Fort Nelson animal shelter hopes to raise $10K after rescuing 24 kittens

FORT NELSON, B.C. — A Fort Nelson animal rescue shelter needs help and funding after a kitten rescue. 

In an April 26th Facebook post, Lori Shoroth, administrator of North Paw Animal Rescue, said they are close to bankruptcy after the Northern Rockies RCMP handed over 24 kittens, with many being sick, pregnant or in need of serious medical help. 

“They all need to be spayed and neutered and we just don’t have the manpower to take care of that many cats, so we’re asking community members to just come help us,” said Shoroth. 

She said the kittens came from a woman in Fort Nelson who was suspected to be a pet hoarder and could have had as many as 50 kittens.  

“We had been working with this lady for months, giving her food, dog food, cat food and so it was suspected that there was a hoarding situation happening,” said Shoroth. 

Shoroth has set up a GoFundMe with the goal of raising $10,000. 

At the time of publishing, $1,360 has been raised so far. 

“Whether it’s a donation, a foster home, medical supplies or just sharing this post, anything you can offer will make a real impact,” Shoroth explained.

Shoroth claimed she requested help from the North Peace BC SPCA but did not get a reply. 

“For months, we’ve reached out to the SPCA asking for help,” Shoroth said. 

“We’ve begged for support for intervention, for collaboration and each time, we were denied. Now, the situation we tried to prevent is here.”

Kaila Wolf, senior director of media and internal communications at the North Peace BC SPCA, said the assistance request was received and forwarded to the RCMP for an initial assessment.

This was done because the nearest animal protection officer in Fort St. John was several hours from Fort Nelson, she said.  

“They can give us that initial assessment and give us further information on whether or not an animal protection officer is needed to intervene,” said Wolf. 

Wolf said capacity issues also prevented the organization from helping right away. 

“We did mention that at this point, it was unlikely we would be able to take those passes of care, given our capacity right away.” 

Wolf said the BC SPCA is willing to help with the kittens after more communication is done with the North Paw shelter.  

“These animals are innocent, we stepped up when no one else would and now, we’re asking you to stand with us,” said Shoroth.

Energeticcity.ca reached out to the North District RCMP for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.