Sale to benefit Louisiana's four-legged residents

SUSSEX COUNTY-While chatting among themselves one afternoon waiting for their meeting to begin, the realtors of Coldwell Banker Heritage Real Estate in Newton realized they had more in common than their jobs. Many of the co-workers sitting around the conference table shared their stories of heartbreaking loss and new found unconditional love. "It was pretty interesting, all the sales people were describing their pets and how they found and rescued them," said Carl Todt, a realtor with the agency. " My own rescue stories involve some seven cats over the last 20 years in Andover. Only our cat Cassie remains, who we thought was a pregnant female, but turned out to be a very big stray male who stuffed himself when food was plentiful, not knowing when another meal would follow." For Sue Pasquali, her calling to help came in a different way. Pasquali's heart was broken when her two golden retrievers died within months of each other. "I was so devastated, I could not think about (getting) another pet," said Pasquali. While working on her porch one day, Pasquali heard a rustling noise below the floor boards and discovered three tiny kittens. She found homes for two, and one, named Maxwell, made himself a home in the Pasquali household. "Since we were never "cat" people, we think it is providence at work and that this little orphan was deserving of our love and care." The stories continued creating energy throughout the room, generating the idea to have a group yard sale in the office parking lot to benefit animal shelters. The images of abandoned, hurt, hungry, and bewildered pets left wandering the streets after Hurricane Katrina, sealed the deal for the realtors, answering the question of where to donate. "These victims can't ask for help, so we decided to donate to the Louisiana/SPCA Animal Search and Rescue," said Kelli Grover the spokeswoman for the sale. According to Grover, the SPCA has a massive effort underway to rescue, shelter, and photograph each animal collected from the affected areas. The photos are then posted on Petfinder.com in the hopes that owners will recognize and retrieve the pets. "Hopefully, some of the displaced families will be reunited with a beloved pet. The other pets will need to be adopted to good homes." The sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 24 and 25 at the offices of Coldwell Banker Heritage Real Estate, 97 Main Street in Newton.