After Gouging the Public for Months in Order to Keep Coal Alive, His Perfidious Owner Betrays Him to the Knackers at a Slaughterhouse Posing as a Veterinary Clinic Who Killed Him Off Without a Moment's Hesitation

Coal with His Executioner, Danny Taurozzi

 

 "I just hope to meet him in heaven one day."

- - Danny Taurozzi

It was all a big, fat lie! After proclaiming to the world for months that he, like Lord Byron's Julia, would "ne'er consent," Danny Taurozzi of the Gloucester section of east Ottawa "consented" on July 8th and had his supposedly beloved seventeen-year-old cat Coal killed off.

That dastardly betrayal and totally unforgivable foul deed perpetrated against the last surviving member of the now defunct world famous Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary took place at Capital City Specialty and Emergency Animal Hospital in Kanata, twenty-two kilometers west of Ottawa, with oncologist Krista Gower most likely wielding a deadly syringe filled with poison. What did she care?

Killing off a cat is simple, fast, and easy money for all veterinarians. No morals, conscience, compassion, or respect for the sanctity of feline life are required.

By contrast, making a sick cat well again and pumping new life back into one that is dying requires morals, brains, hard work, liberality, and an ingrained prejudice in favor of life over death. (See Cat Defender posts of November 17, 2010 and August 14, 2021 entitled, respectively, "Penniless and Suffering from Two Broken Legs, It Looked Like It Was Curtains for Trace Until Geoffrey Weech Rode to Her Rescue on His White Horse" and "Amazing Little Juicebox Overcomes Not Only a Near Fatal Mauling at the Hands of His Owners' Dog but also Being Cruelly Abandoned to Shift for Himself Inside the Snake Pit World of Veterinary Medicine.")

As it is always the case with these totally uncalled for executions, Taurozzi went to great lengths in a clumsy effort in order to put a smiley face on his perfidy. "Surrounded by his devoted human dad, Danny Taurozzi, and his younger adopted feline brother, Winston, Coal passed peacefully...with veterinary assistance in dying (VAiD), a final act of mercy and dignity for a life so deeply cherished," he wrote July 9th in update number twenty-five to "Saving Little Coal" on Go Fund Me.

Unabashed balderdash such as  that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. First of all, since Coal's condition at that precise moment in time has not been spelled out and given that there were not any unbiased outside observers present at his killing, it is impossible to know if he went to the gallows willingly, peacefully, and without pain and trauma. (See Cat Defender post of April 8, 2018 entitled "A Rare Behind the Scenes Glimpse at the Ruthless Murders of Two Cats by an Indiana Veterinarian Exposes All Those Who Claim That Lethal Injections Are Humane to Be Barefaced Liars.")

For his part, Taurozzi has tap-danced all around that issue without saying much of anything that was either remotely germane or substantive. "After a compassionate and thorough evaluation, it became heartbreakingly clear: Coal's condition had become grievous and irremediable, beyond what love, medicine, or therapies could ease," he continued on Go Fund Me. "It was time to let him go."

Secondly, it is totally ludicrous for him to claim that he cherished the life of the very same cat that he had just finished liquidating. Likewise, his palaver about mercy and dignity can only be characterized as the self-serving rantings of a delusional cat-killer.

Thirdly, it is difficult to fathom his motive in dragging along young Winston in order to witness Coal's execution unless he is conditioning him to accept a similar fate later on in his life. The entire business is not only sickening but smacks of the macabre. After all, there is a world of difference between treating a cat to a birthday party and forcing him to witness the murder of his one and only feline friend in this world.

Fourthly, since when does this overbearingly mendacious and deceitful old world need another verbal léger de main, such as veterinary assistance in dying, in order to magically sanitize the cold-blooded murders of totally innocent cats into trifling acts that are not only acceptable but, in some warped gourds, even noble? Nevertheless, when it comes to those diabolical monsters who strut around on two legs the corruption of language goes hand-in-hand with the wholesale killing of the animals and the destruction of mother earth.

Taurozzi's killing off of Coal stands in stark juxtaposition to not only what he had been preaching for months but also gouging the public in order to prevent since at least 2021. "Only if a grievous and irremediable medical condition substantially diminishes Coal's quality of life beyond the point that management therapies can help will veterinary assistance in dying become an option," he declared to the Ottawa Citizen on January 5th. (See "Coal the Parliament Hill Cat Has Cancer. His Human Is Fighting for the Legend's Life.") "We're very far from there."

He even went so far on that occasion as to speculate that Coal was going to be around for quite a while. "If things go well and the cancer is slowed down, he could have a couple of years," Taurozzi added to the Citizen.

His repeated reliance upon "grievous and irremediable" tends to suggest, however, that he already had decided to kill off Coal long ago. That in turn leads to intriguing question of why did he extend so much wind power gassing about keeping him alive? (See Cat Defender post of June 28, 2025 entitled "Coal, the Sole Surviving Member of the Fabled Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary, Is Deathly Ill but His Devoted Owner Is Not Leaving Any Stone Unturned in a Last-Ditch Effort to Save His Life.")

Coal Walking in the Snow Outside the Centre Block of Parliament

Diagnosed with a salivary gland cystadenocarcinoma that had spread to his lungs, a tumor was successfully removed from behind his left ear in June of 2024. Sadly, the cancer returned in February of this year.

Placed on chemotherapy in the form on Palladia tablets, Coal's health began to stabilize. "So far treatments have been remarkably effective in slowing the progression of Coal's salivary gland cystadenocarcinoma, which has shown slight pulmonary metastasis," Taurozzi disclosed February 17th in update number twenty-two to "Saving Little Coal" on Go Fund Me. "Despite his diagnosis Coal continues to defy the odds -- remaining playful, eating and drinking well, using his litter box without issue, and showering his dad with affection."  

Nothing good ever lasts for very long in this miserable old world and on June 3rd he suddenly stopped eating and that necessitated in him having to be rushed to VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital in Ottawa where he was given intravenous fluids. Although that was a worrisome turn of events, Coal soon bounced back without any apparent lasting damage.

"Within half an hour, he began to feel better and was able to eat again gradually," Taurozzi disclosed June 5th in update number twenty-four to "Saving Little Coal" on Go Fund Me. "By the next morning, his energy had returned, and his appetite was back to normal."

What happened between June 5th and July 8th is not known and it is a sure bet that Taurozzi never will come clean on that matter. There cannot be any disputing, however, that cancer is a killer and that is especially the case given the dishonest, uncaring, and totally incompetent nature of feline veterinary care. (See The New York Times, March 11, 2025, "Why Are Cats Such a Medical Black Box?")

Making matters worse, Coal also had been suffering from kidney disease and arthritis from as far back as at least 2021. (See the CBC, July 9, 2025, "The End of an Era: Last Feline from Parliament Hill Cat Colony Dies.")

From a December 19, 2021 posting entitled "Helping Little Coal" on Go Fund Me, it also has been belatedly learned that he also had allergies and dental problems. Specifically, he had had at least three teeth extracted plus undergone other "unspecified surgeries."

Whereas allergies, arthritis, and dental woes are preeminently treatable conditions, kidney disease is  much more difficult to manage. Kidney transplants are available for cats but they are difficult to come by, prohibitively expensive, and of dubious viability. (See Cat Defender post of October 11, 2013 entitled "Heroic Hermione Is Holding Her Own Despite Tragically Losing a Kidney to a Botched Sterilization Two Years Ago.")

Yet, veterinarian Patty Khuly of the Sunset Animal Clinic in Miami is of the opinion that the lives of cats suffering from kidney disease can be extended with daily injections of intravenous fluids. "I've seen even very sick cats, cats who needed hospitalization in the beginning, do really well on home care with an owner who was willing to give it a try," she told the San Francisco Chronicle on August 18, 2009. (See "Caring for a Cat Whose Kidneys Have Failed.") "What makes the difference in how well a cat with kidney failure does is not how sick they are, or how bad their kidney values are on a blood test. It's the attitude of the owner."

Equally importantly, she is not merely talking about a temporary, short-term fix. "Many of these cats who were on the brink of death can be brought back with supportive care at home," she continued to the Chronicle. "Not only brought back for days or weeks or months, but years."

Other treatments include diuresis, dialysis, continuous renal replacement therapy, stem cells, special diets rich in omega three fatty acids, and chemotherapy, which Coal already was receiving for cancer. Since Taurozzi has not publicly stated what prompted him to have had Coal killed off, it is mere speculation but it just as easily could have been kidney failure as opposed to cancer.

It also is entirely conceivable that money could have been the primary reason that Taurozzi had him killed. For instance, in "Saving Little Coal" he admits to having received C$15,161 from three-hundred-seven donors.

Earlier on December 19, 2021 in "Helping Little Coal" on Go Fund Me he claims to have raised C$4,400 from one-hundred-two donors. Whether that amount is included in what was raised on "Saving Little Coal" or is in addition to it is not known.

Coal Is Gone Forever and Taurozzi Will Not Be Meeting Him in Heaven

For whatever it is worth, the CBC claims in the article cited supra that Taurozzi spent in excess of C$30,000 keeping Coal alive. It has not offered any accounting as to how much of that grand total came from online donations, pet insurance, and out of Taurozzi's pocket.

With veterinary costs being as insanely high as they are, C$30,000 would not have gone very far in treating even one deadly disease, let alone two. Unless small animal practitioners drastically reduce the exorbitant fees that they charge they are destined to go the way of the dinosaurs.

Large animal practitioners do not have anything to worry about, however. The meat producers, livestock owners, vivisectors, the thoroughbred horse racing industry, zoos, circuses, and other cutthroat businesses that utilize their services have money to burn and therefore can pay whatever they demand.

