Dear Editor:
In the middle of the night, while away on a trip, we received the dreaded call from the Vancouver Animal Emergency Shelter telling us that our neighbours had brought in our cat Yoshi and I needed to make the call to euthanize him or have them perform heroic measures. On the advice of the vet, I made the heartbreaking decision to put him down.
Yoshi, “ambassador of the 400-block of West 16th,” was the most amazing cat that had a harem of neighbours he would visit. He chose us nine years ago and was the most loving, gentle cat.
A fellow feline led his owner to Yoshi where they found him unresponsive and foaming at the mouth. The cause of the poisoning was antifreeze, which undoubtedly came from one of the many work trucks that have taken up residence in our back lane since the construction of a new house on West 15th Street. Yoshi was rushed to the vet and was turned away as they were closing in 10 minutes.
They then got stuck on the Lions Gate Bridge during “bump-gate” and made it to Vancouver, but too late.
The one positive that has come out of this is how my neighbours (we didn’t all know each other before) banded together to drive and comfort Yoshi during his last hours. Thank you! We feel blessed to know that our neighbours have our back.
Our other cat also fell victim to the same development site, falling into the pit and bruising herself so badly that she was bleeding internally. We were able to save her.
We forget sometimes that with all of this construction taking place in our backyards, it has an impact not only on the neighbourhood, but also on our four-legged friends.
Alex Graham
North Vancouver
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