Way back when I was 16 yrs old and still living in Ottawa, I remember reading one day about how Toronto was building this "CN Tower" ... and I remember being so impressed at the time, with how "progressive" Toronto seemed to be. 

It wasn't long after that, that I actually decided to move to Toronto, and I made it here by the summer I turned 20.  I then spent 30 amazing years living in downtown Toronto, and have to say, bar the pollution (so egregious to all my pets), I loved every minute of it. The food, the arts & culture, the diversity, the business opportunities, the MUSIC! ... I eventually got my first dog Cyril and raised him on the downtown streets... Then one rescue after the other... I started learning about the rescue community and I was even more impressed than ever! I honestly never knew there were so many good people on this earth, until I started to work in rescue. In 1996, I went to the wall to get custody of Max -- a local "backyard dog"... who at the time, had so few options...In the 6 years it took for Cyril and I to get custody of him, I had exhausted nearly every avenue and was literally, at my wits' end ... Yet, the City of Toronto came through again. I finally got a sympathetic Toronto Humane Society investigations agent to hear me on the subject of Max, and it was indeed that person -- Mike (dammit, can't remember his last name, tho I know he's still on this newsletter dist list) who moved (literal) mountains, enabling me to bring Max in from the cold, and home to die... I've had many fine hours, I will say. But this, was my finest: 

All these years later, I remain fiercely proud of The City of Toronto. And in particular, the various communities within it, who work so tirelessly to save animals. I've witnessed our community grow and grow; have worked with so many groups within it, all targeting different animals and different animal issues...and building SO many successes through the years. It's really been quite amazing to see, and to be a part of.

And now, Toronto declares its' very own "Feral Cat Awareness Day".

Thank you "Tranna", for all the hope you gave me as a teenager -- the hope for a better, more fruitful and contributive professional life, and for all the amazing rescuers and activists I've been privileged to meet and work with... not to mention the opportunity to develop my own unique talents (unfettered by small-town thinking), and for continuously improving life on so many fronts, for so many animals. 

World-class city indeed! To this day, every single time I see the CN Tower on the horizon, I think back to the young idealist that I was, so filled with ambition, so driven TO DO SOMETHING ... I wasn't sure what, exactly, (and sure as hell wasn't prepared for the trajectory my life took after Cyrilito came home and helped me "make the connection") ... but what a journey! 

Today, I am one intensely grateful puppy. I can safely say that I owe MOST of my life-happiness to the City of Toronto "the meeting place"...