Skip to content

WATCH: Shuswap pet rescue society creates happy ending for five feral felines

Volunteer group could use food, donations for its work helping vulnerable cats and dogs

Teal, Turquoise, Sky, Indigo and Cobalt.

Five furry feral kittens with colourful names were the object of a recent satisfying rescue at a sawmill in the Salmon Arm Industrial Park.

Volunteer Pat Haddad explains she received a call on May 11 from Barb Gosselin, head of the Shuswap Paws Rescue Society.

A kitten had been heard, crying loudly.

Read more: 2018 - Shuswap Paws fundraises to help vulnerable kittens

When Haddad and her fellow volunteers arrived they were able to catch, with help from a staff member, two skittish kitties. They appeared to be about four weeks old, emaciated and cold.

“We don’t know where the mom was; it must have been quite a few days,” Haddad said.

One of the many people who foster cats for the society took the two rescues home to warm them up and feed them.

Haddad and other volunteers came back a couple of hours later after setting out kitten traps for the remaining three.

The traps were empty, however, and she realized the tiny cats were trapped under a wall, having scooted away for fear of being caught. Using a little super-woman strength, Haddad, 74, pulled up an eight-foot piece of plywood, nails and all. Two more kittens were caught but the last one was down a slot about 10-feet deep, three inches wide.

Seeing some loose plastic-covered electrical wire and combining it with quick thinking, Haddad fashioned a noose and began fishing for the frightened feline. She managed to loop the wire around its body and one of its front legs, quickly pulling it up to safety.

The kittens are now all in foster homes, doing well.

“When it all comes together, it’s magic,” she smiled.

The animals caught are spayed and neutered by the society; some become pets and some are released back to the wild. The society feeds them or makes sure they are fed, Haddad added.

Read more: 2019 - Salmon Arm yoga studio to host adorable, adoptable rescue kittens

Barb Gosselin explained Shuswap Paws Rescue Society is 100 per cent volunteer.

The society tends to catch the most vulnerable cats, many of which are injured and/or feral. Catching them often takes some ingenuity. Far fewer dogs than cats are rescued.

She said the society currently has about 60 cats in foster care. It can always use support as there are food costs along with spaying and neutering.

Gosselin suggests joining the society’s Facebook page, Shuswap Paws Rescue Society and Shuswap Salvaged.

She explained Shuswap Salvaged is a hobby that’s used to make money for the society. The society is also on Instagram at @beescats.

Gosselin said the volunteers have a lot of pregnant cats right now and are in need of kitten food.

Donations other than cash can be left at Pet Valu Salmon Arm. The society email is shuswappaws@gmail.com.



newsroom@saobserver.net

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

21595115_web1_copy_200522-SAA-orphaned-kittens-rescued
This is one of five orphaned feral kittens rescued on May 11, 2020 by Shuswap Paws Rescue Society. (Contributed)
21595115_web1_200522-SAA-feral-kittens-rescued-3
These are three of the five orphaned kittens rescued in Salmon Arm’s industrial park recently by Shuswap Paws Rescue Society. (Contributed)


Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
Read more