Toronto Pet Store Rescued Kittens From A Trash Can On One Of The Coldest Nights This Year
They'll be up for adoption soon!
Cheers to local heroes! A litter of five kittens was saved from a garbage bin by a pet store in Toronto on one of the coldest nights of the year so far.
Katherine Yao, a sales associate at the Pet Valu store on 5200 Yonge St. told Narcity what happened on January 10 when a customer came in asking about kitten food.
"They brought up how she and her neighbour actually found five kittens in the trash can outside on one of like, the coldest nights," Yao said.
Everyone at the store is “pretty fond” of kittens, puppies, and animals, period, so Yao said they offered to help. On top of fostering the kittens, the Pet Valu also kicked off a GoFundMe page to help the caregivers look after them until they find their forever homes.
The fundraiser already surpassed its goal of $1,000 and raised a total of $1,307. Funds will go towards food and vet bills for the strays, and they are also currently accepting food, cash and supply donations in-store.
"That kind of escalated really quickly when we posted on our social media and like everyone just started donating, which is great," Yao said.
Since the kittens were rescued, the youngest of the litter has unfortunately passed away since they wouldn’t latch on to any of the food. But, Yao shared that the rest of the litter is doing well.
“I think one is in the works for finding a permanent home. The other three are still looking,” Yao said.
“We're just waiting until they're old enough for their, you know, their vaccinations and their surgeries. And then once all that is out of the way, they're ready for their permanent home.”
This is not the first time this Pet Valu on Yonge Street has been notified about strays in the area.
"It's happened a couple of times, unfortunately," she said.
Yao added a stray cat that was found outside during the summer has now become the store’s pet.
If you want to give these adorable furballs a forever home, the store said that the adoption process starts up eight to ten weeks after the kittens have had the proper health screenings and can eat solid foods.
The city has been facing record-breaking icy winds this winter with extreme cold warnings currently in effect throughout most of Ontario.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.