It additionally would not be surprising if Taurozzi had Coal whacked simply because he grew tired of medicating and taking care of him. For instance, some owners have publicly admitted to having their ailing cats killed off simply because they had became incontinent.

Cleaning up a little errant piss and shit ever once in a while is not any big deal for anyone who truly loves a cat. Looking ahead, once Taurozzi grows old and his excretory systems starts to fail him somebody surely will have to clean up after him.

There does not seem to be any denying that Coal was suffering from wholesale health issues and that his time upon this earth was rapidly drawing to a close but Taurozzi has not made the case that he had to die on July 8th and, above all, that he had to be executed by a morally retarded sawbones.

Like all cat-killers, he is plainly guilty of obfuscating the truth if not outright lying altogether and that is one reason that the killing of cats under all circumstances needs to be outlawed. Secondly, killing a cat is murder and changing the nomenclature to euthanasia, VAiD, a mercy killing, and all other tricks of language is not going to alter that reality.

Thirdly, Taurozzi's killing of Coal was an unforgivable betrayal. How that he, or anyone else for that matter, could so cold-bloodedly and calculatingly sell a supposedly beloved cat down the river to the knackers at a moneygrubbing surgery is too gruesome to even contemplate. 

Fourthly, to betray a cat to the hangman is the very epitome of ingratitude. Fifthly, killing off a cat demonstrates an appalling lack of reciprocity on the part of its owner; cats do not engage such perfidy. For example, after his owner's sudden death in 2013, a ten-year-old tuxedo named Ian from the Kingstanding section of north Birmingham remained loyally by her side. (See Cat Defender post of July 27, 2013 entitled "Instead of Killing Her Off with a Jab of Sodium Pentobarbital and Then Burning Her Corpse, Ian Remains Steadfast at His Guardian's Side Long after Her Death.")

In May of this year, a tiny, extremely underweight, and sickly kitten named Tinkerbelle arrived at The Balam Foundation in Laredo and soon thereafter began administering hospice care to eighty-seven-year-old Isabelle Barratt who later died on July 14th. Having nearly succumbed to the inevitable many times herself during her rough introduction to this world, Tinkerbelle appears to have been fully cognizant of Barratt's impending demise.

"When I put her with my mother, it was just so sweet. I think she understood what state she was in," Phaedra Barratt recalled to Newsweek on July 28th. (See "Tears as Tiny Kitten Stays by Woman's Side During Her Last Few Moments.") "I think cats have a deep awareness and sensitivity toward people and death in particular."

Despite all that Tinkerbelle has done for her and her mother, Old Barratt Bird has not yet decided if she is going to give her a home or to cast her out. As it always turns out to be the case, cats freely give so much but seldom receive anything in return other than naked exploitation, abuse, abandonment and, finally, to be robbed of their precious lives. Man is the ungrateful animal who never has learned to give; he only takes.

Last but certainly not least, how could any supposed lover of cats ever forget a lovely gray and white tom named Oscar who for nearly two decades cared for the sickly and dying at Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence. Deplorably, his only reward for his many years of faithful and compassionate service was a dose of what Taurozzi gave Coal. (See Cat Defender posts of July 30, 2007, May 27, 2010, and June 24, 2022 entitled, respectively, "A Visit from Oscar Means That the Grim Reaper Cannot Be Far Behind for the Terminally Ill at a Rhode Island Nursing Home," "When Lovers, Friends, Health, and All Hope Have Vanished, Oscar Is There for Those Who Have No One and Nothing Left," and "Oscar, Who Was Intimately Acquainted with the Grim Reaper, Is Himself Betrayed and Killed Off by the Same Loathsome Ingrates That He Faithfully Served, Comforted, and Made Fabulously Rich and Famous for So Many Years.")

Phaedra Barratt Is Considering Running Out on Tinkerbelle

Seventhly, none of the countless cats that are killed off each year by their owners ever receive so much as a jot of due process of law or any say whatsoever in the matter and that is undeniably outrageously unjust. Furthermore, it seems highly unlikely that any cat would ever willingly consent to surrender his life.

"Knowing only their lives as they live them, cats are mortal immortals that think of death only when it is nearly upon them," John Gray theorized in his 2020 book, Feline Philosophy. Cats and the Meaning of Life. "When cats want to die it is because they no longer want to live."

Eighthly, retaining an unscrupulous sawbones in order to murder a cat is totally unnecessary given that palliative and hospice care are readily available for those that are either terminally ill or rather old. Choosing either of these options also has the advantage of allowing a cat to die at home in a stress-free environment as opposed to being killed off by a shekel-chasing veterinarian in a dressed-up slaughterhouse posing as a surgery.

Most troubling of all, veterinarians quite often are terribly premature in their doomsday prognoses and many cats that they have wanted to kill actually have gone on to live for many years. If the ugly truth dare be told, very few of them give so much as a tinker's damn about feline lives: the only thing that they care about is a fast and easy buck.

Ninthly, given that cats live such terribly brief existences it is a crime to shorten them by so much as one second. Tenthly, the entire business of killing off cats is not only too pervasive but rife with mischief to be allowed to continue.

Even after he had perpetrated his foul and irreversible deed Taurozzi was anything but contrite. "It was a very tough day, and I am a bit broken," he wrote July 9th on "Saving Little Coal." "Saying goodbye to Coal was heartwrenching, but it was  the humane thing to do."

He quite obviously did not care but it was an even tougher day for Coal. After all, he was the one who was being betrayed and robbed of his life. It would have been refreshing if Taurozzi had been capable of considering his feelings but such altruism is totally beyond the keen of all but a few humans. 

"The tears will flow, and the sadness will linger for some time," the self-absorbed Taurozzi continued. "I will miss you, little buddy."

That is highly unlikely. The only thing for certain is that Coal is no longer around to either cry or to laugh.

"Coal was a sentient feline family member. He was Canada's last surviving Parliament Hill cat, a living thread to a cherished chapter in our country's history," is how that he chose to eulogize him on "Saving Little Coal." "For those who knew him, followed him, and loved him from near and far, Coal was a national symbol of compassion, resilience, grace, and quiet strength. He was a feline gentleman with a heart of gold. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten." 

Make no mistake about it, nobody will ever say anything of the kind about his executioner and just to make that point crystal clear Taurozzi ran and hid behind his religion, "I hope to meet him in heaven one day," he stated July 11th in a YouTube video. (See "Remembering Little Coal, the Last Cat Who Lived at the Parliament Hill Sanctuary.")

More often than not, anytime that religion is invoked it is done so by phony-baloney salvation hustlers, beggars, convicted criminals on their way to the jug, and individuals such as Taurozzi who have committed some dastardly deed but gotten away with doing so scot-free.

Hercules Was Killed Off by Taurozzi in November of 2016

On a more practical note, what on earth could Taurozzi possibly ever say to Coal if he were indeed to meet him in heaven? Perhaps, "Sorry, old man, about murdering you but you know how it is."

Every bit as predictable as death and taxes, he wasted little time in having Coal's remains burned. He does, however, plan on retaining what the flames left behind, at least for a while.

"...I'm keeping Coal's ashes," he vowed to The New York Times on July 10th. (See "Coal, the Lone Survivor of Canada's Parliamentary Cat Colony, Dies.") "Most of his life (he) was an inside cat, so it's fitting that he stays with me."

That is rather odd in that he sprinkled Spot's ashes at the Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary after he had died of congestive heart failure in March of 2020. That was in spite of the fact that both he and Coal had been adopted at the same time in late 2012 and the two of them spent the remainder of their lives indoors with Taurozzi. 

The pious Taurozzi thus deprived him of a memorial service, a coffin, a proper burial, and a tombstone. That certainly made closing the book on him considerably easier and cheaper and ashes are considerably more easily forgotten and disposed of than a grave and a marker.

Whereas what Taurozzi did to Coal is every bit as wrong as it is infuriating, there is a good deal more to this story than meets the eye. By searching for his name on Go Fund Me as opposed to specific cats, it belatedly was learned that he has been playing the old reliever game for quite a while.

For example, from an article dated October 7, 2016 and entitled "Help Pay Hercules' Medical Bills" on Go Fund Me it was learned that he had collected at least C$2,740 from fifty-nine donors in order to supposedly pay the veterinary bills of a brown and white tom named Hercules who was suffering from anorexia, weight loss, and an unspecified form of cancer. Treated at VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital, in died in November of 2016.

As was the case with Coal, Taurozzi most assuredly had him killed off. His corpse also was burned and Taurozzi later pledged to bring home his ashes "soon."

It is by no means even certain that Hercules belonged to him. All that the posting on Go Fund Me states is that he was a rescue cat from Montreal, one-hundred-ninety-nine kilometers east of Ottawa, who was residing in Cornwall, Ontario, one-hundred-three kilometers southeast of Ottawa.

As it turns out, Hercules had a sister named Valérie, a tuxedo also from Montreal. According to "Saving Little Valérie on Go Fund Me, Taurozzi raked in at least C$2,535 from fifty donors in order to care for her.   

Not feeling well and losing weight, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and, like her brother, she was treated at VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital. The posting is not dated but the last donations received were from about three years ago.

It has not proven possible to ascertain what became of her but more than likely she met with the same fate as did Coal and Hercules. C'est- á-dire, Taurozzi had her killed off and her corpse burned.

 Taurozzi Likely also Killed Off Valérie

The only other mention of her to be found online is an oblique one contained in the August 5, 2020 edition of the Ottawa Citizen. (See "Then There Was One: The Last Parliament Hill Cat Survives Medical Scare.")

