The cold weather has been taking its toll on animal shelters in Metro Vancouver, including one in Langley that has seen a huge jump in the number of cats needing their help.
The Canadian Animal Rescue & Extended Shelter (C.A.R.E.S.) is home to more than 70 felines – and new cats are arriving every day. Seventeen were recently dropped off in just a two-day period last week.
“We've had a group of kittens dumped at our various locations and it's happened across shelters all around the place,” said Elyse Dyck, who works at C.A.R.E.S. “If you’re that cold, the cats are also cold.”
There are cats of all kinds at the shelter: some strays searching shelter from the cold, some seniors, some abandoned by their owners.
Roberta is one of the unwanted ones. She was recently dumped outside the C.A.R.E.S. shelter at night, left in a carrier in freezing temperatures.
“Had somebody not come in, had there not been… someone coming into the shelter that evening, that cat would have died,” said Clive Ellis, C.A.R.E.S. volunteer. “[Cats] very, very quickly feel the effects of the cold.”
“She had extremely bad infections in her mouth that almost all of her teeth had to be removed,” added Dyck.
Roberta the cat
The shelter is happy to be able to help the abandoned felines, but their resources are strained. Increased incidences of cat arthritis have vet bills on the rise – and the weather has caused heating bills to increase too.
The frigid temperatures are also wreaking havoc on the old building that houses the shelter, and C.A.R.E.S. is hoping for some support from the public so they can continue helping cats like Roberta.
“We have a totally open care policy and also we have a no kill policy,” said Ellis.
“Some cats here have been here for as long as 10 years, and we want to give them love and affection and they stay here forever if they are not adopted.”
Looking to give a cat in need a furr-ever home? The shelter is holding an adopt-a-thon on Jan.21.
Check out the C.A.R.E.S. website here.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Michele Brunoro
