Hi All. This has absolutely nothing what so ever to do with earthquakes, volcanos, or anything of that nature. This is about a can named Vixen. There was nothing special about her except that she stole everyone’s heart when they first met her, mine included.

I was going to write a short story about her, but the tears got into my eyes so bad that I couldn’t read the article so I said to hell with it and copied the article from the Free Lance Web site. Take Care…Don in creepy town

A simple yet symbolic funeral was held on Tuesday for Vixen, San Juan Bautista’s town cat.

Vixen, age unknown, lived on the streets of San Juan Bautista for nine years. Cancer ravaged her body in a matter of weeks and on March 5 residents of the Mission City put her out of her misery, sending Vixen to kitty heaven.

An outpouring of sympathy and regrets from those who knew her were appreciated by saddened town merchants who laid Vixen to rest underneath her favorite tree behind the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department sub-station on Third Street.

A somber group of local merchants, residents and San Juan Mayor Priscilla Hill came to pay their last respects, some teary-eyed.

“Every-body spoiled her,” said Barbara Gonzales, owner of Visions of Christmas.
Gonzales became close to Vixen about six years ago and every day around 4:30 p.m. she would go around town looking for the feline to make sure she was safe inside one of the shops.

“Anyone that came in here was automatically drawn to her,” she said.

Vixen was a fixture along Third Street ever since she arrived one day in the spring of 1991 and gave birth to four kittens in the back yard of the Bear Flag Gallery. Owners Les Anderson and David Thorp immediately adopted her.
Vixen earned her name.

“David named her because she was sort of the town cat,” Anderson said.
Vixen became pregnant again, but this time had her litter inside the gallery.

“She got to know us,” Anderson said.

Despite efforts to give the cat a home, she would escape and make her way back into town.

One thing residents said about Vixen was that she wasn’t much of a mother. When her kittens were born she would place them on top of the counter at the Bear Flag Gallery for Thorp and Anderson to care for while she hit the streets.

Vixen liked to lay on the “best of places,” such as the antique Victorian red velvet chair in the window of the Visions of Christmas shop.

“Anywhere she wanted to go, she did,” Anderson said. “No one abused her. She wasn’t afraid of anyone. She would lay on the sidewalk and let people pass her by.”

Anderson always feared she would get hit by a car, but said he was glad she went peacefully.

Vixen would greet customers entering the gallery, he said. She loved people, but would not associate with other cats.

“She was above that,” Anderson said.

For those Vixen left behind, the well-loved feline was no beast of burden, especially when she fell ill.

A few weeks before she died, merchants noticed Vixen wasn’t eating and began to lose weight. Between, Brown, Anderson, Thorpe and Gonzales, she had the best medical treatment available.

“We all made sure Vixen was safe and accounted for every night,” Gonzales said.

Vixen had a routine she followed or didn’t follow, depending on her mood, but her notoriety will precede her even in death.

During the filming of a documentary a few years ago about Mission San Juan Bautista for the travel show, “Backroads,” Vixen decided to make an unannounced television debut, strolling down the aisle of the mission during Mass. Her boldness led to nationwide fame, and many times residents received inquiries from around the country about her health.

Around Christmas, calls would come from people across the country to see if Vixen had a good holiday, Gonzales said. One couple from New York sent Vixen a red heart necklace that she wore for a photo a few years ago that would eventually go on a magnet.

Vixen was laid to rest in a special coffin, a tiny casket fit for an empress, constructed by Laszlo Svercsics of Laszlo’s Deli with the help of San Benito County Sheriff’s Deputy Rich Brown. Svercsics and Brown were Vixen’s pallbearers.

Brown scattered potpourri inside the coffin and tucked a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi holding a black cat on top of Vixen.

“He was very attached to her,” Anderson said.

Brown said he had grown to care about Vixen and would miss her.

“She was something else,” he said.

As Brown and Svercsics placed the casket in the ground, Thorp looked at the grave and said “God bless Vixen.”

He and other mourners then began to sing “Amazing Grace” - with a good deal of humming, since no one could remember the words.