Pet of the Month: Charlie
FROM OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE OF WEST END PHOENIX
Charlie had toyed with the idea of running off to explore the neighbourhood, but, unlike many cats, he’s not much of a climber or a jumper. Shannon was always able to stop him before he got too far. Maybe he wasn’t much committed to the idea of leaving home anyways. He and Shannon had lived together for 10 happy years, during which he’d been fed exclusively tuna, his favourite. But then, this April 15, everything lined up just right.
The orange and white long-haired Persian mix wouldn’t usually be considered a flight risk. He and his grumpy-faced kind aren’t bred to roam the streets. They were made to live a life inside, pampered by their people. And yet, Charlie took a liking to the outdoors. Despite what some might assume upon first seeing his flat-faced frown, Charlie is friendly and could survive on his charm. But Shannon never took that chance. He’s always been allowed outside in the front or backyard as long as he wears his harness and leash.
This is how he became an institution on Delaware Avenue. Every day, he sits on the walk as close to the sidewalk as his leash will allow, a miniature version of the lion dogs guarding the shops in Chinatown.
All the kids love him and stop to say hello. One girl up the block immortalized him in crayon. Passersby especially get a kick out of his semiannual haircut that makes him look even more like a lion, shaved down save for the fur on his face, tail and feet.
Over the years, Shannon got lax with the harness when Charlie was out in the fenced-in backyard and she was close by. And so it was that day in April, when she’d turned her back and he put into place a plan that could have been a long time in the making.
There was a hole at the bottom of the fence that Shannon shares with her neighbour, which she’d blocked off with a piece of trellis. She never expected him to test it, but around noon, he used his small white paws to pull the barrier down.
Moments later, when Shannon noticed him missing, she stood up on a chair to see if she could spot him. There was no sign of him. She went out front to see if he’d skulked out that way, but no luck. She went door to door up and down the street. Hours passed.
She called in friends and family and widened the search. She walked through the night looking, and continued for 24 hours, until she was too exhausted to take another step.
It had been love at first sight. In 2013, Shannon, a data scientist, had just graduated from university. She was going through a tough time and craved a fuzzy companion. She found Charlie at the Toronto Humane Society and couldn’t get enough of his grouchy expression. So she took him home.
By Shannon’s admission, Charlie “ran the house.” He’d wake her up in the morning by batting her face with his paws, yowling to be fed, but she didn’t mind it. And he would stand up for himself by giving her gentle bites. His previous owner, Shannon had learned, interpreted these assertions of his will as attacks. They put him on anti-anxiety medication and would kick him outside as a punishment. Despite the trauma he must have suffered, Shannon often wondered if that’s where he’d got his taste for the outdoors.
When the second evening without Charlie arrived, Shannon was sure that he just didn’t know how to get back, like a toddler who’d wandered off to investigate something but didn’t keep track of which way he’d gone.
Then the storm came. Rain poured over the West End and down Delaware. Shannon retreated inside, hoping Charlie’s instinct would be to do the same.
Not long after, a neighbour from up the street arrived at her door, out of breath, and said, “I think I’ve found your cat!”
They ran through the pissing rain to the neighbour’s backyard, and there, in a sliver of space between her garage and a fence, sat Charlie – soaked and covered in muck. Shannon, who finally let herself cry, approached him and he seemed content to quit his fugitive life.
And yet, the wet ending to Charlie’s adventure didn’t seem to discourage him. After Shannon wiped him down and fed him a can of tuna, he went over to the door and asked to go out.