Dumped on the Cajon Pass and Staring Imminent Death in the Face, Bugs Is Rescued at the Last Minute by a Compassionate and Totally Fearless Hockey Mom

Ryann McCaffrey Attempts to Win Bugs' Trust with an Offer of Ham

"I saw a distressed kitten on the median and pulled over immediately without even thinking how dangerous the situation could be."

-- Ryann McCaffrey

It was all but over for little Bugs. As a newcomer to this old world and its wicked ways, he had been around for only about nine weeks and now he was going to die.

After having been cruelly dumped on the Cajon Pass of Interstate 15, one-hundred-two kilometers north of Los Angeles, he was stranded on the median in the hot, broiling sun with the temperature well above 100° Fahrenheit. He additionally was without food, water, and so much as a glimmer of hope. 

As bad as all of that was, he was still an extremely lucky kitten considering that the force of his impact with the roadway had not killed him. Of course, it is possible that he could have been let out of a stationary vehicle as opposed to having been violently tossed.

For example on June 4, 2016, a black eight-week-old kitten later dubbed Lieutenant Dan was thrown from a speeding car somewhere between Exits 8 and 9 on the New Haven-North Haven stretch of Interstate 91 in Connecticut. He was rescued by unidentified motorists who rushed him to the Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine in North Haven where an examination revealed that he had sustained two broken legs, a torn bladder, internal bleeding, and an unspecified degree of paralysis.

Eileen Aiello and Jackie Nuzzo, who had obtained custody of him from one of his rescuers, wasted little time in acquiescing to the wishes of the veterinarians by having him promptly killed off. While it is debatable if he could have been saved, that which is not in doubt is that he deserved to have been given a chance to have lived.

Being far too incompetent and bone-lazy to even have tried, the attending veterinarians instead greedily gobbled up a lucrative killing fee. Aiello and Nuzzo were equally morally bankrupt for going along with the wishes of these despisers of all feline life.

Like just about all Americans, they relish talking big, strutting, and preening but if saving the life of a cat is  going to cost them so much as a red cent or a minute's worth of bother, they will choose jabs of sodium pentobarbital every time. (See the New Haven Register, June 6, 2016, "Kitten Thrown from Car on I-91 Dies; Motorists Seek Justice.")

The same doubly cruel and unjust fate befell a nameless five-week-old orange and white kitten on July 8, 2010 in Chattanooga. Hurled from a black, four-door vehicle at around noon on Interstate-24, the pretty female bounced off a retaining wall and received a glancing blow from another motorist before being rescued by David Livesay.

He then spent the next four hours attempting to convince at least two veterinarians to treat her. "It's a life! It's a life!" he pleaded in vain. "Anything alive is worth saving."

Nobody Believed That Lieutenant Dan's Life Was Worth Saving

He would not have had to convince Henry David Thoreau of that. "Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve life than destroy it," he once wrote.

Unfortunately for the kitten, Thoreau has been dead for centuries and she soon wound up at the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center which wasted little time in ending her life. (See Cat Defender post of July 16, 2010 entitled "Tossed Out the Window of a Car Like an Empty Beer Can, an Injured Chattanooga Kitten Is Left to Die after at Least Two Veterinarians Refused to Treat Her.")

Bugs' second stroke of luck came when he was able to have safely gotten out of traffic and made it to the top of the median. Otherwise, he surely would have been crushed to smithereens underneath the wheels of one or more morally bankrupt motorists who joyfully refuse to brake and steer around kittens and cats.

Other motorists stomp on the gas, turn the wheel over, and make beelines for all felines that they are able to get in their sights; for them, killing cats and kittens is a far too exquisite thrill to be passed up. (See Cat Defender post of August 14, 2019 entitled "No Respect for Life: Early Graves and Crippling Injuries Are All That Cats Who Dare to Set Foot in the Street Can Expect from the Bloodthirsty Motoring Public.")

In addition to the twin dilemmas of surviving the impact with the pavement and avoiding all the predatory motorists that are out on the roads today, there also was the possibility that the force of his ejection could have carried him over and beyond the median and to his death on top of the motorists below. Alone and stranded as he was, he made an appealing target for harassment by such common species of birds as crows and magpies and that could have caused him to have lost his footing on the median.