Before his death in March of 2020, Taurozzi also was hitting up the public to pay for Spot's coronary difficulties. Although it is not known how much that he raked in from that effort, a November 5, 2019 posting on "Saving Little Spot" on Go Fund Me states that he was suffering from weight loss, Hyperthyroidism, a heart murmur, tooth decay, and gum disease.

According to that posting, he not only was being treated at VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital but also at Hôpital Vétérinaire Sainte Rose in Laval, two-hundred-two kilometers east of Ottawa in Quebec Province. Quite obviously, Taurozzi was receiving considerable funding in order to have paid for all of that veterinary care and transporting around of Spot.  

It is far from clear as to what should be made of Taurozzi's incessant cyberbegging and trafficking in terminally ill felines. To give him the benefit of the doubt, he conceivably could be a compassionate cat rescuer who is more than willing to go to extraordinary lengths in order to extend their lives and especially Coal's.

"Despite this (cancer), he was able to enjoy nearly a year of good quality of life, thanks to the extraordinary care he received and unwavering love," he proudly patted himself on the back July 9th on "Saving Little Coal."

Even in saying that much he possibly could be dramatically understating his own case in that Coal had been experiencing serious medical problems since at least 2022. Furthermore, the same thing could be said for his efforts on behalf of Spot, Hercules, and Valérie as well.

Even if that ultimately should prove to have been the case, his behavior still does not look good and, above all, it does not excuse him for perennially imposing upon the beneficence of the public. After all, it is primarily the responsibility of rescuers to foot the bills for the care of the cats that they rescue.

Most damning of all, he certainly does not appear to belong to the class of the impecunious. On the contrary, he works as a national representative for the Canada Employment Immigration Union which has thirty-thousand members. He therefore most assuredly is bring home substantial coin along with tons of fringe benefits.  

Deplorably, cyberbegging has become a huge racket with many well-to-do individuals preying upon the heartstrings of a gullible public. This fairly recent development is easily verified by the types of jobs that they hold and by the affluent neighborhoods in which they reside.

Gone are the days when individuals prided themselves on earning and spending their own money. In those days of yore, having money equated with freedom from want and the harsher realities of existence.

An individual with money could afford to live in a decent house that was warm in the wintertime and located in a crime-free neighborhood and he also could afford to wear new clothes instead of hand-me-downs. He also could avoid working in sweatshops and having to rub elbows with all sorts of vile people.

Perhaps best of all, he could afford to pay his own medical bills as well as for the veterinary care of the cats that he loved. That was considered not only to be a matter of pride and love but also a personal responsibility.

Today, however, wealth is accumulated in order to be hoarded, to indulge in vices, and to commit unspeakable evils. For the everyday necessities of living, people nowadays turn to welfare, cyberbegging, and crime. As a consequence, some of the affluent now live an even meaner existence than did the poor of yesterday. 

There additionally is something not only dishonest but suspicious about individuals who insist upon passing themselves off as humanitarians and do-gooders all the while living off the public's dime. These concerns are magnified a thousand fold when they are taking advantage of defenseless cats.

Paul Zhang Killed Off His TNR Colonies

Taurozzi's behavior also raises practical concerns. First of all, where is he getting his cats?

Secondly, how many cats has he trafficked? Thirdly and most pressingly, where did he obtain Winston and what does he have in store for him?

Fourthly, is he a scam artist who not only gouges the public but, worst of all, preys upon cats? Fifthly, what about the conduct of his accomplices, such as Capital City Specialty and Emergency Animal Hospital, VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital, and Hôpital Vétérinaire Sainte Rose? They are sans doute the largest recipients of Taurozzi's cyberbegging and all of them have lined their pockets at the expense of Coal, Spot, Hercules, and Valérie. 

As despicable as these types of scams are, they are anything but novel. For example, in late 2011 Paul Zhang, a TNR practitioner from the borough of Queens in New York City, cooked up a scheme with a trio of veterinary clinics in order to liquidate his cats. 

He commenced his machinations by borrowing traps from the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and went on from there to snare at least sixty-two cats from colonies that he managed in Ridgewood, Queens, and Bushwick, Brooklyn. The surgeries who in turn did his dirty work for him were, as expected, only too happy to have received his business.

Eventually Antelyes Animal Hospital at 209 Fresh Pond Road in Middle Village, Queens, grew tired of all the killing but even that epiphany did not occur until it already had dispatched ten of his totally innocent cats to the devil. "We offered to take in some to use as barn cats. He refused. We offered to spay-neuter and release at low-cost. He refused. We offered to find homes for these cats. He refused," the surgery later postulated in its defense.

"He threatened to drown the cats at home. This was when his sick nature was finally displayed to us," the surgery added. "We deeply regret that we even helped him for a short time."

Yet, instead of reporting this diabolical monster to the cops as any halfway upstanding citizen would have done, Antelyes merely told Zhang to take his business elsewhere. As far as it is known, he never was so much as even investigated let alone charged.

That is merely par for the course as far as a shithole like New York City is concerned. All that matters there are bigotry, money, crime, and man's inhumanity to his fellow man and, especially, the animals. (See Cat Defender post of December 22, 2011 entitled "A Rogue TNR Practitioner and Three Unscrupulous Veterinarians Kill at Least Sixty-Two Cats with the Complicity of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals.")

In such scams, the owners and caretakers of cats are able to get shed of them expeditiously and cheaply while their accomplices within the veterinary medical profession are able to financially clean up like Jesse James. Everybody wins except, of course, their totally innocent and defenseless victims.

The Canadian media, Go Fund Me, the politicians on Parliament Hill, and all so-called animal protection groups in Ottawa must not be allowed to escape censure either because they surely must have been cognizant of what Taurozzi has been up to for at least the past nine years. Many cats have been trafficked, exploited, and murdered and, even worse, countless others are destined to suffer the same cruel and just fates all because Canadians stubbornly refuse to enforce the anti-cruelty statutes and, more importantly, to properly value feline lives.

As lyricists Billy Rose and E.Y. Harburg concluded in their 1933 timeless classic, "It's Only a Paper Moon:" 

"It's a Barnum and Bailey world

 Just as phony as it can be."

Yes indeed it is all one long-running gag whereby cat-killing owners dissemble as cat-lovers, butchers disguise themselves as veterinarians, feline extermination camps pretend to be shelters, and Animal Control wannabees playact as TNR practitioners. The tragedy, and the crime, is that Coal, Spot, Hercules, and Valérie found that out much too late and, as a consequence, they wound up paying the ultimate price for Taurozzi's perfidy.

Photos:  Danny Taurozzi (Coal), The Balam Foundation (Tinkerbelle and Phaedra Barratt), Go Fund Me (Hercules and Valérie), and the Gothamist (Zhang).

Coal, the Sole Surviving Member of the Fabled Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary, Is Deathly Ill but His Devoted Owner Is Not Leaving Any Stone Unturned in a Last-Ditch Effort to Save His Life

Coal with His Owner Danny Taurozzi 

"If things go well and the cancer is slowed down, he could have a couple of years."
-- Danny Taurozzi

Some stories are almost too heartbreaking to even contemplate, let alone to give life to with pen and paper. One of them is unfolding at this very minute in the Gloucester section of east Ottawa where Danny Taurozzi is waging a valiant uphill battle in order to save the life of his beloved seventeen-year-old companion, Coal.

Born on July 1, 2008, Coal is as far removed from being a run-of-the-mill tom as his guardian is from being an ordinary cat owner. Rather, he is the last survivor of the world-famous Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary which was first formed one-hundred-one years ago in 1924 when some of his distant relatives were recruited to work as mousers in the basement of the newly-constructed Centre Block building of Parliament.

As it so often happens, the cats were punished rather than rewarded for their labors in that as soon as they had gotten the rodent population under control they were inexcusably expelled from their new home later in that same year. The same cruel scenario was played out once again in 2005 at the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (See Cat Defender post of October 20, 2005 entitled "After Ridding the Ohio Statehouse of Rats, a Dozen or So Cats Are Now Facing Eviction Themselves.")

Although the Parliament Hill cats were allowed back inside the Centre Block during the day, they were forced to have braved Ottawa's unforgivably cold and snowy winters outdoors and to have subsisted upon handouts from the groundskeepers and volunteers from the community for their daily sustenance. In 1955, they were replaced by professional exterminators and forbidden to have entered the Centre Block even during the daytime in order to have warmed themselves.

There accordingly can be little doubt that most of them succumbed to the elements, starvation, disease, a total lack of veterinary care, and foul play. The only reward for many of the cats that somehow had managed to survive under such hellish and callous conditions was for them to have been rounded up and liquidated by the Ottawa Humane Society (OHS).

Even as late as 2023-2024, the very best that the OHS can do is to boast of a live release rate of slightly less than seventy-eight per cent. Considering that it is not unusual for twice as many cats as dogs to wind up at shelters, the OHS is likely still systematically killing up to forty per cent or more of the cats and kittens that it annually impounds.

From 1955 until 1987 and the arrival upon the scene of René Chartrand, the cats were pretty much completely on their own. He immediately built wooden, winterized shelters for them and a second set in 1997.

In 2003, he established a TNR program and convinced VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital to inoculate them gratis and Ralston Purina to help with the feeding of them. He retired in 2008 and died on December 7, 2014. (See the Ottawa Citizen, December 10, 2014, "Parliament Hill's 'Catman' Tended Sanctuary for Twenty-One Years.")

