Stephen Tomasi

Our animal welfare provider, Southwest Middlesex Animal Shelter, has over 100 cats and kittens that they have rescued, fixed, and are performing full rescue duties for, tending to their medical needs, vaccinating, microchipping, and human socializing them, in addition to housing and feeding them, as well as processing and approving adoption applications to get them into loving homes. Almost all of them are ready and available for adoption. The fee to adopt a cat is $300-. Healthy, vetted, and ready to love. Those of you who have pets, and care for your pets in a way that keeps them healthy, know that this adoption fee is a bargain. To date, more than 200 other cats have been rescued by the shelter and have found their forever homes. The shelter is contracted by our municipality to provide a specific set of services. You might be surprised that taking in cats and providing what the Appin Cats Project considers an essential service is not mandated by the province of Ontario, and the shelter receives no funding from the municipality to provide this service. Their only income from performing what amounts to a kindness is from the adoption fee collected, and donations. Adopt. If you're looking for a pet, consider checking out the shelter's options for dogs and cats. They all need homes, and we bet your home is pretty nice. Advocate. If you think that compensation for this needed and valuable service just makes sense, say so to those who can make it happen. All funds raised by this fundraiser will directly benefit the Southwest Middlesex Animal Shelter to continue the essential service that they provide to our community.

The Appin Cats Project has been following the story of Syl for almost 6 months. When a concerned citizen contacted us for help, we began by supporting their attempts to capture and rehabilitate him. When his potential rescuers moved away without successfully trapping him, he disappeared from the neighbourhood. The vision he cut was heartbreaking, and we could not forget him. Soon, we made a post about him and a number of like-minded residents from the neighbourhood stepped in to help. And they located him. Syl has been living on Canaan Street these last few months, neighbours reporting that he had been living there previously, but had gone missing for a couple of years. Locals have guessed that he has been around for 8 or 9 years, and that he is likely older than that. Canaan Street is currently home to a 25+ cat colony that is at risk because of the crumbling abandoned home that serves as their shelter. The Caregivers of Petrolia Ferals have graciously accepted this colony into care, and we are currently assisting them with trapping and transporting them to rescue. Syl has taken a special place in our hearts and, although we are at capacity, we have the right approach and environment to transition Syl into a loving retirement. Today, December 15, 2025, Syl was finally trapped and sent to the vet for treatment and observation. Everyone knows how expensive things are, and we won't complain. However, we usually only fundraise once a year (this is our second time), and the costs of taking care of our rescue's permanent fosters, feeding two dozen plus cats, along with specialty diets and medications, largely comes from our own pockets. Funds raised by this fundraiser will be used to give Syl the best veterinary care, and to further benefit the many cats in our care.

Canaan Street in Strathroy, Ontario Our rescue, the Appin Cats Project, has partnered with the Caregivers Of Petrolia Ferals to resolve a stray and feral cat colony in downtown Strathroy. An abandoned house, boarded up, and later, fenced in, has begun its final decay and has begun crumbling. It was never safe for felines, and it is moreso now. Volunteers with the Appin Cats Project have been cataloguing, caring for, and now have begun trapping the cats to bring them to rescue, specifically Petrolia Ferals. Petrolia Ferals is a volunteer-driven non-profit that far exceeds their reach, servicing much of Southwestern Ontario, and never asks a fee; cat welfare is their first and only concern. In taking on this project in a neighbouring city, significant costs are incurred in not only the extra distance, but the extra strain on their already-taxed resources. We are appealing to animal lovers and concerned citizens of Strathroy and area to contribute to the rescue, vetting, rehabilitation, and placement of these wayward souls. All funds raised from this fundraiser will be remitted to Caregivers of Petrolia Ferals to use at their discretion.