next morning she was still there, so we brought her to the house. I was unsure if I should touch her, with all the recent bird-flu talk. But I knew something was wrong, so I picked her up and noticed her legs were tightly wound with some kind of twine. Obviously, she had been struggling with it for quite a while. I cursed myself for letting this beautiful creature sit there for so long. I cut the string and used tweezers to extract it from her legs.

There's no telling how long she went without food or water, not being able to fly or walk. So I did my best to nurse her, but I'm a girl with a degree in TV, not a bird expert. Unfortunately I wasn't able to save her. Next time I won't hesitate and waste valuable time. I wonder if she might have lived if I had gone to her sooner. I hope more of us will give that extra hand to our furry friends who may not be able to help themselves.

THERESA HALE, Cape Girardeau