As you probably know, my mother and father were (and still are) owned by 14 kitties, all of them rescues....My father is doing a great job looking after them, and Gilla Gidlow has been helping him over the past 2 months with grooming them, etc.   The kitties are clearly missing my mother and crave lots more attention, so my daughter Katrina and I go over to my dad's house every day to give them lots of cuddles and to dole out Temptations treats.   

 

As most of you know, my mother was featured on the t.v. program "CBC Marketplace" in the episode regarding veterinary pricing of pharmaceuticals (link provided below).  She also did voluntary work for her twin sister's group, the International Primate Protection League.  She attended Shirley's investiture at Buckingham Palace last year, which was the thrill of a lifetime, seeing her sister be awarded the Order of the British Empire from the Queen.  I know my mother was very proud of Shirley, just as Shirley was proud of my mother's work for cats.   
  
Many people reading this tribute will know about my mother's recent successful campaign to end the use of gas boxes at the pound in Nanaimo.  She was able to do this due to her brilliant research -- she somehow dug up the original pound contract with city hall, and it showed clearly that the only allowable means for euthanasia was lethal injection -- not a gas box.  Armed with that crucial information, and a moving speech she had written, she attended a city council meeting and managed to persuade all of the councillors to continue to disallow the gas box, which the pound was trying to have retroactively approved.  She also spoke about this issue on CBC radio.  We were all so very proud of her, and told her so.  Her actions will save many Nanaimo cats from a slow and torturous death; we hope that Cowichan district follows suit.  Two councillors wrote to me after my mother's passing and mentioned her great contribution to the region of Nanaimo.