Tom was in LA for his grandma's funeral, so Amanda kindly accompanied me for the long-awaited reunion. I didn't know what to expect, but the pick-up procedure was slow and anti-climactic. On the drive home, Louie seemed very sluggish and depressed--jet lag? Once we got home, however, he immediately perked up and army-crawled to find a place to hide. He spent 10 minutes under the bed, then slowly emerged with curious sniffs. Soon after, he was confidently marching around the house yelling.
Apart from some normal skittishness, I was surprised by how quickly he settled in. And he remembered us! I feared that the trauma might erase us from his memory, but I was amazed by his resilience in sliding back into the quirky rhythms of Louie Cat. My biggest relief was confirming that Louie is as bonded to me as I am to him. Thank you Kim and Chris for caring for him!
That same weekend was the Animal Rights Forum--a grass roots conference held to educate and connect Australian animal advocates. The forum was held at Melbourne Town Hall during the last weekend of February. More than 30 speakers, both domestic and international, covered all aspects of animal protection. Vegan Australia used the expo to promote our membership program and newest campaign. The inaugural Animal Justice Awards were held to recognise outstanding individuals within the movement. Vegan Australia's founder was nominated for the Peter Singer Award for Lifetime Achievement. Overall, the forum helped me better understand Vegan Australia's place--and my own--in the animal protection space.