Absolutely nothing is known about either Coal's parents or the first two or so years of his life other than that he, thanks to Chartrand's benevolence, most assuredly had an easier time of it than did his predecessors. His second stroke of good luck came in 2010 when Taurozzi began volunteering at the sanctuary.

By the time that the colony was disbanded in December of 2012, there were only four remaining cats and Taurozzi adopted Coal along with another long-term resident named Spot. The coup d' grâce as far as the sanctuary is concerned came on January 12, 2013 when it was demolished by Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Coal is therefore all that is left of the once flourishing Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary that in good weather used to attract as many as three-hundred visitors a day. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau used to occasionally stop by as did members of Parliament and journalists from as far away as Venezuela.

A Very Young Coal at the Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary

It is not believed that any of the politicians and bureaucrats ever contributed so much as a red cent toward the cats' care. Like all members of their misbegotten ilk, they merely exploited and neglected them for their own amusement.

No one can ever really be for certain how that a homeless cat will react to domesticated life but from all accounts Coal and Taurozzi hit it off right from the start and the next seven to eight years were joyful ones for the both of them. Along the way, Coal also became famous all across Canada.

He did so by starting his own page on Facebook where he advocated for various animal rights issues. At last look, his page has attracted fifty-six-hundred followers.

In 2015, posters featuring his handsome face appeared in Centretown Ottawa urging voters to elect him to Parliament. After that he became a certified therapy cat and in that capacity he regularly visited the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre where, ironically, Chartrand had spent many of his final days, and other venues around Ottawa until the 2020 pandemic put an end to his charitable work.

His string of amazingly good luck began to run low in March of 2020 when Spot died of congenital heart failure at age seventeen. Even so, he remained steadfast by his companion's side until the bitter end.

Described by Taurozzi as a "pacifist" and a "gentle soul," Coal's empathy is by no means limited to the members of his own species. "Even when I'm not feeling well, he'll be right beside me, too," Taurozzi vouched to the Ottawa Citizen on August 5, 2020. (See "And Then There Was One: The Last Parliament Hill Cat Survives Medical Scare.")

 

A few months later in July of that same year, Coal accidentally swallowed a piece of string and that necessitated a three-day stay at VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital. Luckily, he eventually was able to have passed the string without surgical intervention.

"Coal is in excellent health now," Taurozzi later told the Ottawa Citizen on August 5, 2020. "He recuperated quickly, and was very happy to come home."

It was indeed fortunate that Taurozzi had the insurance and money in order to have paid for Coal's hospitalization and care. It was an entirely different story for an unidentified Philadelphia cat who had swallowed a piece of ribbon from a Christmas gift in December of 2013.

 

The low-life scumbags who practice veterinary medicine at PennVet (the University of Pennsylvania) refused to have saved the cat's life because its owner did not have the money in order to pay the exorbitant fee that they had demanded. So she instead elected to have had her cat killed off on the cheap. (See Cat Defender posts of  March 19, 2014 and September 24, 2015 entitled, respectively, "The Cheap and Greedy Moral Degenerates at PennVet Extend Their Warmest Christmas Greetings to an Impecunious, but Preeminently Treatable, Cat Via a Jab of Sodium Pentobarbital" and "Henry Is Saved by Cats Protection after Swallowing Part of a Plastic Trash Bag but His Fate Would Have Been Entirely Different if He Had Fallen into the Clutches of the Mercenaries at PennVet.")

Coal was thus able to have enjoyed another three good years until a malignant tumor was found behind his left ear and excised in June of 2024. Sadly, earlier this year another malignant tumor was discovered in the same area.

Coal with Taurozzi after Swallowing a Piece of String in July of 2020

Known as a salivary gland cystadenocarcinoma, the malignancy also has spread to his lungs. According to miscellaneous information found online, the disease is characterized primarily by a painless swelling, halitosis, and difficulties related to chewing and eating. Weight loss, lethargy, changes in voice, and a limited ability to yawn are also seen in some afflicted cats.

The malady can be brought on by, inter alia, bite wounds, a sudden jerking of the neck, and even by chewing on a sharp object. In most cases, however, the cause is idiopathic.

Since at least February, Coal has been receiving chemotherapy in the form of Palladia. It is a tyrosine inhibitor that works by suppressing the formation of new blood vessels that supply tumors.

Side effects of the drug can include a suppressed immune system, gastrointestinal issues such as a loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea, hematological problems such as a low blood cell count, liver and kidney issues, and hair loss. According to Pharmacy Checker, each tablet costs around US$18.95 but since the drug has not been approved for the treatment of cats by Health Canada, its cost likely is not covered by Taurozzi's pet insurance.

The one remaining ray of hope for both Coal and Taurozzi is that Palladia seems to be working. "So far treatments have been remarkably effective in slowing down the progression of Coal's salivary gland cystadenocarcinoma, which has shown slight pulmonary metastasis," Taurozzi disclosed February 17th in update number twenty-two to "Saving Little Coal" on Go Fund Me. "Despite his diagnosis, Coal continues to defy the odds -- remaining playful, eating and drinking well, using his litter box without issue, and showering his dad with affection."

The specifics of his overall health also are encouraging. "Comprehensive medical evaluations repeatedly affirm that Coal is bright, alert, responsive, and pain-free. His heart and lungs have no cackles-wheezes, and there is no murmur. Abdominal palpitation shows no discomfort or abnormalities. His lymph nodes remain small and symmetrical," Taurozzi continued on Go Fund Me. "He is ambulatory, well-muscled, and displays no signs of major dental or ocular issues. These results, backed by renowned veterinary professionals, are irrefutable evidence that Coal's conditions is well-managed and his quality of life is excellent."  

In his last-ditch effort not to leave any stone unturned, Taurozzi has sought out the advice of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Cornell University in Ithaca, the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and Guardian Veterinary Specialists in Ottawa.

Predictably, reaching out to the stiffs at Cornell proved to have been a total waste of his time and scarce resources. "We do not have any clinical trials for cats with salivary adenocarcinoma. It sounded like from your message that your kitty (sic) was receiving Palladia and experiencing some improvement," the school wrote back according to the Ottawa Citizen on January 5, 2025. (See "Coal the Parliament Hill Cat Has Cancer. His Human Is Fighting for the Legend's Life.") "We are glad to hear that! We don't have any other anti-cancer therapies that we would recommend instituting at this time."

C'est-à-dire, the toffs at the Ivy League school, like their colleagues at PennVet, could care less whether Coal lives or dies. Like all politicians, professors are equally full of shit.

More to the point, Cornell's attitude is merely par for the course for a school that not only hates homeless cats but their caretakers as well. (See Cat Defender post of June 14, 2006 entitled "A Kindhearted Dairyman, Sacked for Feeding Feral Cats, Files a $20 Million Lawsuit Against Cornell University.") 

Taurozzi therefore has been forced to rely almost exclusively upon Dr. Dana Clark of VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital and Dr. Krista Gower of Capital City Specialty and Emergency Animal Hospital in Kanata, twenty-two kilometers west of Ottawa, as Coal's primary caregivers. Coal additionally has received physical therapy from Go Mobile Pet Rehab Services in the Ottawa area and virtual consultations in holistic medicine from Toronto Integrative Animal Health.

Danny Taurozzi Has So Far Remained Steadfast by Coal's Side

"If things go well and the cancer is slowed down, he could have a couple of years," Taurozzi optimistically opined to the Ottawa Citizen in the January 5, 2025 article cited supra. 

Then on June 3rd Coal suffered a huge setback. He abruptly stopped eating and drinking and began to exhibit signs of dehydration and lethargy. Rushed to VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital, the staff immediately administered intravenous fluids and that saved the day and his life.

"Within half an hour, he began to feel better and was able to eat again gradually," Taurozzi announced June 5th in update number twenty-four to "Saving Little Coal" on Go Fund Me. "By the next morning, his energy had returned and his appetite was back to normal."

Since chemotherapy is sometimes known to adversely affect a cat's appetite, the drug that is prolonging his life is, ironically, adversely impinging upon his chances of survival. Compounding an already desperate situation, Taurozzi waited more than a day before procuring emergency medical care for him. 

Since Taurozzi is a national representative for the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, it is not known what role, if any, his work schedule played in that delay. Nevertheless, a cat in Coal's condition requires around-the-clock monitoring. 

Although cats are notoriously finicky eaters, once one stops eating both he and his owner are in big trouble and veterinary intervention must be procured immediately. The only other option for Taurozzi would be for him to purchase intravenous fluids and a catheter and to medicate Coal himself the next time that he stops eating.

Unlike in the United States where such fluids require a prescription from a veterinarian, they can be purchased over-the-counter north of the border. Staffers at VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital likely would be willing to instruct him on how to properly administer them and, since Coal is such a model patient, there should not be any difficulties. The key is to do so as soon as Coal starts to falter.

If he has not done so already, Taurozzi might want to discuss with Coal's veterinarians the advisability of easing up on the chemotherapy while simultaneously increasing whatever nutritional support options that are available.

As one would expect, the cost of keeping Coal alive is staggering. The veterinarians alone are costing Taurozzi a fortune. Plus, there is the cost of the medicine, physical rehabilitation, food supplements, and acupuncture.

Over the course of the past year, he has been able to raise only a paltry C$15,066 on Go Fund Me. He additionally has pet insurance but the both of them are hardly enough in order for him to keep up with Coal's mounting veterinary bills.

Although the task before him is daunting to say the least, Taurozzi is not giving up and he most definitely is not bemoaning the depletion of his bank account. "That's fine. We make choices," he told the Ottawa Citizen on January 5th. "He's my little buddy."

