A Parliament of Cats – Second Reading

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Ten years ago, I wrote “A Parliament of Cats” about the longtime cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, which had recently closed.

Ten days ago, Coal, the last surviving resident of the sanctuary, and his owner, Danny Taurozzi, came across my article and wrote to thank me for it. They offered a lot of information I hadn’t known before – and led me to do further research.

Cats were first appointed Seeker of the Mouse in the Canadian Parliament buildings in the early 20th century. They had good careers as bureaucats for a time – a front-page 1936 article of the Globe noted that their “Love-making, unmelodious and raucous, echoed through dignified halls of legislature” – but they eventually lost their jobs to technology: traps. They were removed from Parliament but, pensionless and penniless, they stayed on the Hill.

Coal, the last Parliament Hill Cat
Coal at the cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill, undated.

Groundskeepers fed them where they found them, until 1970, when they were given a permanent home just northwest of Centre Block, overlooking the Ottawa River. Irène Desormeaux and then René Chartrand became their principal caretakers, aided by other volunteers – including Danny. At the peak, there were about thirty cats of Parliament Hill. But when they regularly began to be spayed and neutered, their population slowly dwindled. By the sanctuary’s closing in 2013, there were only four who needed to find a home: Spot, Bugsy, Ti-Gris, and the youngest, Coal. Danny and Coal adopted one another.

Even among the cats of Parliament Hill, Coal had always been something of a celebrity. He had a cameow in a Japanese television show. He appeared in an American documentary about feral cats, “Ten Lives.” But as one of the sanctuary’s remaining survivors – and now, at age sixteen, its final one – he has felt a responsibility to keep its memory alive. He has a bilingual Facebook page with several thousand followers. He ran, unsuccessfully, for Prime Minister in 2015 on an animal welfare platform.

Coal, a black cat who is also the last cat from Ottawa's now-closed parliament hill cat sanctuary, thanks Professor Alan MacEachern
Coal & Danny’s note to me.

Coal was recently diagnosed with cancer. A malignant tumour was removed, but he will continue to be monitored carefully for the remainder of his life. Danny set up a GoFundMe page to assist with Coal’s care.

I had planned to share all this with you today anyway. But this past weekend, CBC published an article about Coal. I’d been scooped, like so much kitty litter.

Feature Image: Coal, the last cat of Parliament Hill. Photo by Danny Taurozzi.
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Alan MacEachern

Professor at Western University
I am the author of Becoming Green Gables & the companion website GreenGablesDiary.ca (2024), The Summer Trade (with Edward MacDonald, 2022), & The Miramichi Fire (2020). I'm also the editor of the print/open-access Canadian History & Environment series at University of Calgary Press. I was Director of NiCHE, 2004-15. Contact me at amaceach@uwo.ca.

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