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| Photo Credit: Pat McGrath, Ottawa Citizen |
René Chartrand tended to the cat colony for 21 years until 2008, when poor health kept him from his daily visits. With support from Ralston Purina, which supplied the food, vets at the Alta Vista Animal Hospital who provided care and a bevy of cat loving volunteers, Chartrand made the sanctuary the second most popular spot on the Hill after the Centre Block.
"He made a promise that he would feed them and he did," said Brian Caines, a retired public servant who befreinded Chartrand in the 1990s. "He was there every day. He was there the day his wife died. On the 9/11 lockdown, he was the only civilian let on the Hill. He was so well know and the cats were so well know they made an exception for him to get up there."
The cat sanctuary carried on for just a few more years after Chartrand retired. The cats were all spayed and neutered and the colony dwindled from its peak of 28 animals to just four in the fall of 2012. The last Hill cat, a tabby named Bugsy, was captured and adopted on January 4, 2014.
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