Yet in spite of his steadfastness and compassion he has come under outrageous criticism for not killing off Coal. "Only if a grievous and irremediable medical condition substantially diminishes Coal's quality of life beyond the point that management therapies can help will veterinary assistance in dying become an option," he vowed to the Ottawa Citizen on January 5th. "We're very far from there."

Coal at the Hospital Earlier This Month Following His Setback

Coal indeed appears to be bearing up remarkably well. "He has a very good quality of life. He's not in any pain, not in any distress," Taurozzi  continued to the Ottawa Citizen. "He likes to go walk in the hallways, he jumps, he likes to play. He doesn't know that he has something at all. I know, but he doesn't."

In any halfway sensible and compassionate world the onus would be on the cat-killers and life-deniers to defend their love of violence and the heinous crimes that they commit but since, quite obviously, this planet spins to an entirely different beat it is cat-lovers such as Taurozzi who are expected to justify their preference for life over death. "As he continues to enjoy a good quality of life, Coal's treatments are ethical and in his best interest," Taurozzi retorted February 17th in update number twenty-two on Go Fund Me.

He thus appears to be a remarkable ailurophile. Just about all others either pay totally unscrupulous old sawbones in order to do their dirty work for them or they cruelly dump their sickly and elderly cats in the street to fend for themselves.

Along with doing so they contaminate the air with their nonsensical proclamations concerning how that they cannot bear to see their cats suffer while all along the only considerations ever to have coursed through their calloused gourds have revolved around how much cheaper and less troublesome it is to care for a dead cat as opposed to one that is alive but unwell. A cat and an old worn-out pair of shoes are two entirely different things but most owners do not recognize any distinction between them.

As a consequence, relatively few cats die in bed and of old age; on the contrary, sooner or later just about every one of them is murdered. Even cats that have achieved worldwide fame are whacked right and left every day without so much as a second thought. (See Cat Defender posts of February 9, 2006, May 10, 2007, May 31, 2007, October 27, 2008, March 12, 2009, January 2, 2013, February 9, 2013, September 26, 2013, August 27, 2014, October 18, 2014, January 15, 2015, May 28, 2015, October 31, 2015, March 8, 2016, March 2, 2017, August 4, 2017, September 15, 2017, November 2, 2017, April 24, 2019, March 31, 2020, September 22, 2020, October 27, 2020, June 24, 2022, September 23, 2022, and May 26, 2025 entitled, respectively, "A Newspaper Cat Named Tripod Is Killed Off by the Journalists That He Befriended in Vermont," "Iowa Librarian Vicki Myron Inks a Million-Dollar Deal for a Memoir about Dewey Readmore Book," "Port Taranaki Kills Off Its World Famous Seafaring Feline, Colin's, at Age Seventeen," "Loved and Admired All Around the World, Feline Heroine Scarlett Is Killed Off by Her Owner after She Becomes Ill," "Too Cheap and Lazy to Care for Him During His Final Days, Betty Currie Has Socks Killed Off and His Corpse Burned," "Alley Cat Allies Demonstrates Its Utter Contempt for the Sanctity of Life by Unconscionably Killing off Its Office Cat, Jared," "The New Start Cat Rescue Center Abruptly Kills Off Victoria after the Cancer Returns to Her Already Ravaged Ears," "Former Halifax Mayoral Hopeful Tuxedo Stan Is Killed Off by His Owner after Chemotherapy Fails to Halt the Onslaught of Renal Lymphoma," "After Traveling for So Many Miles on the Bridport to Charmouth Bus, Dodger's Last Ride Is, Ironically, to the Vet Who Unconscionably Snuffs Out His Precious Life at the Urging of His Derelict Owner," "Hamish McHamish's Derelict Owner Reenters His Life after Fourteen Years of Abject Neglect Only to Have Him Killed Off after He Contracts a Preeminently Treatable Common Cold," "Lewis, Ann Arbor's Much Celebrated Garden Shop Cat, Departs This World Under Highly Suspicious Circumstances," "Abandoned, Homeless on the Street, Expelled by the Ingrates at Manchester International Airport, and Finally Whacked by Her Last Guardian, So Ran the Course of Ollie's Sad and Turbulent Life," "Tama Is Finally Able to Escape the Merciless Clutches of Her Simon Legree Overlords at the Wakayama Electric Railway but Doing So Has Cost Her Everything That She Ever Had, Including Her Life," "Penny of the Swansea Public Library: A Remembrance," "Stanley Exits This Vale of Tears Once and for All Time and in Doing So Leaves Behind Many a Damp Eye as Well as a Passel of Fond Memories," "Mayor Stubbs, 1997-2017: A Melancholic Remembrance, an Appreciation, and Tearful Au Revoir," "King Loui I's Days of Roaming the Perilous Streets of Aachen Come to a Sad End Shortly after He Is Diagnosed with Inoperable Throat Cancer," "Fate, Circumstances, Rotten Luck, and the Half-Hearted Efforts of Insincere Individuals and Groups All Conspire to Make a Quick End of Morris, the World Famous Glass Bank Cat of Cocoa Beach," "The Life, Times, and Tragic Demise of a Supermarket Cat: Brutus of Morrisons, 2009-2017," "Stoic Little CC May Have Graced This Vale of Tears for Only Eighteen Brief Years but the Moral Conundrum That Surrounds the Cloning of Cats Lives On after Her," "Snitch Is Found Alive Fourteen Years after His Disappearance but His Old Owner Refuses to Take Him Back in Spite of the Shameful Neglect Shown Him by His New Caretaker," "Noble and Courageous Harvey Who So Desperately Wanted to Go on Living Is Instead Unforgivably Betrayed and Killed Off by His Foster Mother and Yorkshire Cat Rescue," "Oscar, Who Was Intimately Acquainted with the Grim Reaper, Is Himself Betrayed and Killed Off by the Same Loathsome Ingrates That He Faithfully Served, Comforted, and Made Fabulously Rich and Famous for So Many Years," "Domino's Years of Roaming the Campus of the University of Texas Come to a Sad End after He Is Betrayed and Killed Off by the Eggheads Who Were Too Cheap, Lazy, and Heartless to Have Taken Proper Care of Him," and "Molly of Myers of Keswick, Who Soared to International Fame in 2006, Meets with a Cruel and Unjust End in Obscurity Fifteen Years Later.")

If fame, achievement, and merit are insufficient in order to guarantee a domesticated cat the right to go on living, those that are homeless hardly have any chance at all of surviving for very long in this vile and ailurophobic world. (See Cat Defender posts of September 28, 2011, August 26, 2015, February 17, 2016, October 21, 2018, and August 27, 2023 entitled, respectively, "Marvin Is Betrayed, Abducted, and Murdered by a Journalist and a Shelter Who Preposterously Maintain That They Were Doing Him a Favor," "A Myriad of Cruel and Unforgivable Abandonments, a Chinese Puzzle, and Finally the Handing Down and Carrying Out of a Death Sentence Spell the End for Long-Suffering and Peripatetic Tigger," "Cats Protection Races to Alfie's Side after His Owner Dies and He Winds Up on the Street, Swears It Is Going to Help Him, and Then Turns Around and Has Him Whacked," "Diabolically Mutilated in a Back Alley Sterilization, Billy Is Promised Help by Blackpool Cats in Care Who, Predictably, Turn Right Around and Pull the Rug Out from Underneath Him," and "Too Stingy and Ailurophobic to Have Treated Him, Black Dog Animal Rescue Instead Murders Eddie in Cold Blood and Then Hightails It to Alice Gibbs of Newsweek in Order to Have Her Promote Its and PETA's Cat-Killing Cult.")  

Firmly believing that it is their mandate to liquidate all cats as opposed to treating, socializing, and placing them in good homes, just about all shelters are little more than dressed-up feline slaughterhouses. As a result, they also mistakenly kill an astounding number of domiciled cats that have owners. (See Cat Defender posts of June 5, 2007, March 19, 2010, April 18, 2010, June 15, 2010, August 19, 2010, October 23, 2010, January 11, 2012, October 23, 2012, July 31, 2015, and May 7, 2018 entitled, respectively, "The RSPCA's Unlawful Seizure and Senseless Killing of Mork Leaves His Sister, Mindy, Brokenhearted and His Caretakers Devastated," "Trapped and Killed by the Delaware County SPCA, Keecha's Life Is Valued at Only $1 by a Pennsylvania Arbitration Panel," "Ally's Last Ride Lands Her in a Death Trap Set by an Uncaring and Irresponsible Supermarket Chain and a Bargain Basement Shelter," "A Bay City Shelter Murders a Six-Week-Old Kitten with a Common Cold Despite Several Individuals Having Offered to Give It a Permanent Home," "Music Lessons and Buggsey Are Murdered by a Cat-Hating Gardener and an Extermination Factory Posing as an Animal Shelter in Saginaw," "The RSPCA Steals and Executes Nightshift Who Was His Elderly Caretaker's Last Surviving Link to Her Dead Husband," "A Deadly Intrigue Concocted by a Thief, a Shelter, and a Veterinary Chain Costs Ginger the Continued Enjoyment of His Golden Years," "A Supposedly No-Kill Operation in Marblehead Betrays Sally and Snuffs Out Her Life Instead of Providing Her with a Home and Veterinary Care," "The Cold-Blooded Murder of Spitz Once Again Exposes the Horrifying, Ugly, and Utterly Appalling Truth about Not Only Shelters but Callous Owners and Phony-Baloney Animal Rights Groups as Well," and "The English Authorities Steal, Kill, and Incinerate Nash Van Drake and in the Aftermath Lie Their Ugly Little Faces Off as to Their Reasons for Committing Such a Dastardly Deed.") 

