THUNDER BAY — When Markham, Ontario veterinarian Cliff Redford heard that a Thunder Bay woman was unable to continue caring for dozens of cats, he knew he had to help.
Redford and a friend got into a van and drove to Thunder Bay on Aug. 20 expecting to pick up 42 animals.
As it turned out, they made the return trip with 55 cats, one of whom subsequently had kittens, making for a grand total of 59.
An additional 15 cats from the same Thunder Bay address will be transported to Redford's Wellington Veterinary Hospital soon.
He said he dubbed the rescue mission "The Thunder Bay Cat Rescue Adventure Quest."
Redford works with animal welfare groups in his area that bring animals to his clinic, but has never gone to such great lengths as he did for the predicament in Thunder Bay.
The woman who was looking after the cats was being forced to leave her home, and he considered it an urgent matter.
"There are no clinics that I'm aware of that are going to be able to help with such a large endeavour. I'm a little bit adventurous and crazy, I guess, so I said 'Let's give it a try'," he said.
Redford was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the cats were in good condition.
He was expecting to encounter a hoarding situation, but "it was the exact opposite of what I anticipated."
The cats—about 15 of which were living in the house—had all been given names, he said, and had been well-fed by the woman.
"She's gonna miss the cats...She was doing a great job," Redford said.
The animals are receiving any necessary medical care, including being spayed or neutered, before being placed for adoption.
Redford is covering a considerable part of his expenses.
"I give some almost pro bono costs to the cat rescue [organizations] for the spays and neuters and for the vaccines, so that they'll basically cover my costs for that without any mark-up. But as far as the travel expenses, staffing, shutting my clinic down when I wasn't here...I'm just eating those costs as part of doing the right thing."
On the Labour Day weekend, a Markham pet supply business held an adopt-a-thon for some of the Thunder Bay rescue cats.
Redford said new homes were found for about half the 20 animals that were presented at the event.
He's confident that successful adoptions will be arranged for all the cats in the weeks ahead.
Redford has also helped animal welfare groups overseas, in places such as Jamaica and Greece, as part of what he describes as "a half-work, half-vacation thing."
"I guess it's time I did more of the same stuff here in Canada," he said.
