THUNDER BAY — A Thunder Bay animal rescue organization is sending dozens of cats to animal shelters in southern Ontario because the city has an overpopulation of felines.
Caring Hearts Cat Rescue and Sanctuary has arranged for the North Bay Humane Society to pick up 21 local cats and 21 kittens.
The animals will be transported Thursday, June 27 in an air-conditioned truck and trailer from North Bay.
Caring Hearts' founder Michelle Gagnon says an unusually large number of kittens were born in Thunder Bay this spring.
Combined with an increased number of surrenders by pet owners, this stretched the rescue group's capacity too far.
"We are having an increasingly difficult time placing our cats in Thunder Bay homes. We want all our rescues to find loving adoptive homes, so it's in the cats' best interests to send them to southern Ontario," Gagnon said.
She said Thunder Bay continues to struggle with an inordinately large population of cats, mainly due to the number of unaltered strays.
This week's transfer will be the second big one which Caring Hearts has organized.
According to Gagnon, 98 per cent of the cats and kittens transferred in April were adopted in southern Ontario in less than two months.
The rescue group arranges for vet checks for the animals before they head south.
Gagnon said veterinary costs associated with the latest transfer total close to $1,500.
