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.

Clearly, he is 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, September 26, 2013, August 27, 2014, October 18, 2014, January 15, 2015, May 28, 2015, October 31, 2015, August 4, 2017, November 2, 2017. March 31, 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," "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," "Mayor Stubbs, 1997-2017: A Melancholic Remembrance, an Appreciation, and Tearful Au Revoir," "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," "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," "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).