Local pets were invited into the West Coast’s blossoming holiday spirit on Sunday.
Cats, dogs, a goat and a guinea pig gathered at Ucluelet’s Black Rock Resort to have their photo taken with the Grinch at a fundraising event hosted by the Ucluelet Stray Cats About Town Society and sponsored by Ocean Pet Supplies.
“We like to not be traditional and do it with the Grinch instead of Santa Claus,” explained SCAT founder MacKenzie Drake at the event. “It’s a great way for us to make money and celebrate Christmas and everyone gets cute pictures with their pets.”
Drake, a former recipient of Ucluelet Secondary School’s Pacific Rim Foundation Scholarship, launched the local SCAT program in 2012 in an effort to cut down on Ucluelet’s feral cat population by spaying and neutering adult cats and finding homes for feral kittens.
“We try to catch them, socialize them and adopt them out,” Drake said. “It works to reduce the feral cat population in Ucluelet and helps control disease.”