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Boundary cat shelter celebrates important milestone

The non-profit that runs the shelter recently attained charity status
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Helping Hands’ President Kimberly Feeny poses for a picture with shelter rescue Arlow Thursday, Nov. 25. Photo: Laurie Tritschler

The Boundary’s only cat shelter has found fur-ever homes for over 200 felines so far this year, including the so-called Black Train Bridge kittens lovingly rescued in September with the help of Grand Forks seniors.

Kimberly Feeny, President at the Boundary Helping Hands Feline Rescue Society (Helping Hands), said the society crossed the 200-mark in mid-November, having homed 207 cats and kittens by the end of the month. The shelter had recently taken in 15 charges from a feral colony at a rural Greenwood property Feeny said has become a dumping ground for unwanted cats.

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The cats have been well cared for by a woman who volunteered to bring them to the shelter on behalf of the property owner, both of whom strongly condemn the practice of abandoning pets.

“They’ve done a really great job getting these cats to us. Many of them are coming in already fixed,” Feeny said.

(L-R) Rescued cats Amy, Arugala and Ansley peek up from their hiding place at Helping Hands’ shelter. Photo: Laurie Tritschler
(L-R) Rescued cats Amy, Arugala and Ansley peek up from their hiding place at Helping Hands’ shelter. Photo: Laurie Tritschler

Helping Hands has meanwhile adopted out Cappuccino, Espresso, Java and Mocha, all four of whom were reportedly left for dead under the former rail trestle that spans the Kettle River a short drive away from the shelter’s headquarters in Johnson Flats. Foster-mom Anne Hawes said she brought the babies for a final visit with the seniors who helped nurse them at Phoenix Manor on Nov. 20.

Frank Makortoff bottle-feeds Cappuccino the kitten during a visit at Phoenix Manor Saturday, Nov. 20. Photo courtesy of Anne Hawes
Frank Makortoff bottle-feeds Cappuccino the kitten during a visit at Phoenix Manor Saturday, Nov. 20. Photo courtesy of Anne Hawes

Feeny said the shelter is always looking for new volunteers and foster homes for deserving cats and kittens and especially for cats who are nursing.

Helping Hands became a non-profit society in November 2020, attaining charity status this September. To make a tax-deductible donation to the shelter, visit the society’s page on the website Canadahelps.org.


 

@ltritsch1
laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca

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laurie.tritschler@boundarycreektimes.com

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