DOVER — Capt. Jack holds a particular place in Shirley Domino-Donovan’s coronary heart as a result of he got here into her life the day her husband left it.
John P. Donovan Jr. was a lifelong and well-known Bowers Beach-area waterman who handed away at age 80 on June 15, 2015.
It was that day {that a} then-feral cat — later named Capt. Jack — was rescued from a junkyard in Camden at about 10 weeks old.
“I used to get a rotisserie chicken and pick all the bones and everything else, and I would take it over there, and (the cats) would just run (to it) as soon as I put that down for them,” Ms. Domino-Donovan recalled.
“But there was this little tiny orange kitten, and I had these real thick leather gloves on. I grabbed him, and if I didn’t have these gloves on, he would have tore me up. But finally, he calmed down, and I put him against my chest, and it’s been great ever since.”
Now, the Dover lady’s ginger tabby is within the operating to be named “America’s Favorite Pet” in a web based contest, with Capt. Jack not too long ago making the quarterfinals.
“There were 176,400 cats when I entered. Now, it’s down to a little over 2,000 are left,” she stated.
The contest is run by the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, a 501(c)3 organization that rehabilitates orphaned and injured wildlife; shelters and adopts homeless cats and dogs; and gives schooling and outreach throughout the nation.
Ms. Domino-Donovan is hoping folks will vote for Capt. Jack at Americasfavpet.com/2024/capt-8357. This spherical of voting closes Thursday at 10 p.m.
The winner takes home $10,000, with the pet incomes the quilt of Modern Cat journal.
Capt. Jack shares some issues with Mr. Donovan, although they by no means met.
The waterman took his 65-foot head boat Reliable II out of his Donovan’s Dock for greater than 25 years on fishing expeditions or to reply a name from the U.S. Coast Guard.
“(Capt. Jack) has the same characteristics as my husband had. I’ve never seen a cat with a hooked nose. He’s got the same sized and colored birthmark that my husband has,” Ms. Domino-Donovan stated.
“He’s left-pawed, and my husband was left-handed and has the identical coloration eyes. My husband had (continual obstructive pulmonary illness), and this cat suffers from bronchial asthma.
“It’s just crazy. A couple of my friends said, ‘Oh, my God. Jack came back as a cat.’ He’s very photogenic, and my husband always had a ginger cat growing up and had one before he passed.”
The on-line contest began in January with the grand prize winner to be introduced April 12.
“It would (be) great to put Delaware on the map,” Ms. Domino-Donovan stated. “But, even if he doesn’t win the contest, he’ll always be a winner in my book.”
