Norman, NBSPCA’s top cat, was an abandoned animal

Meet Nor­man, the office cat at the New Brunswick SPCA’s (NBSP­CA) Fred­er­ic­ton head­quar­ters. Nor­man is a friend­ly feline that has become the unof­fi­cial greeter, guardian, and morale boost­er for all the staff mem­bers in Fred­er­ic­ton – a far cry from his plight as an aban­doned cat in a vacant apartment.

“Every­body loves Nor­man,” said Les­ley Rogers, NBSP­CA exec­u­tive direc­tor, and Norman’s ​‘assis­tant’. ​“He keeps a close eye on all office activ­i­ty and is friend­ly to all our two-legged vis­i­tors. But he has a sus­pi­cious gaze for any dogs that vis­it our office.”

In March 2022, the NBSP­CA received a call from the Greater Saint John area about an aban­doned and lone­ly cat. After being left by his pre­vi­ous own­er in an apart­ment, clean­ers found Nor­man and called the NBSP­CA dis­patch num­ber. An Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cer retrieved Nor­man, trans­port­ing him to an ani­mal shel­ter and the start of a bet­ter life. 

Char­lotte Coun­ty SPCA shel­ter staff ensured Nor­man received prop­er care, a health check-up, was neutered, and had his vac­cines up to date before he was ready for adop­tion. The lucky cat was adopt­ed by the NBSP­CA short­ly after­ward and now thinks he is run­ning the place. 

Unfor­tu­nate­ly, Norman’s tale is often repeat­ed in New Brunswick. In 2022, the NBSP­CA received 141 ani­mal aban­don­ment calls. Pets can­not fend for them­selves and need con­stant atten­tion and supervision. 

If your hous­ing sit­u­a­tion has changed, you have a med­ical emer­gency, or you find your­self no longer able to care for your pet, please seek assis­tance from a fam­i­ly mem­ber, your local ani­mal shel­ter, or a res­cue orga­ni­za­tion. Do not aban­don your pet to fend for itself. 

Many ani­mal shel­ters offer pro­grams to help pet own­ers dur­ing dif­fi­cult finan­cial times, with pet food, and in some instances, can offer sup­port with med­ical emer­gen­cies. Most shel­ters have poli­cies on sur­ren­der­ing pets for rehom­ing. Con­tact a shel­ter near you https://​nbsp​ca​.ca/​f​i​n​d​-​y​o​u​r​-​l​o​c​a​l​-​s​h​elter

The New Brunswick SPCA wants to ensure no ani­mal has to expe­ri­ence Norman’s plight before becom­ing a loved pet. Ani­mal lovers, let’s com­mit and encour­age respon­si­ble pet ownership.

If you hear or know of an aban­doned ani­mal, give the NBSP­CA a call at our ²⁴⁄₇ hot­line 1−877−722−1522.

About New Brunswick SPCA

Found­ed in 1881, New Brunswick SPCA (NBSC­PA) is the only province-wide orga­ni­za­tion man­dat­ed to enforce ani­mal pro­tec­tion laws. A ded­i­cat­ed team of 15 Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers is vest­ed with the author­i­ty under the SPCA Act of New Brunswick to inves­ti­gate and, if nec­es­sary, lay charges, seize ani­mals, or rec­om­mend court orders to per­sons sus­pect­ed of abuse and cru­el­ty to animals. 

The NBSP­CA is a reg­is­tered char­i­ty that exists to pro­vide province-wide lead­er­ship in the humane treat­ment of ani­mals. We enforce rel­e­vant leg­is­la­tion, ensure shel­ter for neglect­ed or abused domes­ti­cat­ed ani­mals and agri­cul­tur­al ani­mals, and pro­vide pub­lic edu­ca­tion and advo­ca­cy to empow­er New Brunswick­ers to help ani­mals live long and healthy lives. 

To learn more vis­it nbsp​ca​.ca.