Predation at the hands of hawks, eagles, owls, and other avian species was an even bigger concern. (See Cat Defender posts of July 31, 2006, August 14, 2008, August 1, 2011, February 16, 2012, and February 5, 2024 entitled, respectively, "A Fifteen-Year-Old Cat Named Bamboo Miraculously Survives Being Abducted and Mauled by a Hoot Owl in British Columbia," "Birds Killing Cats: Blackie Is Abducted by a Sea Gull and Then Dropped but Her Fall Is Broken by a Barbed-Wire Fence," "Eddie Is Saved by an Outdoor Umbrella after He Is Abducted from the Balcony of His Manhattan Apartment and Then Dropped by a Redtailed Hawk," "Hawk Suffers Puncture Wounds to His Stomach and One Paw When He Is Abducted by a Raptor Hired to Patrol a City Dump on Vancouver Island," and "The Vicious and Unprovoked Attack Upon Pudding Once Again Demonstrates That Birds Kill Cats as Do Ornithologists and Wildlife Biologists.")

It is not known how long that Bugs had been stranded on the median but it could have been as short of a spell as hours or as long as days. He surely was frightened out of his wits and his energy level soon would have ebbed and that easily could have sent him tumbling into traffic.

It likewise is not known how many motorists not only passed him by without giving him so much as a second thought but who also never even dreamed of notifying the authorities of his perilous plight. Just because an individual might not be in a position to mount a rescue does not necessarily excuse him for not doing anything.

No Veterinarian Would Even Consider Saving the Chattanooga Kitten

Bugs surely must have been at about the end of his rope when from out of nowhere on July 28th a savior arrived on the scene in the form of a compassionate and fearless hockey mom. Ryann McCaffrey, her husband Matt, and their three children were motoring north on Interstate 15 from their home in Temecula, a city of one-hundred-thirteen-thousand occupants in Riverside County and located one-hundred-thirty-seven kilometers south of Los Angeles, on their way to their annual summer vacation in historic Bishop, a city of thirty-eight-hundred residents in Inyo County and located four-hundred-thirty-one kilometers north of Los Angeles, when she spotted Bugs on the median.

"We were in the fast lane in the Cajon Pass and traffic was pretty slow," she later told the Victorville Daily Press on August 14th. (See " 'Hero' Mom Rescues Stranded Kitten on Busy Interstate 15 in Southern California's Cajon Pass.") "I saw a distressed kitten on the median and pulled over immediately without even thinking how dangerous the situation could be."

Her initial attempt at a rescue ended in failure as the frightened and panting kitten ran from her. Mercifully, he never abandoned the safety of the median.

Thinking fast, McCaffrey changed tactics. "I grabbed some of my kids' Lunchables ham and tried to show I wasn't a threat," she explained to the Victorville Daily Press.

When Consumer Reports tested Kraft Heinz's Lunchables it found unacceptable levels of sodium, lead, and cadmium in them and that resulted in the company being forced to remove the popular snack from the school lunch program. The small amount that Bugs ingested while stranded on the median should not harm him but it would not appear to be a good idea for McCaffrey to make a habit of feeding the treat to either him or her children.

In this particular instance, however, the Lunchables served their purpose by allowing McCaffrey to gain a measure of Bugs' trust. Her effort was additionally augmented by the timely arrival on the scene of a male motorist offering his assistance.

Specifically, his arrival momentarily distracted Bugs just long enough in order for McCaffrey to have gotten her hands on him. Once she had accomplished that herculean feat she was not about to let go of him no matter how many times that he scratched and bit her.

In between moaning and cursing a blue streak she wasted little time in getting him safely inside her old jalopy. She then slaked his parched palate with some much needed water. 

McCaffrey Took Advantage of the Arrival of a Stranger to Grab Bugs

Matt, who had filmed the dramatic rescue, then drove her and Bugs to the nearest pet store where she purchased food and other supplies for the new arrival before she and her family continued on to Bishop. Upon arrival there, she took him to a veterinarian who sedated him and gave him a physical examination.

Press reports have not disclosed the results of that procedure but, apparently, he came away from his life and death ordeal with nothing more serious than some hijacking fleas and other parasites and that would tend to suggest that he was let out on the Cajon Pass as opposed to having been thrown from his previous owner's speeding vehicle. Otherwise he was indeed forcibly ejected but somehow was fortunate enough to have escaped injury.

As the gateway to the eastern Sierra Nevadas that also furnishes access to both Yosemite and Death Valley national parks, there is plenty to do in Bishop including hiking, fishing, climbing, hunting, and visiting with the local population of abandoned mules. Nevertheless, the McCaffreys elected to cut short their vacation in order to return home to Temecula with the newest member of their family. 

In spite of all that he had been put through, Bugs was said to be adjusting to the "family and becoming more comfortable every day" and that is a truly remarkable change in fortunes for a tiny kitten who came ever so close to dying a lonely and violent death on a forlorn mountain pass.