When it comes to phony-baloney shelters and rescue groups, PETA remains the biggest villain in that its only raison d'être is to vilify and kill cats. (See Cat Defender posts of January 29, 2007, February 9, 2007, and October 7, 2011 entitled, respectively, "PETA's Long History of Killing Cats and Dogs Is Finally Exposed in a North Carolina Courtroom," "The Verdict in the PETA Trial: Littering Is a Crime but Not the Mass Slaughter of Innocent Cats and Dogs," and " PETA Traps and Kills a Cat and Then Shamelessly Goes Online in Order to Brag about Its Criminal and Foul Deed.")

Every bit as reprehensible as the wholesale crimes perpetrated by shelters, Animal Control, and the cops, it is entirely plausible that owners, one way or the other, actually kill even more cats. (See Cat Defender posts of July 17, 2013 and September 22, 2020 entitled, respectively, "Not Satisfied with Merely Whacking Meiko, Garrison Keillor Struts on Stage in Order to Shed a Bucketful of Crocodile Tears and to Denigrate the Entire Species" and "Snitch Is Found Alive Fourteen Years after His Disappearance but His Old Owner Refuses to Take Him Back in Spite of the Shameful Neglect Shown Him by His New Caretaker.")

Even that brief survey of a handful of cats that have been murdered in cold blood is woefully inadequate. In reality, a book every bit as thick as the Manhattan White Pages would be required in order just to chronicle the names of the cats that are murdered in such a fashion every day of the week. 

Moreover, despite the blatant lies disseminated so profusely by the likes of PETA, shelters, and the veterinary medical profession, there is absolutely nothing that is even remotely humane about killing a cat. On the contrary, it is a terrifying and often painful ordeal. (See Cat Defender post of April 8, 2018 entitled "A Rare Behind the Scenes Glimpse at the Ruthless Murders of Two Cats by an Indiana Veterinarian Exposes All Those Who Claim That Lethal Injections Are Humane to Be Barefaced Liars.")

Coal and Taurozzi Are Hoping for a Miracle. Has Anybody Got One for Sale?

Although many capital felons are not only unfit to be allowed to go on living but also pose a threat to other inmates, the mounting evidence is that lethal injections are anything but quick, efficient, and painless. (See Atlantic Magazine, July 2025, "Witness. Inside America's Death Chambers.")

While it is doubtful that many owners will choose to follow the example that Taurozzi has set and thus learn to respect their cats' inalienable right to live out their lives to their natural ends, he nevertheless has established the gold standard as to how all those who claim to love their cats should treat them. Although what he is going through is undoubtedly excruciatingly painful, he is at least able to spend a little more time with Coal.

When the end finally does come, he also will know that he did everything within his power to have saved Coal. That is not going to be much of a consolation but it will be something for him to hold on to in the dark and lonely days that are ahead of him.

Nothing is quite as heartbreaking as losing a beloved cat and it therefore is not uncommon for some devoted owners to be ill-equipped to survive such a devastating blow. (See Cat Defender posts of January 2, 2012 and June 12, 2012 entitled, respectively, "With No Reason Left to Go on Living, a Tredworth Resident Takes His Own Life after His Beloved Cat Disappears" and "Sophie's Sudden Death Proves to Be Too Much for a Bachelor in Poole to Bear So He Elects to Join Her in  the Great Void.")

Taurozzi does have another resident feline named Valérie and her love coupled with the chore of attending to her daily needs should be sufficient in order to sustain him after Coal is gone. He is, of course, already fully cognizant of that petit fait.

"There's something mysterious about them (cats) and they're quite affectionate," he told the Ottawa Citizen on January 5th. "If you're not feeling well, they will be right beside you."

Such distressing palaver is premature, however, in that as long as there is still life, there is hope and miracles do happen ever once in while in this world. In that light, the advice that Dylan Thomas gave to his sick father is equally applicable to both Coal and Taurozzi:

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Photos: Ashley Fraser of the Ottawa Citizen (Coal and Danny Taurozzi), Go Fund Me (Coal outside the Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary), Julie Oliver of the  Ottawa Citizen (Coal and Taurozzi in happier days), and Facebook (Coal following his most recent setback).

Molly of Myers of Keswick, Who Soared to International Fame in 2006, Meets with a Cruel and Unjust End in Obscurity Fifteen Years Later

Molly Lived at a Delicatessen for More Than Fourteen Years

"We take comfort in the long and happy years she lived at the store, where she made many friends. We cannot imagine a world without Molly but feel deeply grateful to have known her and hope you did too."

-- Jennifer Myers-Pulidore of Myers of Keswick

Tempus fugit, memento mori.

Life is awfully short but it is even briefer for a cat. Blink once and a beloved companion is gone forever.

Way back in April of 2006, a beautiful, eleven-month-old black female named Molly made headlines around the world when she became trapped inside the walls of an English-style delicatessen in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Born in May of 2005, she had been adopted in January of 2006 from a shelter, presumably in New York City, by Peter Myers of Myers of Keswick at 634 Hudson Street in order to serve as his chief mouser and store mascot.

Given that shelters in the Big Apple are little more than thinly disguised feline extermination camps, that act of compassion on his part in all likelihood saved Molly's life. It did not take him long however in order to blot his copybook and he did so on March 31st by allowing her to mysteriously disappear through his inattentiveness.

He quickly compounded that initial error by falsely blaming someone else for her disappearance. "We missed her the first day but because she is such a pretty little cat I thought someone had stolen her," he admitted to The Times of London on April 13, 2006. (See "Bid to Save Molly the Mouser.")

It accordingly was not until three days later on April 2nd that he got around to notifying the authorities and that only occurred after he accidentally had overheard her meowing from inside the walls of the nineteenth-century, four-story structure that houses his delicatessen. The fire department and Animal Care and Control (ACC) did show up at his store but neither of them was willing to lift so much as a lousy finger in order to rescue Molly.

Cat therapists and psychics were called in and traps were baited with mackerel to no avail. Bricks were removed and holes drilled in the walls.

A video camera was lowered into darkened crevices. Recordings of whales and gulls were played in an attempt to entice Molly to come out. Kittens were even pressed into service so as to hopefully arouse her maternal instincts.

While all of that was going on inside the store, a three-ring circus comprised of the media, cat-lovers, and ailurophobes had set up shop outside on the sidewalk and in the street. Unfortunately, none of those tactics nor the racket churned up by those outside contributed anything positive toward locating and saving Molly.

A Caged Molly with Peter Myers and Kevin Clifford after Her Rescue

That herculean task was left to a pair of kindhearted individuals who had volunteered their services for free. The first one to step up to the plate was Alan Fierstein who employed sophisticated sound-detecting equipment in order to have located Molly trapped inside a tube behind a first-floor wall.

That discovery in turn allowed construction worker Kevin Clifford of Queens to pull Molly to safety by her tail at 10:13 p.m. on Friday, April 4th. By that time she had been forced to endure an agonizingly lengthy thirteen days of confinement without sustenance.

"I saw her eyes shining in the light. I was calling her, and she was meowing to me," he later told The New York Times on April 15, 2006. (See "The Fraidy-Cat of Hudson Street Is Yanked to Safety.") "She was scared."

Although he had been as slow as Christmas to have acted, Myers was overjoyed at the outcome. "It feels like I just won the lottery," he cooed to the New York Daily News on April 15th. (See "Ending Is the Cat's Meow.") "We're glad to have her back."

Although she was famished, thirsty, dusty, and frightened, Molly was amazingly otherwise unscathed. It is theorized that she survived her long and terrifying ordeal by subsisting on insects, rodents, and dripping water.

For his part, Myers wasted little time in remedying Molly's nutritional deprivations by treating her to a sumptuous meal that consisted of pork along with sardines in olive oil. While she was scarfing down her first real meal in two weeks, he and his young daughter, Jennifer, celebrated her return with champagne and English ale. Being a non-tippler herself, Molly made do with water.

On Monday, April 17th, Molly and Jennifer appeared with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on ABC Television's Good Day New York. It was the New York Mets baseball team, however, that best symbolized what Molly had come to mean to New Yorkers and, for that matter, the entire cat-loving world, when on the night of her deliverance it interrupted a game at the now demolished Shea Stadium in Flushing in order to announce to the crowd that she had been found safe and sound. (See Cat Defender post of April 20, 2006 entitled "Molly Is Finally Rescued After Spending Two Weeks Trapped Inside the Walls of an English Deli in Greenwich Village.")

Much like life itself, fame also is fleeting and as a result Molly's star disappeared from the firmament almost as rapidly as it had ascended. Nothing further concerning her appeared in the press and with Manhattan being far too dangerous in order to visit and its denizens being too bigoted and obnoxious to willingly rub elbows with, she soon was all but forgotten.

It accordingly was not until nearly seventeen years later that it accidentally was learned what had become of her. As it turned out, she had gamely soldiered on at Myers' delicatessen until April of 2020 when it shut down for three weeks due to the pandemic.

Lewis Was Killed Off by His Ungrateful Owner

With Myers having sacked up his shekels in 2019 and returned home to Keswick, a small town of fewer than five-thousand residents located fifty-one kilometers southwest of Carlisle in Cumbria, Jennifer now married and known as Myers-Pulidore, ascended to the throne as top dog at the store and she wasted little time in availing herself of the opportunity afforded her by COVID-19 in order to have quickly gotten rid of Molly. She did so by exiling her to Jersey City in order to live with an unidentified employee of the store.

