These are gifts that I have received from my very special Internet Friends. I made this page especially to display my first gift, a Maneki Neko, sent to me by my very new, very special friend, Otie Lebowitz. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Otie, for the Maneki Neko. I know he will bring good luck and many visitors.

Click Maneki Neko to visit the Animal Rights Guild.

THE LEGEND OF MANEKI NEKO In the 17th century, there was a rundown and poverty-stricken temple in Tokyo. The temple's priest was very poor, but he shared what little food he had with his pet cat, Tama. One day, a wealthy and important man was caught in a storm while hunting and he took refuge under a big tree near the temple. While he waited for the storm to pass, the man noticed a cat beckoning him to come inside the temple gate. This was so startling that he left the shelter of the tree to have a closer look at this unusual cat. At that moment, the tree was struck by lighting. As a result, the wealthy man became friends with the poor priest, and the temple became prosperous. The priest and his cat never went hungry again. When Tama died he was buried in the Goutokuji Temple's cat cemetery with respect and love, and the Maneki Neko was made in honor of him. A Maneki Neko in your place of business or home or on your web page is said to bring in good luck and visitors.

Whether you believe in this kind of thing or not, he's a cute little cat with a gracious message, and he does brighten up a home or a web page! You can adopt a Maneki Neko from Action Cat with this one request: that you link it to an animal welfare site -- a shelter, a charity, a campaign page; any website that helps animals. That way the little Maneki Neko can go on doing good deeds.