Although McCaffrey had initially christened him as Pharrell in honor of the rapper of the same name who had a monster hit record back in 2013 entitled "Happy," she later was prompted to change his name to Bugs. She did so not out of a fondness for the legendary carrot-chomping rabbit but rather for far more mundane reasons.

"I swear this little guy survived on bugs," she exclaimed to the Victorville Daily Press. "He is eating any bug he gets the chance to, even with his fancy kitty food and chicken."

That is perfectly understandable considering all that he has been through but he should outgrow that inclination as soon as he learns just how much more delicious, plentiful, and easily obtainable commercial cat food is as compared to having to catch insects for his daily sustenance. If against all odds that should not prove to be the case, McCaffrey can take comfort in knowing that she not only has added a wonderful cat to her household but also a pest exterminator who is willing to work for practically nothing.

She truly is a hero in every sense of that word. Bugs is alive today because she not only took the time in order to have cared about him but she also was willing to have risked her own life so that he could go on living and that is a pretty spectacular achievement any day of the week.

Bugs in His New Home...

If that were all that there is to this story that would be great but malheureusement that is hardly the case. Nothing good ever seems to last for very long in this world and from the file marked "No Good Deed Ever Goes Unpunished," an electrical fire broke out at 3:30 p.m. on August 20th in the house that the McCaffreys were renting in Temecula.

The inferno quickly engulfed and destroyed their dwelling and the family lost practically everything that it owned. Fortunately, Ryann and Matt got out unscathed as did their three children.

 

Eleven of their twelve pets, including Mr. Kitty, a pair of Alsatians, two guinea pigs, a tarantula, a leopard gecko, a bearded dragon, and a trio of parakeets, were pulled to safety by the family and other volunteers. Bugs, however, was left behind in the master bedroom upstairs where the conflagration had ignited.

Mercifully, the Temecula Fire Department arrived on the scene and one or more of its courageous members risked their lives by entering the burning and smoked-filled house in order to have carried out Bugs wrapped in a soot-covered pillowcase. Sadly, the smoke had taken its toll on him and he was largely unresponsive.

It did not look good for him at that juncture but the McCaffreys were not about to throw in the towel on him just yet. Instead, Ryann's father rushed him to Vail Ranch Vet where he was treated for pneumonia and placed in an oxygen tent for two days during which time he was administered intravenous fluids.

He is now back with the McCaffreys, who are staying with relatives, and is expected to live. What, if any, lasting lung damage that he may have sustained remains to be seen.

"He is warming up to the kids and my husband," McCaffrey related to KTLA-TV of Los Angeles on August 30th. (See "Kitten Saved from Cajon Pass Fighting Lung Disease after New Home Burns Down.") "I have taken the role of giving (him) the medicine which he does not like. He runs from me and has given me a couple of love bites."

It is difficult to imagine any kitten having been put through as much hell and anguish as Bugs has experienced during the first twelve weeks of his life. For whatever reason, the stars appear to be conspiring against him.

...before It Burned Up and Nearly Killed Him in the Process

As for McCaffrey, losing her home and possessions has taken a huge emotional toll not only on her but also her family. "We're struggling to cope," she candidly admitted to KTLA-TV. "I'm overwhelmed with emotions -- numb, scared, hopeful, traumatized, thankful, and heartbroken all at once."

The one thing that she has not lost, however, is her perspective. "It has been devastating, but it could have been much worse," she told KTLA-TV. "Our kids could have been home alone, we could have been away from the house, or it could have happened in the night."

As terrible as the fire has proven itself to be, the response from her neighbors has been more than equal to the task at hand. For instance, by September 2nd a fundraiser on Go Fund Me had collected more than US$34,000. (See "Help the McCaffrey Family Rebuild After Fire.")

"This has been so traumatizing, but we are getting through it because of our amazing community," she summed up to KTLA-TV.

Starting over is not going to be easy, however. Rents are sky-high everywhere and replacing clothing, furniture, appliances, and other household essentials is not only expensive but a time-consuming affair as well.

Bugs' emergency and ongoing veterinary care is destined to set back the family thousands, if not indeed tens of thousands, of dollars. Most pressing of all, both Bugs and the family desperately need a break from all the rotten karma that has been dogging their every step of late.

As spectacular as was McCaffrey's rescue of Bugs on the Cajon Pass, stopping on any busy highway and venturing out into traffic is an extremely dangerous undertaking. For example, in late June of 2009 then twenty-eight-year-old Rachel Honeycutt was traveling on the East-West Connector in Cobb County, Georgia, when she witnessed two women throwing an unspecified number of kittens from their vehicle and out into the oncoming traffic.

