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Angela Rafuse was just 26 and living in her parent’s basement in Nova Scotia, Canada, when she founded My Grandfather’s Cat. The registered charity, now two years old, helps seniors and terminally ill people arrange homes for their pets before moving into assisted living or passing away. Its founding was personal, inspired by Rafuse’s grandfather and his 14-year-old cat Mackenzie, whom Rafuse took in upon her grandfather’s passing.

MyGrandfathersCat

“Sharing videos of Mackenzie on TikTok, I heard countless stories of how many seniors worried about what would happen to their pets when they moved to a retirement home or, heaven forbid, passed away,” says Rafuse. “It was the same fear my grandfather had.”

In founding My Grandfather’s Cat, Rafuse wanted to create a safe space for seniors to arrange second forever homes for their beloved pets. Within a month of operating, they received “countless emails” from people who were moving into retirement homes or terminally ill. Clearly, a need was being met.

Rather than housing pets in a foster system, My Grandfather’s Cat arranges for them to move directly into a new home. There are no costs for either rehoming or adopting through the organization. Instead, the charity’s operation is funded through merchandise sales and the generosity of donors.

Volunteers vet each applicant to ensure they are a fit for the animal’s needs. The senior or terminally ill person who owns the animal then reviews the applicants, interviews each person, and ultimately makes the decision of who adopts their animal.

“Our goal is for the animal to stay with their human up until the very last day,” says Rafuse, who has been nominated for the 2022 Women of Inspiration Awards and Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 30 under 30 Innovators.

The charity is most often called upon when a senior is moving into a retirement home or care facility due to declining health, a person has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, or a person has unexpectedly passed away and the family is unable to adopt their pet. To date, they have found homes for 130 cats and dogs. The organization, which operates across Canada, receives about 25 enquiries per month from people needing to find a new home for their cat and try to help as many as they can.

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“The most rewarding part of the work we do is knowing we provide comfort to seniors and terminally ill people knowing their beloved pet has a second forever home,” says Rafuse.

Help support their work at mygrandfatherscat.ca/donate

 

This article originally appeared in the award-winning Modern Cat magazine. Subscribe today!