Our Humble Beginnings

Our organization was founded in the late 1960s by the late Thora Scanlon Bonneau and her husband, Tommy Bonneau. Then known as the Bonneau Spay Fund, we were a small group of animal lovers determined to help the countless strays and abandoned animals in the Victoria area.

Helped by a local veterinarian, Dr. Alan Bonnell, we tried to educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering to reduce the stray population, and offered assistance to those who could not afford veterinary costs. The organization became an incorporated society in 1984.

Thora and Tommy dedicated their life to rescuing and rehabilitating abandoned animals. Sylvia, an abandoned Silver Chincilla Persian, became their mascot and accompanied them to fundraising events. Although they and their volunteers helped any animal in distress, cats in vast numbers are the greatest victims of abandonment, cruelty and indifference, and their need is the greatest.

Thora wrote "We have found no greater reward in life than watching the beautiful transformation that takes place after we have rescued a homeless, starving, terrified little animal that has known only suffering, and by giving it patient, loving care, watch it gradually blossom into a gentle, affectionate, elegant, silky coated creature. We have proven over and over that there is indeed a universal language understood by all living creatures, and it is called Love."