Like McCaffrey, she did not hesitate to pull over and attempt to mount a rescue but just as she had bent down in order to pick up one of the kittens she was struck from behind by a speeding motorist. The force of the impact sent her flying seventy-five feet in the air and when she landed she was on the other side of the highway.

Although She Was Nearly Killed, Rachel Honeycutt Never Had Any Regrets

Bruised and battered from head to toe, she was rushed to an emergency room where she was diagnosed to suffered a broken pelvis as well as brain and other unspecified organ damage. She temporarily lost her memory, lapsed into a coma, and was placed on life-support for several weeks.

 

Thankfully, she eventually recovered but that was far from being the end of her travails. In particular, she was left with staggering medical bills and for a time she was even in danger of losing her house.

Adding insult to injury, the local authorities issued her a citation for being in the road. By contrast, neither the women who had dumped the kittens nor the motorist who had run her down were even so much as hunted down, let alone brought before the altar of justice. As for the kittens, no one seems to even have bothered to ascertain what became of them.

Honeycutt, however, never has had any regrets. "I can't believe I'm okay," she later said. "Everybody I've helped has helped me so much in a situation that brings it all around. Everything you give, you get it back."

Like McCaffrey, she is the genuine article in a world that is composed primarily of colossal phonies who think only of themselves. There are others who also have risked their lives in order to save cats and kittens but in most instances they have received only scorn, condemnation, and slaps from the heavy hand of the law in return for their valor. 

For instance, on September 4th of last year an unidentified couple in their twenties was driving east on the 91 Freeway in Riverside, eighty-nine kilometers west of Los Angeles, when they spotted a kitten stranded on the westbound side of the road. They immediately took the next exit and circled back.

When they came upon the kitten again the man jumped out of his vehicle, took off his shirt, and scooped it up in his hands. A trailing motorist failed to brake in time, swerved into the center divider, and came directly toward him.

The would-be rescuer attempted to jump over the median but in the process dropped the kitten. In attempting to avoid him, the trailing motorist not only collided with another motorist but also the driver of a tractor-trailer.
 

Zipper Survived Being Dumped on the San Diego-Coronado Bridge

One person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries but the Good Samaritan escaped without being injured. The kitten reportedly escaped with its life but it is not known what ultimately became of it.

True to form, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) promptly placed the couple under investigation for making what it has deemed to have been a "non-emergency stop" and for impending traffic. How that inquiry ended is not known.

"The great thing is that the cat made it, but these people caused a big mess," Javier Navarro of the CHP groused to the Los Angeles Times on September 6, 2024. (See "Driver Saves a Kitten on the 91 Freeway but Causes a Three-Car Crash.") "Who stops on a freeway like that?"

If Navarro and "his people" within the CHP had so much as an ounce of intelligence they would not have to ask such an asinine question. Instead, they would realize that it is compassionate and fearless individuals who care about cats and who are imbued with a strong sense of right and wrong.

Furthermore, if Navarro and the CHP would for once do their jobs by not only enforcing the rules of  the road in busy southern California but, especially, going after and arresting individuals who dump cats and kittens in traffic members of the public would not be forced into risking their lives in order to do their jobs for them. After all, they are the ones knocking down the big bucks and perks.

Instead of doing that, Navarro and the officers of the CHP are going to continue to sit on their fat, lazy, and rotten cracks excoriating and bringing charges against individuals who care about cats. It is a profitable racket to be sure but just about everything about the law enforcement community in the United States in general and California in particular always has been a grotesque sham. (See National Public Radio's "Throughline," May 8, 2025, "California's Bum Blockade" and John Steinbeck's 1939 novel, "The Grapes of Wrath.")

Earlier on September 26, 2023, a kindhearted motorist was crossing the 3.4-kilometer-long San Diego-Coronado Bridge, which spans San Diego Bay, when that unidentified individual just happened to spot an orange, ten-week-old male kitten subsequently named Zipper stranded about a quarter of the way up the Coronado side of the span. That individual attempted an unsuccessful rescue before his vehicle was hit from behind by two other motorists.

None of the drivers and occupants of the three vehicles were seriously injured and members of the Coronado Fire Department along with Corporal Andrew Hutchens of the Coronado Police Department soon thereafter found the kitten hiding in a movable Zipper® traffic lane divider. Taken to Paws of Coronado he was deemed to have sustained scrapes to his paws and rear but was otherwise in good shape. (See KNSD-TV of San Diego, September 27, 2023, "Kitten Rescue Causes Three-Car Crash on Coronado Bridge.")

