There are all sorts of pet owners in the world. Thankfully, a large portion of them are responsible, caring, and loving toward their furry family members. Others, well, those are the ones of whom I’m not a fan. I’ll start by sharing about the extensive work I have done for several colonies around Burlington. In one particular neighbourhood in central Burlington, I have, with the help of my boyfriend and a couple others, successfully taken in excess of 40 cats and kittens off the street, vetted them, and found them loving homes to live their lives forever. Despite the sheer magnitud ..read more

​In the early morning on Easter Sunday my sweet boy, Chance, peacefully passed away. He was my bubbly, overly enthusiastic, attention seeking, and perfectly beautiful best friend. This sweet soul came into my care in September 2015 straight from “death row”. He was merely hours; if not minutes, away from certain death. Poor Chance had been left alone in a carrier; abandoned in an apartment when his owner moved out. He had spent countless days in the care of Animal Control, receiving ongoing medical care; only to have his fate decided when his condition did not improve. From the mom ..read more

It is with great pride (and a few happy tears) that I share this beautiful photo of Lucky about to embark on her new journey with adoptive parents whom love her to the moon and back. We already miss Lucky so much at the clinic; her chatting away and her silly antics, but we are reassured that she has the most wonderful home complete with patient and caring “parents” who will continue to love her just as we all did at Mountainside Animal Clinic. Lucky was abandoned at the clinic around 7:30 pm on October 2, 2018. It was only by sheer, unadulterated “luck” that I happened to be taking Ba ..read more

Felix - Best friend and companion to Lesley I have been asked in the past if I “breed” cats in my rescue.  Please don’t be upset, it’s a genuine question as many people are unaware of what a true animal rescue is.  While many kittens have indeed been born in my rescue, they were born out of the carelessness of humans.  Humans who chose to abandon or leave their unsuspecting companion at a barn, commercial property, field, or random location miles away from the place they once called home.   Below, I will do my best to explain the true nature of what an animal rescue is; in human form…   I ..read more

It can be somewhat disheartening when someone doesn’t quite understand the true nature of the term “rescue” cat or kitten. A “rescue” cat or kitten is a cat or kitten that was once abandoned, abused, and/or homeless at some point in their life. Whether they were born or thrown outside is irrelevant; their life experience(s) are what define each one. With each experience they have, they are molded into who they are. It is what makes them unique and gives them their personality. One trend I am noticing with our many rescue families are the genetics, or in-born personality traits adopt ..read more

I went outside just now to tidy up a few things that were laying out. Sure enough, the dominant male Tom showed up. He sat and watched me as I went about my business. I happened to have a huge bag of cat food donations given to our rescue cats today from Global Pet Foods so I began to open up a bag. I started to chat with him about how I knew he wanted the blueberries that enriched this amazing food I was getting ready for him. I stood there for a few minutes as we exchanged some form of communication. This Tom has been here from the very beginning. I'm told he just "showed up one day ..read more

We often share a good chuckle with some of our potential adopters when they are adamant about adopting a cat or kitten simply based on sight. At ELM we have seen this happen many times; an adoptive family will come in with their hearts set on “a ginger” or “so-and-so” simply based on how they look. Most often, it is those who are dead set on who they will adopt, will be the ones who are “adopted” by an entirely different rescue altogether! It is for this reason why we do not often “reserve” our rescues. Of course once we have determined that ELM Cat Rescue is a great match for our poten ..read more

On occasion, I've had a potential adopter ask for a discount or credit for something as simple as a vaccine the rescue will require post adoption, or merely asking for a discount so they may save some money on our already nominal, and more than reasonable Adoption Fee. I wouldn't be speaking the truth if I said this didn't frustrate me somewhat. This is solely due to the fact that I know the costs involved in rescue. I see the sickness, the abuse, the abandonment, and I see things first hand that no pet owner should ever witness. This is the emotional price of owning and running a rescu ..read more

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