The TELUS Convention Centre was filled with donation boxes and feline-focused businesses from the minute you walked in on Sept. 22 and 23 at the Calgary Cat Festival and Market.
This is the second year the festival and market has gone through, this year hosting several cat-focused vendors to bring awareness to the many cats in need of adoption in Calgary.
June Wong, the executive director, mentioned how the need for adoptions can sometimes be a difficult topic.
“It’s tough,” she said. “Every dog, cat, any animal deserves to be adopted.”
Currently in Calgary, shelters and rescue centres have been witnessing an overwhelming amount of dogs and cats in need of adoption in part due to the rise in people abandoning their pets.
Wong made it crucial for many of the vendors at the event to be rescue and adoption centres, shelters, and charities to promote animal adoption.
With rescues such as the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) seeing an increase in the number of cats in their care, from 222 in 2020 to 309 in 2022, Wong wants to make sure this message gets across to visitors.
“When there are surrender issues, [cats are] just overpopulated at the adoption centres,” said Wong. “That’s the reason why the cat festival is a huge supporter of our rescue organizations because we want to get those cats and kittens adopted.
“That is the main goal.”
The festival and market hosted local feline-focused businesses, a cat art show, panels and other activities for visitors in addition to the rescue and charity organizations.
Part of the festival included Adoption Alley, an area separate from the vendors and activities where visitors could go and adopt cats on the spot. One of the adoption centres present was AARCS, which has been dedicated to helping abandoned, abused and re-homed animals in Alberta for 17 years.
Hayley McClain, a member of AARCS, says the rescue is taking in more animals than they normally would as a result of issues including the housing crisis, where people can no longer afford pets.
“We have over 800 animals in our care right now, which is more than we usually like to sit at,” said McClain. “With the housing crisis and the fire evacuees, we have been seeing a huge increase in animals coming into our care.”
To help make pet-owning more affordable for the community, McClain mentions some of the programs AARCS has to offer for those struggling to support their pets in addition to programs such as the Spay/Neuter and Disease Prevention Initiative, Trap-Neuter-Return and Animal Disaster Response.
“We have food systems programs where we will give food to families who just need a little bit of extra help,” she said.
“We’ll do whatever we can to keep the animals in their home.”
Being able to assist the organizations that take in animals is one of Wong’s main priorities with the festival and market.
“Every dollar from each ticket goes towards the rescues on-site to support [the rescues],” she said.
An admission ticket for the festival and market was $10 per person and part of the ticket price went toward organizations such as the Pawsitive Match Rescue Foundation.
Being a registered charity for over a decade, Pawsitive Match has been rescuing dogs and cats across North America with a team of just volunteers.
Mayra Vargas, the foundation’s event and fundraising coordinator, explains how being at the Calgary Cat Festival and Market for a second year has a personal significance for her.
“My cat is a rescue cat, so I think since that moment I realized I love cats,” she said. “It’s nice to talk to people about how it’s a benefit to adopt a cat, to foster a cat, and visit the shelter.
“We decided to participate again this year because we saw so many people have cats and want to learn more about cats, and that this is a great opportunity for us so people know who we are and what we do.”
While the city’s current housing crisis plays a large role in the rise of cats in need of adoption, Donna Bracey, the former shelter director, says it’s not completely to blame.
“There are lots of reasons at the moment why people can’t have animals in the home,” said Bracey.
“More recently we’ve seen it through deaths in the family where the owners have died and some of their family members try to find a place for their [pets], another one is also allergies.”
Bracey says this issue is bigger than what people think and other rescues such as AARCS aren’t the only ones experiencing an alarming amount of animals in need of care.
“All rescues at the moment are experiencing the rental market and people having to give up their animals,” she said.
The increased amount of organizations calling for people to adopt has also called for more education on the topic. McClain recommends to owners that adopted animals should be taken through the proper procedures before settling into a new home.
“We always strongly encourage adoptions and also spaying and neutering your animals so that we can make the world a better place for our furry friends,” she said.
Whether it’s through the fundraising community or getting involved in the adoption process, both Vargas and Bracey encourage people to get involved to make a difference and they are constantly accepting more volunteers.
“There are lots of ways to help and I think that’s why we have information on the fostering, the adopting and shelter,” said Bracey.
“There isn’t just one way to support animals.”
In its second year, the Calgary Cat Festival and Market took the opportunity to share with the community the wide concern for cats in need of adoption. Wong hopes that Calgarians can see the seriousness of animal adoption and can help wherever they can.
“That is the reason why I started the Calgary Cat Festival and Market,” said Wong.
“For the rescues.”
