Canadian Parliamentary Cats
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Parliament Hill cat colony was a clowder of stray cats living on
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...
in Ottawa,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada, in a cat sanctuary set aside for them. The care of the cats and maintenance of the sanctuary was carried out by volunteers, and the effort was funded by donations. The colony was closed in January 2013 after the remaining cats were adopted into homes.


History

Cats were brought into Parliament in 1924 to deal with a "mild plague of rats and mice in the basement of the then brand-new Centre Block.". The numbers of rodents soon fell, but when the unneutered cats began to multiply, they were banished to the outdoors in the same year. Cats were employed in the Parliament Building to control the
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
population until 1955 when they were replaced by chemicals. Mrs. Mabbs was one of several char ladies (cleaners) who brought bags of food for the cats and birds as early as the 1930s. Groundskeepers also fed the cats at various locations on the grounds until 1970, when Irène Desormeaux began feeding the cats at the location where the colony became established. She was joined by René Chartrand (born in 1921 in Hull, Quebec) in the mid-1980s, who took over when Desormeaux died in 1987. In 1997, other volunteers joined to help Chartrand in the effort, including Brian Caines. In 2003, Klaus Gerken joined the team, and along with Caines, organized a team of other volunteers. That same year, Chartrand received the Heroes for Animals Award from the Humane Society of Canada "recognizing Rene's lifetime achievement in caring for animals" over sixteen years at the cat sanctuary." One of his contributions was the construction of shelters in the colony. Gerken began to document the activities at the cat sanctuary on a blog in 2005, where he kept a list of resident cats and drop-offs. Chartrand retired from the sanctuary for health reasons in 2008 and died on December 7, 2014.


The colony

The cat sanctuary was located west of the Centre Block and the statue of Alexander Mackenzie. The fence surrounding the colony was no obstacle to the cats and they were free to roam the grounds. Chartrand built the first set of cold weather shelters in the mid-1980s. The second set of structures were built in 1997, and resembled the houses of European settlers along the St. Lawrence. In winter the cats survived in their lodgings by grouping together for warmth. Raccoons, groundhogs, pigeons, and squirrels also partook of the benefits formally intended for the cats. In 2003, when there were approximately 30 cats, the estimated annual cost of the colony was $6000. The cats received free inoculations and care from the local Alta Vista Animal Hospital. Purina, a pet care company, also donated food. The cats were spayed or neutered in the last ten to fifteen years of the sanctuary's operation, and the population slowly tapered off. Cats that were dropped off or found their way there were usually taken to the
Ottawa Humane Society The Ottawa Humane Society (1888 to present) is the humane society for Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Background The Ottawa Humane Society is a non-profit organization, community-based organization and a registered charitable organization, ''Charity R ...
. As a result of this policy, by late 2012, only four cats remained.


Decline and closure

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...
said that in good weather, some 300 visitors a day found their way to the cat sanctuary. Journalists arrived, some from as far away as Venezuela, "and television crews turn up to record the political cat phenomenon, if not for posterity, at least for a few fleeting moments on the tube". Local dignitaries also visited the sanctuary. Former prime minister " Pierre Trudeau, who enjoyed his walks, used to wander by. Brian Mulroney always waved from his limousine window". Stephen Harper and
Laureen Harper Laureen Ann Harper ( Teskey; born June 23, 1963) is a Canadian graphic designer. She is married to Canada's 22nd prime minister, Stephen Harper. Life and career The eldest of three, Laureen Ann Teskey was born in Turner Valley, a rural town so ...
had some contact with the sanctuary volunteers, and
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
were known to drop by from time to time, among them former Deputy Prime Minister
Herb Gray Herbert Eser Gray (May 25, 1931 – April 21, 2014) was a Canadian lawyer who became a prominent federal politician. He was a Liberal member of parliament for the Windsor area over the course of four decades, from 1962 to 2002, making Gray o ...
. In 2013, the four remaining cats were adopted to homes, and in January 2013 the sanctuary closed at the volunteers' request. The structures were demolished by Public Works and Government Services Canada on January 12, 2013.


In popular culture

Artist Gwendolyn Best created a number of paintings of the cats, which were exhibited at Ottawa's Orange Art Gallery in 2013. Some of her paintings are featured in an annual Cats of Parliament Hill calendar.


Gallery

File:Cat house on parliament hill.jpg, Cats napping outside their house File:Canadian Parliamentary Cats - Rene Chartrand.jpg, René Chartrand caring for the cats File:CanadianParliamentCatRefugeWide.jpg, The sanctuary as seen from the grounds File:Cat Complex.jpg, Cat Complex File:"Stray Cats Of The Hill History" Plaque.jpg, "Stray Cats Of The Hill History" plaque File:Cat Nap Sunning Chair.jpg, Cat Nap Sunning Chair File:Enclosure.jpg.jpg, Enclosure


See also

*
Trap–neuter–return Trap–neuter–return (TNR), also known as trap–neuter–release, is a controversial method that attempts to manage populations of feral cats. The process involves live-trapping the cats, having them neutered, ear-tipped for identification, and, ...
*
List of individual cats This is a list of famous cats which achieved some degree of popularity either in their own right or by association with someone famous. Before the modern era * Nedjem or Nojem ( Egyptian: ''nḏm'' "Sweet One" or "Sweetie"), 15th century BC. The ...


References


External links


"Closure of the cat sanctuary"
Public Works and Government Services Canada announcement, 2013-2-26.
The Cats of Parliament Hill Facebook Page - view the latest updates here (including updates on the cats who were adopted and are still with us) - maintained by Klaus J. GerkenThe Cats of Parliament Hill Blog - Blog written by Klaus J. Gerken from 2005 to 2010The Cats of Parliament Hill Memorial Page - Facebook page with all photos of the sanctuary from 2001 to 2013 by year and month taken by Klaus J. Gerken
article by U.K. writer Patrick Roberts, Purr 'n' Fur, with several related links {{Parliament Hill Domestic cat welfare organizations Feral cats Parliament of Canada buildings 2013 disestablishments in Canada Cats in Canada