"When we reopened we thought Molly was better off living a life of luxury in Jersey City," is how that she dishonestly attempted to justify her totally unforgivable and heartless behavior to the New York Post on October 23, 2021. (See "Tributes Pour in for Archie, the Cat at Manhattan's Myers of Keswick.")

Finally, in an article entitled "Our Cat Molly" that is posted on Myers of Keswick's web site, it was learned that Molly had died in December of 2021 following a brief battle with cancer but even that admission hardly qualifies as the unvarnished truth. Au contraire, all feline deaths that occur in December are highly suspicious.

The usual routine calls for nominal Christians and others to keep their cats alive through Christmas Day only to turn around and have them whacked on either the following day or sometime before the arrival of the new year. For example, that was all but certain the cruel fate that befell a handsome, and apparently as healthy as a horse, eighteen-year-old orange tom named Lewis on Boxing Day of 2014.

He had worked for fifteen years at Downtown Home and Garden at 210 South Ashley Street in Ann Arbor but the store's seventy-one-year-old owner, Mark Hodesh, was determined to unload his business by the year's end and he wanted no further part in caring for him. Although he easily could have rewarded him for his long and faithful service by placing him in another home, he unconscionably had him killed off. (See Cat Defender post of January 15, 2015 entitled "Lewis, Ann Arbor's Much Celebrated Garden Shop Cat, Departs This World Under Highly Suspicious Circumstances.")

Since Myers-Pulidore, like Hodesh, has plenty of moola, she easily could have afforded to have had Molly's cancer treated and thus to have extended her life but she instead was too cheap and uncaring in order to have done even that much for her. Besides, considering the amount of business that Molly had brought in to her delicatessen she owed her at least that much in return.

No mention has been made concerning what was done with Molly's remains but more than likely they were either tossed out in the trash or burned. All that therefore remains of her is to be found in cyberspace, photographs, and the memories of those who knew her.

"We take comfort in the long and happy years she lived at the store, where she made many friends," Myers-Pulidore wrote in "Our Cat Molly." "We cannot imagine a world without Molly but feel deeply grateful to have known her and hope you did too."

That is not a bad eulogy but it stands in stark contrast to Myers-Pulidore's abandonment of her. In particular, it is highly doubtful that she even so much as once laid eyes on her again after she had exiled her from her place of business.

Barely Out of Kittenhood, Archie Was Killed by a Pair of Pit Bulls

Heartlessness apparently runs in the Myers clan. For instance, it was reported in April of 2006 that her father had balked at footing the bill for any damage that rescuers might have done to his precious little delicatessen. That was in spite of the fact that the landlord had given them permission to drill holes in the walls and an anonymous donor had generously agreed to pay for Molly's rescue.

Even Clifford was critical of Myers' stinginess. "If that (getting trapped in a wall) ever happened to me, I hope they (rescuers) would keep working that way," he told the New York Daily News on April 16, 2006. (See "Molly's Already Feline (sic) Just Fine.")

It is difficult to speculate on what kind of existence Molly had at the deli other than to say that she at least had a home, food, heat, and some level of security. Since the store is open seven days a week except on holidays, she likely seldom was left alone for extended periods of time, which is a major concern with just about all working cats and mascots who quite often are abandoned to their own devices for days at a time.

Even so, she still was deprived of the fellowship of other cats and access to the wonders of nature. Considering that her new guardian worked days at the deli, Molly likely was forced into spending the majority of her last eighteen months on this earth locked up all alone in either an apartment or a house across the river in Jersey City.

C'est-à-dire, the lion's share of the benefits to have been derived from this relationship accrued to the deli and its bottom line rather than to Molly. Myers-Pulidore certainly had it well within her power to have done considerably better by Molly than she did but to expect a confirmed shekel-chaser to think of anything other than money is to have asked too much of her.

All of Molly's years of faithful service and companionship to the Myers family meant absolutely nothing to any of them. Her international acclaim likewise failed to have saved her. In the end, she was proven to have been nothing more to them than a poorly paid and expendable employee.

After Myers of Keswick had gotten rid of Molly it wasted little time in adopting a very young tuxedo kitten named Archie in May of 2020. He was given to the establishment by one of its kitchen workers and named in honor of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle.

That in itself confirms Myers-Pulidore to be an admirer of the filthy and parasitic royal family. She also apparently goes gaga every time celebrities, such as Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode, and actress Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex in the City" fame, condescend to stop by her grubby little deli.

She therefore is clearly a social climber with stars in her eyes and who identifies with the rich and the famous and that hardly qualifies her as a cat-lover. Contrary to what she and most individuals fervently believe, it is actually those at the bottom of society's perverted pecking order, such as the animals, Mother Earth, and the honest and decent poor, that have any intrinsic value and most assuredly not the flotsam and jetsam of the human race who have murdered, stolen, and lied their way to the top. Most importantly of all, there is a world of difference between appreciating and revering a cat as opposed to nakedly exploiting her for personal gain and then getting rid of her once she becomes expendable. 

Jennifer Myers-Pulidore (rear left) and Her Staffers Mourn Archie

Archie immediately proved himself to be a real financial asset for the store and that very well could have been the true reason why Myers-Pulidore gave Molly the bum's rush. That is to say, she wanted a younger and more energetic mascot.

"He took to the store immediately and immediately stole the hearts of everyone," she declared to the New York Post in the October 23, 2021 article cited supra. "In such a dreary time (the pandemic), Archie warmed the hearts of so many. You wanted to go visit him at the store."

One can almost hear the cash register humming in the back of Myers-Pulidore's desiccated gourd as she tallied up her greenbacks. Not only did Archie more than pay for his upkeep but he also was a big hit with her employees.

"Archie wasn't just a store cat," she continued to the New York Post. "He belonged to all the employees who worked here."

Tragically, Archie's financial value to the store did not magically transform Myers-Pulidore and her staffers into responsible guardians of him. As any true aficionado of the species knows only too well, joint custody of a cat is a prescription for, at best, neglect and, at worst, disaster.

"He wandered to other businesses on the block," she acknowledged to the New York Post. "He had such a personality. Actually, I think he was a little full of himself, which made him more endearing."

With New York City being as clogged as it is with motorists and pedestrians, no one who cared so much as a whit about a cat would ever let him roam. As things soon turned out, Archie was not even safe sitting by the front door of the deli.

Consequently, on October 20, 2021 he was mauled to death by a pair of pit bulls. "It's awful...He literally sat right by our door, minding his own business," Myers-Pulidore informed the New York Post. "They just went at him and the owner couldn't hold them back."

Ironically, it had been a kindhearted dog-lover, Kevin Clifford, who had saved Molly's life all those years ago but in this instance it was an irresponsible and callous one that cost Archie his young life. Weighing only a measly eight pounds and barely out of kittenhood at seventeen months of age, he never would have stood a chance against even one pit bull, let alone two.

Miss Pearl Was Savagely Killed by a Dog at the Annapolis Maritime Museum

"We rushed him to the vet but despite their (sic) heroic efforts, his wee heart did not hold up," Myers-Pulidore summed up to the New York Post.

That possibly could be true but, on the other hand, it also is conceivable that she simply was too cheap in order to have footed the bill for his treatment and convalescence. His remains were cremated and reportedly buried outside the delicatessen which likely was more of a sendoff than Molly ever received.

"We are all devastated and would appreciate that you respect our privacy as we grieve for our beautiful wee Archie. He was so full of life, an adventurer at heart," is how that Myers-Pulidore chose to eulogize him on Instagram. "He will be missed not only by us but by so many of our customer base, who were so kind to him with their love and generosity regarding attention, toys and treats. We hold you all in our thoughts and hearts."

She would have sounded considerably more sincere if she could have refrained from repeatedly patronizing him with the diminutive "wee." Actually, his heart was considerably bigger and fuller than hers.

It is not known if the killer dogs and their owner ever were identified and brought to justice but that seems unlikely. Although it is open season everywhere on cats, it is difficult to think of a single case whereby any killer dog and its owner has been held accountable.

In fact, all across the globe dogs surely must kill hundreds of thousands of cats and kittens each year and the culprits are by no means limited to pit bulls. For example, like the officers of the law that they serve, police dogs also attack and kill cats. (See Cat Defender post of July 2, 2015 entitled "After Allowing One of Their Dogs to Maul McGuire to Within an Inch of His Life, the Toronto Police Do Not Have Even the Common Decency to Summon Veterinary Help for Him.")

It likewise is common practice for canine owners to purposefully release their charges from their leashes and to sic then on cats. Every bit as revolting, such barbarism delights these sociopaths no end. (See Cat Defender posts of July 18, 2015, March 17, 2017, September 27, 2019, and March 20, 2023 entitled, respectively, "A Blackpudlian Thrill Seeker Who Sicced Her Pit Bull on Regi and Then Laughed Off Her Fat Ass as He Tore Him Apart Receives a Customary Clean Bill of Health from the Courts," "Already Sans an Appendage, Simon Loses a Second One to a Killer Dog but His Devoted Owners Elect to Allow Him to Live and He Rewards Them Handsomely by Making a Remarkable Adjustment," "Sparkle Is Killed on the Front Stoop of Her House by an Unleashed Dog in the Latest of Centuries-Old Deadly Attacks That Bear the Unmistakable Imprimatur of the House of Commons," and "Mauled to Within an Inch of His Life by Either a Dog or a Coyote and Afterwards Cruelly Left to Suffer in the Bitter Cold and Deep Snow for More Than a Month by the Lewis County Humane Society, Warden Not Only Perseveres but Now Has Hope for a Better Life.")

