By David Weisz
As winter approaches, volunteers at Ottawa’s cat sanctuary are worried about the number of cats that continue to be abandoned on Parliament Hill.
Volunteer Brian Caines remains skeptical that things will change anytime soon. In the past decade, he’s seen about 10 cats abandoned on the Hill every year.
“I don’t understand why people would put animals outside and discard them as so much flotsam and jetsam,” says Caines, a government retiree who has volunteered at the cat sanctuary for the past 10 years.
The cat sanctuary was first started by Irene Desormeaux in the 1970s, as a way to accommodate cats that were formerly “employed” as mousers in the Parliament Building and continued to roam the grounds outside. Rene Chartrand began helping Desormeaux in the mid 1980’s, and carried on her work after she passed away in 1987.
Caines is one of seven volunteers that help maintain the sanctuary under the leadership of Chartrand, who has become known as Ottawa’s resident cat-man. The sanctuary is known worldwide, with tourists coming from as far away as Australia to visit the friendly felines. But widespread publicity can sometimes work against them, Caines says.
“[People] think, ‘Oh, Rene is here, he’ll take care of the animals. They think that if Rene is here, they have a carte blanche,” Caines says.
There are currently 13 cats in the sanctuary and Chartrand and the other volunteers don’t plan on taking in any more.
Cats are territorial by nature and the older residents often harass and chase away new strays, Caines says.
He and the other volunteers do their best to capture stray cats and turn them over to the Ottawa Humane Society, but the size of the grounds makes it hard to ensure that every cat is rescued.
Caines stresses that abandoned housecats have a slim chance of surviving long Ottawa winters.
Louise Hindle, founder of the Ottawa-based Cat Rescue Network, says that the issue of abandoned pets is not limited to Parliament Hill.
She says she estimates that there are thousands of stray cats across the city.
“We get calls six or seven times a day, usually from people that have found cats on the street,” she says.
Hindle says there is one way of ensuring that the stray cat population in Ottawa is reduced.
“The short and dirty answer is that people should get their cats fixed,” she says.
Hindle encourages prospective owners to adopt their cats from reputable animal rescues such as the Ottawa Humane Society, who generally spay, neuter and immunize animals before putting them up for adoption.
However, she says the real problem lies with people adopting pets on a whim, only to abandon them when they become an inconvenience.
Kerry Miller sympathizes with the plight of abandoned animals. She has taken in three stray cats, and feeds an additional one. As an employee at a local PetSmart, Miller knows first-hand the financial commitments that come with adopting a cat.
“For one cat, it’s probably $200 a month. That’s food and litter, not including veterinarian bills should the cat get sick … it can get quite expensive depending on what you’re feeding it.”
The store, which is affiliated with the Humane Society, does not allow pets to be given as surprise Christmas gifts in order to prevent cats from being abandoned come Boxing Day.
Caines urges people looking to get rid of a pet to do it the right way.
“If you can’t take care of an animal and you can’t give it away, bring it to the Humane Society. That’s what they’re there for.”