An ordinary Monday morning turned into a chase for staff at the Ponoka Jubilee Library earlier this month.
When staff came in to open up on Nov. 7, they found something unusual near the book drop-box bin and then were more than a bit surprised when they saw one of the dark objects move.
“When the staff came in around 9:30 a.m., as usual the employee went over to the drop box to empty it,” explained library manager Dan Galway.
“She was startled a little bit by what appeared to be a little black ball. It took a brief moment for her to notice that it was moving, then saw it was a small kitten. Then she noticed a second and third and then a fourth. It took three of our staff to corral the loose kittens, finally cornering them and getting them into a cardboard box.”
Galway stated it wasn’t known how long the kittens had been in the library after being placed through the drop box slot, though staff believe it can’t have been too long as those responsible likely knew when library staff would arrive to open for the day.
A call was put in to Old MacDonald Kennels and Galway was pleased with how they reacted to the situation.
“I called up and they stated they are presently overwhelmed with strays, and that’s when I also said that we were too,” he said with a chuckle.
“They really deserve a thank you for coming out so quickly to retrieve the kittens and for being extremely understanding given our situation and with what they are facing right now.”
The issue got some play on social media after the drop off was posted to the Old MacDonald Facebook page with a message to spay or neuter your pets along with a plea for more homes to be found for the number of cats now at the kennel.
Galway hopes the attention this has gotten will encourage people to be responsible with their pets as well as generate some support — in terms of donations and adoptions — for what Old MacDonald does for the community.