More than 50 Thunder Bay cats off to new homes in southern Ontario
'It's like they knew something good was happening'
More than 50 Thunder Bay, Ont. cats are finding new homes in southern Ontario thanks to the efforts of a Markham, Ont. veterinarian.
Cliff Redford, who owns the Wellington Veterinary Hospital in Markham, got word about the cats earlier this month.
"I work with a few cat rescues here in Markham," Redford told CBC News last week. "The owner, or the caregiver of these cats in Thunder Bay [is] having to leave her home, due to various issues."
"She reached out to a whole bunch of cat rescue groups," he said. "I stepped up to the plate and said 'well, I can go get them. I can get them all spayed and neutered, and I have enough space at my facility here to house them until they find homes."
"So it pretty much happened within 24 hours," Redford said. "We were on the road."
Redford rented a truck, and he and a friend made the long drive to Thunder Bay, arriving in the city at 9 p.m. on Aug. 20.
"We were expecting 42 cats," he said. "It ended up being 55; there were a lot of kittens."
It actually turned out to be even more that that, in the end — after the group got back to Markham, one of the cats gave birth to four kittens, bringing the total rescued to 59.
Redford said the situation in Thunder Bay was not hoarding, and all the cats were well cared for. All were loaded into cat carriers, and everyone arrived in Markham at about 5 p.m. the next day.
And that drive, Redford said, was uneventful, despite there being 55 cats along for the ride.
"I wish I could say it was dramatic," he said. "I was anticipating 15 hours of howling and nausea and fights in between the cage bars and whatnot, and none of that happened."
"There were a few that had accidents, so the odour was little intense," Redford said. "There were actually times where I forgot they were there, I'll be honest with you. They were super quiet, and just waited. It's like they knew something good was happening, and they were just waiting to get to their new home. It was pretty amazing."
Redford has been working to spay and neuter the cats at his clinic, and most are up for adoption (an adoption fair took place in Markham on the weekend).
"Some of them have already found homes," he said. "They'll all find homes."
Redford said the whole trip was chronicled, and he plans to release a documentary about the experience.
"I've never done something like this," he said. "It worked out a lot better than I anticipated."
The documentary will be available on the Dr. Cliff Worldwide Vet page on Facebook when it's complete.