Journal Staff
Two new features have improved life immensely for lost and abandoned cats at the Sarnia Humane Society.
One came about courtesy of Lambton College students and staff and the other through a son’s wish to honour his terminally ill mother.
‘A Cat’s Haven’ is a carpeted enclosure that allows shelter felines to step outside to enjoy fresh air andsunshine. It was installed recently after Mike Shepley contacted the Exmouth Street shelter and asked about creating a legacy project for his mom, Terri McCarthy, who was diagnosed with cancer last year.
“She’s always had a love of stray cats. She has house cats but she’s always loved stray cats,” Shepley said.
“In fact, I would tell her that the cats were first and I was second as her son,” he joked.
Shepley brought his mom to see the new ‘Haven” for herself recently.
“She started to cry. And she really liked the cats being outside. She was pretty proud of it,” he said.
The other new improvement at the shelter was the construction of an indoor Cat Room.
It was one of 15 community projects undertaken by Lambton College students and faculty as part of the college’s 50th anniversary.
The Cat Room, once filled with stacked cages, is like a playground for felines and features a tree for climbing and scratching, wall shelves for rest and play and plenty of new cat toys.
A plaque on the outdoor Cat’s Haven recognizes the joy that cats have given Terri McCarthy.
“I think it meant a lot to her,” her son said.
"She’s got terminal cancer and she’s not going to be around. But her name will be there, associated with the cats that she loved.”
