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SPCA staff go above and beyond for a 3 year old girl

Jan 18, 2018 | 4:06 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB. – Three year old Ellie Russell has visited the SPCA everyday for the past 4 months.

Ellie’s mother, Kristine Russell describes her daughter as being a relatively calm child with a big heart.

“Ellie just fell in love with the cats,” she said. “She likes dogs, but she just loves the kitties, everyday we come to see the kitties.”

One special cat in particular became her daughters favourite, his name was Simon.

“She would sit and pet him,” she said. “Everyday we had to come see Simon, she just fell in love with this old cat.”

Katie Aryes, the executive director of the Medicine Hat SPCA, said the 16 year old cat loved when Ellie would visit.

“Ellie would crouch down on the ground and Simon would walk over to her,” she said. “He was happy to have attention, he loved being pet up until his last days.”

Simon passed away in late December due to kidney failure, said Ayres, Ellie was not able to say goodbye. The staff at the SPCA came up with the idea to write Ellie a good-bye letter from Simon.

Russell was emotional as she read out the letter written to Ellie from her departed friend.

“Dear Ellie, I wanted to write you a letter to say thank-you,” she said. “Thank-you for coming to visit me so often and you have no idea how much that meant to me. You’re such a kind, gentle little girl.”

The staff also gave Ellie a stuffed cat to remind her of Simon, Russell commends them for helping Ellie deal with a difficult situation.

“To be able to write a letter to a child from a cat at the SPCA goes to show they go over and above what they need to do,” she said.

Shortly after Simon’s passing, Ellie adopted a cat of her own from the SPCA. However, even though she has a cat at home to play with, she continues to visit all the cats at the SPCA everyday.