‘Bracing for impact’: St. Thomas cat rescue facing facility crisis

Animal Aide in St. Thomas has been forced to close and relocate animals, CTV London's Sean Irvine has more.

A St. Thomas cat rescue centre is facing a crisis beyond finding pets a new home.

The agency has been forced to close temporarily amid ongoing facility issues.

Animal Aide has been a refuge for felines in need for two decades, but an ongoing challenge with water damage has forced the centre to close its doors to the public.

It also forced the evacuation of some animals and made adoptions difficult.

“The water issues actually have been going on since the beginning of January”, said Ashley Thornton, the operations manager. “It all originated, actually, with an electrical fire in our basement as moisture go into one of our outlets.”

Thornton has been attempting to work with the property landlord to secure a permanent resolution, but in the meantime, volunteer staff have been ensuring the comfort of cats in available areas of the building.

“It did debilitate how many cats we’re able to put out or simply how many cats were able to adopt and how many we’re able to take in to help,” said volunteer Lucid Levasseur.

National Pet Adoption Week coincides with the recent challenges, permitting the agency to place dozens of cats at local PetSmart stores.

But it is only a temporary solution, Thornton warned.

“We are bracing for the impact of kitten season right now,” she said. Stray animals begin to mate in spring, producing kittens. “We have 12 separate litters in care. They all have their own needs. Bottle feeding, requiring fosters, round-the-clock medical care, you name it.“

This week has focused on animal care in St. Thomas, as the struggles at Animal Aide coincide with the groundbreaking for a new city shelter. It will cost $4 million and open later this year.

Thornton extends positive wishes to the new centre, but isn’t convinced it will reduce the demand for her agency or the pressure on her volunteers.

Meanwhile, they press on.

“Well, we like to get them all adopted and find good homes, and, right now, we’re basically closed, you know. So, yeah, we want to get everything fixed up and have people come in,” said longtime volunteer Ed Orchard.

Animal Aide is hopeful that ongoing public support and lobbying will resolve their facility concerns in the coming days.