A Winnipeg cat shelter is trying to rebuild before the winter weather hits, after a fire destroyed thousands of dollars’ worth of property and threatened the lives of 25 cats.
On Sunday, volunteers with Craig Street Cats, a local cat rescue and feral management group, were working together to rebuild shelters to house feral cats over the winter. Lynne Scott, the rescue’s executive director, said about two weeks ago a fire ripped through twelve of their winter shelters with 25 cats still inside.
“When I went down to the site and saw what happened – I cried,” Scott told CTV News Winnipeg. “It’s devastating, just devastating.”
While 20 of the cats housed in the shelters have been accounted for, Scott said five are still missing.
For some cats these shelters are a literal life-saver in the colder months, Scott said. The cats brought in to the shelters are spayed, neutered, vaccinated and properly cared for. Over the past year and a half, Craig Street Cats has invested over $25,000 in the site that was burned, leaving the volunteers scrambling to rebuild before winter.
“In our winters, if it gets down to 30 or 40 below, cat’s lose their ears, their tails. It’s not unusual to see a cat actually frozen to the ground,” Scott said. “So having those shelters as a place where they can get out of the cold and prevent very serious frostbite is very important.”
On Sunday, Scott said up to 20 people came to help build about 20 to 25 new winter shelters, costing Craig Street Cats about $15,000.
Now the rescue said covering these costs will be very difficult, and it will be looking to its donors for financial support .
