It’s simply hard to ignore the faces of small balls of fur peering back up at you from a tiny room lined with cages. What should not be ignored is how these cats arrived at this place, or what will happen to them.
Many of the 12 cats left in the Toronto Cat Rescue’s adopt-a-thon are rescues, meaning that in one way or another, they were abandoned.
The Toronto Cat Rescue is a non-profit, no-kill charity that rescues and houses cats and kittens in the hope that they will find a proper home. To help with the adoption process, it has paired up with mega pet store, PetSmart, where they hold these adopt-a-thons.
Nalini Ramroop is a Toronto Cat Rescue volunteer and organized the event at the PetSmart located at Kennedy Commons. She said the organization anticipates approximately six events per year, and that since the weekend she has seen some great adoptions.
“We had 11 adoptions and three went in pairs,” she said. “So it was very successful.”
She said the Toronto Cat Rescue at any given time will house anywhere from 500 to 600 cats. This past weekend’s adopt-a-thon began with 23 cats, which is why Ramroop considered the event a success. This is due in part not only to the diligence of their volunteers, but also a cleverly selected partnership with PetSmart.
“It’s a great partnership not only because PetSmart provides the food and litter,” she said. “It’s a foster spot for us and we get great exposure.”
She credits a good portion of the adoptions towards that exposure. She said many people ended up adopting from walking into the store and seeing the cause in motion.
Jillian, another younger volunteer, participated in her second adopt-a-thon. She says it is a great cause to have these events at large stores.
“A lot more people come out and there are more adoptions on those days,” she said.
Ramroop believes the payoff is not just for the charity either.
“Hopefully from this PetSmart has a repeat client in the person that adopts,” she said. “It’s a reciprocal relationship.”
She said that there may be one other adopt-a-thon next month before the year comes to a close.