Bill Marrujo putting his arm through a fence to family pet the cat that waited 3 years for its owners to come back after the Northridge earthquake. Daily News file picture
Dennis McCarthy has the day of rest.
This column by Dennis McCarthy was initially printed on Nov. 7, 1996 in the Los Angeles Daily News.
Once in a while a story occurs that makes you shake your head and smile — provides you a sensation you can’t precisely put your finger on, however you understand it’s something unique.
And that makes you shake your head and smile all over once again.
There’s this cat living over in Sylmar who, paws down, needs to be the most devoted feline in the entire nation today.
She makes Lassie and Rin Tin Tin appear like a number of two-timing ingrates.
For almost 3 years now — since the Northridge Earthquake rocked the Valley — this cat has actually been awaiting its owners to come back to their red-tagged condominium.
Every day, every night, rain or shine, simply sitting there waiting — existing on the handouts of individuals in the area who simply shake their heads and smile whenever they drive by and see her.
People like Bill Marrujo.
“If she’s that faithful to whoever owns her, I think they should know she came back, and is waiting for them to come home,” says Marrujo, who figures the cat most likely stressed and escaped when the earthquake hit, returning home days later on to an empty condominium.
It’s a long shot discovering the owners after this much time has actually passed, he confesses, however after almost 3 years of waiting, this cat has actually made any shot it can get.
Who understands? Maybe individuals are still residing in the Valley, and read this paper.
“It hits you hard, just watching her sitting out there, waiting for them to come home, day after day,” says Marrujo, who nicknamed the cat Sweetheart.
Most cats stroll. Not this one, he says.
The condominium complex lies on Foothill Boulevard in Sylmar, and it hasn’t been touched considering that the windows were boarded up and a chain-link fence was positioned around it soon after the earthquake.
“The people living there just walked away and never came back,” Marrujo says. “It’s the only place left in Sylmar that hasn’t been fixed up after the earthquake.”
It had to do with 10 days after the quake that he discovered the cat simply sitting there in front of among the condominiums, says Marrujo, who lives simply down the block.
“My wife, Rose, and I used to drive by every day wondering what the cat was doing in this abandoned place, day after day, not going anywhere,” he says.
“After a while, we noticed food was being put out for her, so we knew that other people living in the neighborhood also had begun noticing her. We began feeding her, too.”
Once in a while, Marrujo would discover a couple of individuals attempting to coax the friendly black cat to come with them, however she never ever would.
Marrujo even attempted himself last month when the weather condition began turning cold during the night and he started to get a little lonesome.
His other half, Rose, died 6 months earlier, and after 15 years, he needed to put his dog to sleep. Maybe Sweetheart might be a brand-new buddy.
“I brought her home one night, and she stayed for about three hours,” he says, shaking his head. “But the very first time I opened the screen door, she was gone like a shot.
“I walked down to the condos the next morning. She was just sitting there, still waiting.”
Marrujo won’t call the animal policy department. He’s scared that if they come for the cat and she’s not embraced in the shelter, she’ll be put to sleep.
Besides, he says, she’s not a stray strolling the streets. She has an address, a home.
This cat didn’t escape. Her owners did. All she’s doing is awaiting them to come home.
“You know, that cat has more guts and fortitude than any animal I’ve ever seen,” Marrujo says Wednesday, after coming by the boarded up condominiums to feed Sweetheart and spend a long time with her.
“What’s it been now, almost three years since the earthquake, and she’s still not giving up? Now that’s one faithful pet.”
Yeah, she is. Makes you shake your head and smile.
Update: Dennis McCarthy’s column on March 12, 1999 reported that a reader of the preliminary 1996 column had the ability to rescue Sweetheart and re-home the black cat at her home in Simi Valley. At the time, the reader/cat rescuer set up an indication on the red-tagged Sylmar condominium to alert others that Sweetheart was safe and liked.
Dennis McCarthy’s column works on Sunday. He can be reached at [email protected].
