Canadian Man Provides Sanctuary for Cats
O T T A W A, Dec. 24 -- Stand back across the Rideau Canal and gaze up at the towering Gothic spires of Canada's capital after a light dusting of snow, and you may be tempted by this seemingly fairy-tale setting to mumble under your breath, "Once upon a time."
Look back to the left of the center block on Parliament Hill, back behind the bronze statue of Queen Victoria guarded by a bronze lion capped in snow, and you may be tempted to say it again.
Because here at the foot of Victoria is a colony of cats and an old man who is trying very hard to keep a promise that he made once upon a time.
Descendants of Her Majesty’s Mousers
His name is Rene Chartrand and he is the keeper of the cats of Parliament Hill. All 28 of the cats are strays. There is an Ottawa legend that says they are descendants of the mousers that once patrolled the corridors of Parliament in Her Majesty's service. Perhaps it's true.
But all 28 of them are outdoor cats now and they are kept alive — in fact, kept very well-fed — by Chartrand. He has built them shelters — plywood homes he has modeled on the architecture of the Parliament itself. The cats that mix well with tourists — like Blanchette, Blackie and a calico who lost an ear in a scrap long ago — and all the others that hide when there are people around have a very good life.
The government tolerates Chartrand and the cats' arrangement but does not fund it. Tourists who flock to Canada's capital often put money in a donation box to help pay for cat food. Chartrand pays for the rest out of his pension.
"I'm alone," he said. "I don't need to spend much on myself."
A Deathbed Promise
And Chartrand has come on this cold December morning, as he does every morning, to sweep off the freshly fallen snow covering the roofs of the cat's shelter.
And when the carillon bells of the central tower — called the Peace Tower — begin to play Christmas carols, a peaceful look comes over Chartrand's face and he begins to tell his story.
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