Fibre glass cats are popping up around Cape Breton with hopes of drawing attention to the 20,000 feral, stray and abandoned cats in the municipality.
“Some of them are painted, some are decorated,” said Deana Lloy. “We have glass works. There's a real variation of cats. There's no two the same.”
Carla Sandalis of the Feral and Abandoned Cats Society says educating pet owners is their main goal.
“A lot of animals are just thrown out like garbage,” said Sandalis. “I know in my own area there's cats that come from nowhere. They are trying to survive on their own.”
There are currently three statues located in downtownSydney. Others will be revealed each week, until all 24 cats are on display.
Each has a different design inspired by local artists wanting to help control the pet population.
“I did a pizza cat. So he's a Cape Breton combination pizza. And it was a lot of fun,” said local artist Kirstie Horwath.
All of the cats have one ear tipped, which is the international symbol that a homeless cat has been a part of a trap-neuter-return program, having been fixed so they can no longer reproduce.
“We work really hard at it,” said Llow. “Our goal is over 1,000 cats a year. We’re a core team of hard working volunteers. We're out there every day trapping.”
There are also prizes to be won. The public is being asked to take selfies with the cats and post them to the Feral and Abandon Cats Society's Facebook page.
But its main purpose is to raise awareness about responsible pet ownership
“I've seen things I probably wouldn't say on television. Not so nice things that happen to feral cats from neglect and they're out there trying to survive on their own,” said Sandalis.
The litter will be on display for more than two months and will be auctioned off at a gala in October with money raised going to the cause.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