Hoping Against Hope That Star-Crossed Bugs Is Able to Pull Through

He shortly thereafter was adopted and his new owner renamed him Rio in honor of longtime San Diego Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers (Felipe Rios in Spanish). (See KNSD-TV on Instagram, October 7, 2023, "Kitten Whose Rescue Caused Three-Car Crash on Coronado Bridge Gets Adopted.")

The dumping of unwanted cats and kittens on busy thoroughfares is hardly novel. Rather, it is diabolical practice that has been going on for seemingly as long as there have been automobiles and roads.

Worst still, it is at epidemic proportions and does not show any signs of abating. (See Cat Defender posts of January 14, 2008, August 28, 2008, February 21, 2009, July 2, 2009, July 6, 2009, April 29, 2010, August 12, 2010, March 16, 2013, May 30, 2013, January 10, 2014, May 17, 2016, and July 10, 2022 entitled, respectively, "Freeway Miraculously Survives Being Tossed Out the Window of a Truck on Busy Interstate 95 in South Florida,"  "In Memoriam: Trooper Survives Being Thrown from a Speeding Automobile Only to Later Die on the Operating Table," "A Daring Rescue in the Sky Spares the Life of a Cat That Was Dumped on an Overpass in Houston," "Three-Week-Old Lucky Is Rescued by a Staten Island Judge after She Was Tossed Out the Window of a Pickup Truck on Hyland Boulevard," "Miracle Survives a Drowning Attempt on the McClugage Bridge and Later Hitchhikes a Ride to Safety Underneath the Car of a Compassionate Motorist," "Long Suffering River Finally Finds a Home after Having Been Run Over by a Motorist and Nearly Drowned," "Gia and Mr. T. Survive Separate Attempts Made on Their Lives after They Are Abandoned on Busy Bridges During Inclement Weather," "Mausi Is Saved from a Potentially Violent Death on the Fast and Furious Autobahn Thanks to the Dramatic Intervention of a Münchner Couple," "Stone-Broke, Homeless, and All Alone at the Crossroads of the World, Disaster Is Snatched from Harm's Way by a Representative of the Walking Dead," "A Texas Judge Idiotically Allows Pastor Rick Bartlett Get Away with Stealing and Killing Moody but a Civil Court May Yet Hold Him Accountable," "The Corpses of Eleven Cats Are Found Locked Inside Pet Carriers That Were Dumped Along North Carolina Roads but the Authorities Are Unwilling to Go after Their Killer," " and "Unspeakably Mutilated and Then Dumped to Die All Alone with His Horrific Pain in the Bitter Cold, Highway Amazingly Defies the Odds and Now Has a New Guardian, a Home, and a Second Chance at Life.")

The most thought-provoking question of all is what are individuals who hate cats so much that they are condemning them to be crushed to death underneath the wheels of speeding motorists doing with them in the first place? One possible explanation is that these devils only acquire them in order to abuse and kill them. That is how that they get their perverted kicks.

 

A second possibility is the abysmal lack of affordable sterilization and the blame for that rests squarely upon the shoulders of scum-of-the-earth, predatory veterinarians. They could easily solve the problem of the overpopulation of unwanted cats if they so desired but the only thing that interests them is making as much money as is possible in the shortest amount of time and with the least expenditure of effort. In other words, they are not only greedy and uncaring but lazy assholes to boot.

With such a mindset, it is not surprising that they are not the least bit particular about how that they get their blood money. (See Cat Defender post of March 19, 2014 entitled "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.")

Thirdly, shelters, breeders, and others who traffic in the species need to be far more selective about the types of individuals that they allow to adopt and purchase their cats. Fourthly, it would be a positive step in the right direction if the law enforcement community for once would start tracking down and arresting individuals who commit these utterly despicable crimes. 

Deplorably, the odds of any of those recommendations being even so much as entertained, let alone implemented, are considerably slimmer than those that Bugs had of ever getting out of the Cajon Pass alive.

Photos: Ryann McCaffrey (Bugs), the New Haven Register (Lieutenant Dan), WTVC-TV (the Chattanooga kitten), Go Fund Me (the McCaffreys' burned-out house), WXIA-TV of Atlanta (Rachel Honeycutt), and the Coronado Police Department (Zipper).

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 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" plus the Guilford-Jamestown Veterinary Hospital in Greensboro, no date, "What Are the Symptoms of End Stage Kidney Failure in Cats?" and Washington State University in Pullman, press release of July 31, 2025, "Genetic Test  Detects Early Signs of Kidney Disease in Cats.")

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 that is 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 of epic proportions to shorten their lives 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 adopt.

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 bringing 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 unjust 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).