An Open Letter Part 2
My name isn’t essential in this case. I’ll keep it ‘short and sweet’ as they say... I could write this about what it’s like to be incarcerated, or being Black while incarcerated, Muslim, Queer, or a plethora of other minuscule labels that make being incarcerated all that much harder. However, I’m gonna take a different approach here, a more simple but genuine one.
I am inmate #23081702, here in Stone County Jail, Galena, Missouri. It's been approximately 10 days, since I last saw my baby girl. Aria Jordan, my two-year-old Calico, who is soon to become my service animal. Now you may be wondering why I've decided to take the modest pet owner approach, but consider this; In America, pets are held to an extremely and reasonably high stature/standard, and for good reason as well. As much as non-pet owners would like to say that we take care of our pets, the opposite is true. Pets take care of us. Dog is in fact man's best friend, and the level of intelligence our animals have nowadays is quite astounding.
I adopted AJ after getting out of a seriously traumatic and severely domestically abusive relationship. She saved me. I was ready to give up on what little I had left of this life and then she came along. A tiny little furry friend looking for a place to call home and she finally did. It has been a couple of months now and I can confidently say that she's found her forever home. She has gotten exponentially bigger since I adopted her, and she's made lots of feline friends and the occasional human too. She likes eggs, belly rubs, and any form of cat food with gravy in it. She tends to be somewhat mischievous but I chalk it all up to her young age. Since adopting her I don't think my heart has ever been this full. This is why I find myself here in Cell 1, Stone County Corrections, writing this letter to anyone willing to read it.
The arresting officer in my case. Andrew Boillot (Badge #905) of Kimberling City PD informed me that my cat would need to be given to someone I trust for the duration of my arrest. I offered two trusted contacts who would surely take care of her, and Officer Boillot himself offered several contacts which he called ‘friends’ at the time, that would be able to watch over her in my absence. None of these contacts, however, included the plaintiff. Determinatively, Officer Boillot gave Aria to the plaintiff. Upon my booking, my eldest brother informed me that “the cat was gone” he elaborated further and explained that the plaintiff had given her to the local animal control. Up to this very point in time I am unable to reach said Animal Control Facility, nor am I able to retrieve any information from the plaintiff due to an ongoing ex-parte. I don’t know if AJ is dead, alive, or has been adopted or fostered by anyone else other than me. I also don’t know when or if she will be able to come back to her forever home. If you’ve made it this far, consider what it must be like on both ends of this separated family. What would you do if you were me?
