Centretowners save orphaned pets

Alayne McGregor

On December 1, Marna Nightingale was sitting in the chilly backyard of a rooming house on Eccles Street, trying to rescue the final cat orphaned by a tragic death.

The cat was one of about 18 which were being cared for by Jonathan Hammell, 42, who lived in the rooming house. He died on November 11 after a fight. Nearby resident Kevin Richer has been charged with second-degree murder in his death.

Together with her partner Lorayne Katz and with the help of animal lovers across Centretown and beyond, Nightingale has been trapping, caring for, and finding new homes for Hammell’s cats and Richer’s dog. As she talked to The BUZZ that afternoon, she was sipping tea and keeping watch over a humane trap baited with tuna, chicken, and mashed oyster, hoping to retrieve the last cat before that night’s snowstorm. She had to keep watching, because the cat might injure itself or be vulnerable to predators if left unattended in the trap.

She was particularly concerned because the cat was possibly pregnant, and if it gave birth, the kittens might not survive outdoors. “This is Operation ‘No more dead kittens’.”

Nightingale, a former BUZZ editor, lives three blocks away from the rooming house, and had seen Hammell and his cats regularly. “Jonathan did an amazing job of caring for these cats. They’re all very friendly. They’re all very sweet. They’re in glowing health. He did everything he could for them and it shows.

“Everyone I’ve talked to say that he was kind, and incredibly devoted to looking after the cats. He could be very shy with people and so the cats meant a lot to him.”

On November 11, she had passed by as the argument was starting. When she later gave a witness statement to the police, she learned that Richer’s dog Dozer and several young kittens were now at the Humane Society. Nightingale was able to confirm they were fine and in no danger, and walked over to allay neighbours’ fears.

“In the course of that, people realized there were a lot more cats. Could we do anything to help? They couldn’t take them all in, and winter was coming. We said, ‘Yes, we can do that.’”

With Richer’s permission, they quickly found a home for his dog, Dozer. The six-year-old white mastiff cross is now living happily with a family in the same neighbourhood in Centretown, she said. “The owner has always had large-breed dogs, and they are doing so well together. We’re going to take him to get fixed on January 22.”

She and Katz started distributing food for the cats, and then discussed how to find them new homes. Cat rescue operations are completely swamped right now, she said, “so we’re just doing it ourselves.” They had previous experience, having cared for a colony of feral cats in their backyard.

“At some point, you know who to call, you know what to do, you know what the steps are, you know roughly how much money you need, so it’s fairly easy to swing into action because there is an enormous network of delightfully crazy cat and dog people in Centretown. We all vaguely know each other. If it was not me, it would have been someone else.”

She said she could not have undertaken the rescue without Arden Gionet, who runs the Pet Circus store on Bank Street, who has been “incredibly generous” with donations, time, knowledge, and contacts.

Over two weeks, Nightingale trapped cats in a “fairly smooth” operation. “There were several days I got two in six hours.”

Those cats are in homes, either foster or permanent, or being nursed by Nightingale and Katz. They currently have a waiting list of people willing to take the cats after they’ve had vet checkups, “which is glorious.”

They also found a stray orange tabby who turned out to have been lost for seven months. The owner was delighted to get him back.

Nightingale said that when Hammell moved into the rooming house, he had one pregnant cat. That expanded to about 18 in just two years. That’s one reason why she is determined to ensure the cats are not only fed and re-homed, but also spayed/neutered.

When they realized the number of cats, she and Katz knew they would need help. On November 24, former BUZZ editor Kate Hunt set up a “Bring Jonathan’s Cats In From The Cold” fundraiser on GoFundMe to pay for the animals’ care.

It has already raised $6,956, almost $1000 more than its goal.

What was her reaction to the immediate response? “I may have cried. I was expecting it to be a lot harder. I honestly thought this would be a long, hard slog. It was amazing. I genuinely wish I could name a kitten after every person who donated.

“There are a lot of extremely kind people in Centretown, and there are a lot of extraordinarily kind people in this section of Centretown, living in the rooming houses, and precariously housed or unhoused. A lot of them have pets, and they adore them, and they work incredibly hard to look after them. They’ll go short to feed [their animals].”

The funds raised will go for food and vitamins, vaccinations, testing for parasites and diseases like feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), leukemia, and upper respiratory disease, de-worming, microchipping, and spaying/neutering.

Because Ottawa vets are currently swamped with work, they’re taking the cats to a spay/neuter clinic in Leeds-Grenville in January, so they need fuel for those trips.

If any money is left over, Nightingale said the money would go to the pet pantry at St. Luke’s Table, or help other local residents who need help getting their cats vaccinated and fixed.

Nightingale is also promoting another GoFundMe, this one to provide “Support for the Pounder-Hammell family” to “to help alleviate some of the financial stressors his family may be facing.” This campaign has so far raised $1,510 (Update: $1,762 as of December 14).

Update December 7

All Hammell’s cats have been found, to Nightingale’s “enormous relief.” After several days of searching, the final cat was located already housed by another volunteer. It was also not pregnant, merely hefty.

Six cats were spayed/neutered after Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue donated veterinary appointments at the Humane Society that it didn’t need.