Small Things Cats, a Greater Sudbury cat rescue run by a group of volunteer self-professed crazy cat ladies and a few crazy cat men, has done amazing things out of its small Hazel Street headquarters.
Now nearly a decade old, the rescue works with the City of Greater Sudbury Animal Shelter in Wahnapitae to make sure the adult cats that end up in the shelter find their “fur-ever” homes.
Small Things previously worked with the city's former shelter services contractor, Rainbow District Animal Shelter, before the city took its shelter services in-house in 2016.
The rescue, which does same-day adoptions, and has fees ranging from $60 to $120, depending on the cat's age, has a pretty amazing adoption rate — 359 in 2017 and 320 in 2018. That's nearly one cat per day.
When Small Things gets low on cats — they've had up to 15 in the shop at once — the city shelter drops off a new batch of cats that are newly neutered and spayed.
The cats, either found on the streets or surrendered by owners, are sometimes traumatized by their recent experiences, but Small Things volunteers work hard to bring them out of their shells.
They photograph and take videos of the latest felines, which are then posted on the rescue's social media pages in the hopes that someone will decide this is the pet for them.
The youngest cats Small Things takes in are five months old — the youngest age they can be altered — and the oldest cat ever adopted out by the rescue was 17 years old.
Small Things volunteer Rebecca Rock, a cat mom to four herself who jokes she's cut off from adopting, said ensuring shelter cats go to good homes is a good substitute. “Doing the adoptions is the biggest thrill, because you get to see them interact with their new families, and see everyone fall in love, cats and humans alike,” she said.
The city's partnership with Small Things is “instrumental," said Melissa Laalo, bylaw department co-ordinator with the City of Greater Sudbury, who runs the city animal shelter. “The adoptions wouldn't have been so high (without them),” she said. “They do an amazing amount of adoptions for us annually.”
Laalo said the animal shelter mostly gets cats over the age of one year, and adult cats are Small Things' specialty. Without Small Things, Greater Sudbury would likely have to ship animals out of town, she said. “We've partnered I'd say with all the rescues in Sudbury to some extent,” Laalo said.
“Each of them have their own expertise, and we rely on their expertise. Some of them are very good with pregnant cats and kittens."
“Some are great with dogs, and help us in those hard to adopt scenarios. Small Things is a great resource to help us adopt out adult cats.”
Jan Carrie Steven is the original crazy cat lady who started it all. Before Small Things existed, many Greater Sudbury shelter cats ended up in Steven's home, where she cared for them until they were adopted.
Steven, who left Greater Sudbury nearly four years ago with her retired Laurentian University English professor husband Laurence Steven, now splits her time between St. Catharines and Arizona.
She said she started Small Things as a book and craft shop in 2009, and held a cat adoption event there one weekend. That's how the cat rescue eventually moved out of Steven's South End home and into Small Things.
Steven, reached in her winter home in Arizona, whose retirement lifestyle regretfully does not allow her to work in cat rescue, said she's “thrilled and delighted” by Small Things' evolution.
“But I'm not astounded, because there are some awesome volunteers,” she said. “People are very good about adopting as well, providing homes to these kitties.”
Rock said she wants to thank everyone who's adopted, allowing Small Things to make such a big impact over the past decade.
She points out that with every cat adopted, you're saving three — the one you adopted, a cat from the city animal shelter that moves to Small Things, and a cat from the street that goes to the city animal shelter.
“That's the biggest thing we can say to anyone who is thinking about adopting, is come on in,” she said, adding that even if you just want to pet the cats, that's all right too.
Rock said the rescue also always welcomes donations of food and kitty litter. But what it really needs is volunteers to keep the shop open as much as possible and facilitate more adoptions.
Those interested in volunteering or adopting can phone Small Things Cats, located at 253-B Hazel St., at 705-586-7828, email [email protected], or visit the rescue's website or Facebook page.
Small Things Cats is currently running on winter hours of Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. The rescue is closed Sunday and Monday.
@heidi_ulrichsen
