The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Having grown up on a farm, Leif Highland is used to the warm company of animals. So last week, when he read a Reminder piece about Boris the twice-homeless cat, he felt a tug at his heartstrings. 'I felt sorry for him,' said Highland, a Creighton resident. 'I was concerned about him, that he didn't have somebody to look after him.' After reading the article, which appeared in the Feb. 13 paper, Highland decided he wanted to adopt Boris. His wife, Rhea, loved the idea. So mere hours after learning about Boris, the couple stopped by the SPCA shelter to see the friendly feline in person. 'Once I brought Boris out, he just melted in their arms like a bowl of Jell-O,' said shelter manager Carmen Hiebert. 'They were won over very quickly and asked if they could adopt him.' The Highlands were approved and took Boris home this past Monday. After just a few days, he already feels like a member of the family. 'He likes to play with his toys and stuff, but he's a pretty mellow cat,' said Leif, who works as a millwright. Even as The Reminder interviewed Leif by phone, Boris was 'talking' to his new 'daddy.' 'It's like he's telling me what he did all day,' Leif said. Boris had been eking out an existence on the streets of downtown Flin Flon when he was brought to the SPCA last fall. He was about four months old. The furry black and white fellow spent just a couple of months with the SPCA before being adopted locally last November. Circumstances led to him being given away in Saskatoon, however, and it's not clear where he ended up from there. Earlier this month, Hiebert got a call from the SPCA in North Battleford, Sask., more than 600 kilometres away from Flin Flon. They had scanned the implanted microchip of a homeless cat and traced him back to Hiebert's shelter. Hiebert did a quick check and found out it was Boris. With the North Battleford SPCA overrun with some 40 cats, Boris' prospects for being adopted a second time seemed slim. So Hiebert said she would gladly take Boris back. Arrangements were made to have the Battlefords North Stars hockey team drop him off when they arrived on Feb. 8 to play the Bombers. Sadly, Boris had not received good care. Some bone in his tail was exposed, either due to an attack or frostbite, and his ears were full of mites. He's doing much better now after finally finding the loving home he deserves!