Failed American cities such as Memphis deliberately allow large and vicious dogs to roam freely and, as a consequence, to maul and kill cats with impunity. (See Cat Defender post of April 30, 2023 entitled "The City of Memphis Is Refusing to Remove a Pair of Dogs from the Street No Matter How Many Cats That They Kill.")

Some derelict owners even allow dogs to maul cats that live under the same roofs with them. (See Cat Defender post of August 14, 2021 entitled "Amazing Little Juicebox Overcomes Not Only a Near Fatal Mauling at the Hands of His Owners' Dog but also Penury and Being Cruelly Abandoned to Shift for Himself Inside the Snake Pit World of Veterinary Medicine.") 

Gracie with Store Employee Irene Donnelly

In the elder Myers' home country of Angleterre, cats and their owners are routinely preyed upon by foxhounds. (See Cat Defender post of July 1, 2021 entitled "Fourteen-Year-Old Mini Is Ripped to Shreds by a Pack of Vicious Hounds but Those Responsible Never Will Be Punished Because the Limeys Value the 'Unspeakable in Full Pursuit of the Uneatable' More Than They Do Her Right to Live.")

Dogfighters in the United Kingdom also still use cats as bait in order to train their killers. (See Cat Defender posts of October 22, 2021 and October 31, 2021 entitled, respectively, "Condemned to Die as Dog Bait, Courageous Buzz Perseveres Just Long Enough Until He Is Somehow Able to Not Only Regain His Freedom but Also to Find His Pot of Gold at the Rainbow's End" and "The Arrest of a Dogfighter in Ayr Provides a Rare Glimpse into the Utterly Despicable Abuse That Bait Cats Are Subjected to but the Scottish SPCA Still Stubbornly Persists in Treating Them as Expendable Nonentities.")

Archie's killing additionally refocuses attention on the abysmal failure of both retail and governmental entities to safeguard the lives of the cats that they keep as companions, mascots, and mousers. Most reprehensibly of all in that respect, on December 9, 2020 staffers at the Annapolis Maritime Museum (AMM) unconscionably allowed an unleashed dog to stroll unmolested onto its docks and savagely kill its truly beautiful Miss Pearl.

They cared so little about her that they not only permitted her to roam the neighborhood unescorted but they additionally refused to even put her up at night and it was precisely that latter gross dereliction of duty that facilitated her brutal killing. (See Cat Defender post of April 30, 2022 entitled "Relegated to the Dustbin of History and All but Forgotten by the Grossly Negligent Annapolis Maritime Museum, Miss Pearl's Beautiful Soul Continues to Cry Out from the Grave for Justice.")   

After shedding a crocodile tear or two over Miss Pearl's violent demise, the museum wasted little time before setting about securing a replacement for her and by February of 2021 it had procured another victim for its machinations named Big Mac. Despite being grossly overweight at eighteen and one-half pounds, he astonishingly is still alive today and being put through his paces by his overlords.

"Big Mac, our very own museum working cat, has officially taken the helm as captain of the Wilma Lee's New Cat Lovers' Cruise!" the AMM proudly announced April 1st on both its web site as well as Facebook. 

Powerless to do anything else, the outside world can only sit back and hope that staffers at the AMM do not negligently allow him to fall overboard and drown in Chesapeake Bay. As far as shelters that fob off cats like him and Miss Pearl on the public are concerned, they care so little about them that they do not even conduct follow-up wellness checks; they simply want rid of them and therefore could care less what ultimately becomes of them.

Vicious and unsocialized dogs that their owners refuse to control are not only a threat to cats but also to smaller dogs. For instance, there recently has been a spate of such attacks in both Manhattan and the Bronx. (See the New York Post, May 8, 2025 articles entitled, respectively, "Killer History. Recalling How Pits Mauled Her Pups" and "Another Vicious Attack in (the) Bronx.")

Such dogs sometimes even kill humans. For example, on January 2, 2001 a Presa Canario named Bane bit thirty-four-year-old Diane Alexis Whipple seventy-seven times in San Francisco. The dog's handler, attorney Marjorie Knoller, remains to this very day behind bars at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla. (See the San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 2023, " 'Dog of Death': The Horrific Killing of Diane Whipple in San Francisco.")

Whereas the attack on Archie was so sudden and unexpected that there likely was not anything that Myers-Pulidore and her staffers could have done in order to have saved him, it does highlight the urgent need for all those with shop cats to not only keep them inside but also to place both the insides and outsides of their businesses off limits to all dogs and their owners.

Antonio Was Stolen from Outside the Queens Deli That He Called Home

They also should perhaps consider arming themselves with either tear gas or pepper spray. Neither the politicians nor the worthless cops are, quite obviously, going to lift so much as lousy finger in order to protect cats, small dogs, and the general public from vicious dogs.

Nor can anything positive be expected from humane groups in spite of the fact that the stubborn refusal of the sociopaths who own these dogs to properly socialize them is in itself an act of animal cruelty. That is because dogs that kill, such as Bane, are often condemned to die in turn themselves by the courts.

Other than pausing briefly in December of 2021 in order to have whacked Molly, Myers of Keswick scarcely missed a beat before acquiring a new replacement for Archie. The store therefore adopted in January of 2022 a brown and white female named Gracie.

"She has been a wonderful addition to the store. She's playful and she loves to meet people," Myers-Pulidore wrote in "Our Cat Molly." "She has some big 'paws' to fill but we are confident she will do a great job! As long a she stays away from small places between buildings, we should be okay."

Given that she has persevered for three and one-half years, Myers-Pulidore and her staff surely must be either doing something right or they have been extremely lucky. Nevertheless grave concerns about her safety remain unaddressed, at least publicly.

For instance, unless she is willing to confine Gracie to the rear portion of her store during business hours, she would be well advised to equip her with a collar that not only would sound an alarm whenever she ventures to within ten feet of the front door but which also would automatically lock it.

Catnappers are another concern. For example, at around 8:30 p.m. on August 2nd of last year an eighteen-year-old black and brown male named Antonio was stolen outside the K'Glen Deli and Sari Sari store at 39-16 Sixty-Fifth Street in Woodside, Queens. Worst of all, Antonio is in need of unspecified daily medication and the thief had no way of knowing that.

Even though a perfectly clear photo of the culprit was captured on a surveillance camera, apparently nothing further has been either seen or heard about Antonio. Moreover, there can be little doubt that his abduction was intentional.

"He really meant to take the cat because if he thought that he might be a stray, our door was open," Antonio's heartbroken owner, Glen Alagasi, told the Sunnyside Post on August 8, 2024. (See "Search Underway for Stolen Woodside Bodega Cat Beloved by Local Community.") "He could have just asked if the cat was a stray or not."

A Very Young Molly in 2006 With Her Entire Life Ahead of Her

It is cruel but the long and the short of the matter is that New York City is simply too dangerous of an environment for a footloose feline. If Myers of Keswick perhaps has a fenced-in garden out back Gracie possibly could be allowed to avail herself of it but even then someone should be watching over her.

Since its opening in 1985 , Myers of Keswick has had at least one other resident feline. Her name was Fluffy Fleabag and she preceded Molly but other than that absolutely nothing else is known about her.

The elder Myers could not possibly have thought much of her otherwise he never would have saddled her with such a pejorative moniker. (See Cat Defender post of February 20, 2007 entitled "A Stray Cat Ignominiously Named Stinky Is Rescued from a Rooftop by Good Samaritans After the Fire Department Refuses to Help.")

On its web site, the delicatessen mentions only Molly and Gracie while treating Archie and Fluffy as if they never existed. Those glaring omissions in turn raise the prospect that during it forty years in existence it possibly could have had several additional cats and that some of them could have, perhaps, met with untimely demises.

Since the store is unlikely to ever come clean, no one from the outside world will ever know the full story. It can only be sincerely hoped that Molly at the very least experienced a few moments of happiness during her life even if it ultimately ended tragically wrong for her.

Untold numbers of people from near and far held their breaths and hoped for her deliverance in 2006 when she was trapped inside a wall at the deli but when she was killed off in 2021 she was all alone and without anyone in her corner in order to have advocated for her right to veterinary care and, above all, to go on living. That was not right and none of Myers-Pulidore's insincere, self-serving palaver will ever make it so.

It is highly doubtful that Molly therefore is either missed or mourned very much by the shekel-counters at Myers of Keswick. Perhaps other individuals from outside the store will not only remember her but also keep her memory alive by dedicating their lives to advocating for justice for all working cats and mascots and, above all, their right to live.

Should such an undertaking ever be attempted, it is imperative that it, like TNR, be one-hundred per cent privately funded and staffed. The politicians, bureaucrats, and cops can never be trusted to do the right thing by any cat. (See Cat Defender post of December 22, 2011 entitled "A Rogue TNR Practitioner and Three Unscrupulous Veterinarians Kill at Least Sixty-Two Cats with the Complicity of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals.")

Molly was a great cat and a tremendous ambassador for her species but, sadly, she is long gone. So, as Anglo-American writer Oliver Herford reminds one and all:

"Gather kittens while you may,

Time brings only sorrow;

And the kittens of today;

Will be old cats tomorrow."

Photos: Myers of Keswick (Molly), Dima Gavrysch of the Associated Press (Molly with Peter Myers and Kevin Clifford) , Facebook (Lewis), Helayne Seidman of the New York Post (Archie by himself and Jennifer Myers-Pulidore and her staff mourning Archie), Mark Brady (Miss Pearl), James Barron of The New York Times (Gracie with Irene Donnelly), Glen Alagasi (Antonio), and ABC-TV of New York (Molly in 2006).