Kids & Family
'Ni Hao' the Cat Meets Board of Supervisors
The new feline resident of Redondo was welcomed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
A 5-month-old kitten in a shipping container visited the Board of Supervisors today with his adoptive American family.
The orange-and-white short-haired kitten -- found famished and dehydrated on July 11 when the container was delivered to a business in Compton -- looked healthy and content today, wrapped in a baby blanket for his presentation before the board.
Ni Hao was accompanied by his adoptive father, Harvey Hettick, as he received recognition from the board.
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In an email to Patch, Hettick's wife, Kathleen Shaver said that Hettick and Ni Hao also brought a moon cake to the meeting as a thank you gift in the spirit of the Chinese Fall Festival.
The feline was recently nursed back to health over the course of about eight weeks by county animal welfare workers and given the name Ni Hao, which means hello in Mandarin.
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"He was really in bad shape when he ended up on our doorstep," said Department of Animal Care and Control Director Marcia Mayeda.
County workers interviewed more than 80 families before choosing Ni Hao's adoptive "parents" -- Kathleen Shaver and Harvey Hettick. The couple -- who own two other cats -- praised the daily efforts of the department to rescue and protect animals.
It's still a mystery how Ni Hao made his way into the container in Shanghai. He was cooped up inside the container for about two weeks during its crossing from China.
Blake Hindley, who also appeared before the board today, tried to imagine that trip in a children's book he has written called "Ni Hao's Journey." After reading passages aloud, he gave copies of the book to each of the supervisors.
