What are your goals?
Our main goal and driving force for the entire organization has always been to address the overpopulation and health concerns of the stray, feral, [and] community cat population in Abbotsford, specifically.
…We have a bad overpopulation issue here, and it’s hard enough for locals to find placement with a rescue when they do find a cat. Currently, we are turning away about 30 cats a day.
… [If] it’s not an adoptable situation, you trap the cat, spay or neuter it, vaccinate [and] flea-treat it. Then you send it back to the [original TNR] site … within 24 to 48 hours. [This] is always our goal so that they don’t continue to create more babies.
Can you talk about the Feline Food Bank and Outreach Hub?
The Feline Food bank and Outreach Hub will be open before Christmas 2025, we will be supporting low income families and those experiencing short term financial burdens with food and litter for their resident cats. The Outreach portion of it beyond the foodbank will tie into the clinic that we hope to have running in the early new year 2026, by providing low-cost pop-up dates for vaccinations, flea treatment, and microchips.
What are your strategies for maintaining a good workflow?
My philosophy is [to] train people to do more than what is needed, and give them the tools to be able to make those decisions.
…I don’t take things too seriously, and that’s because at the end of the day, we’re here for the cats, and making sure that [they] are the priority. As long as that is always the case, everything else we can figure out.
What inspired you to open Pawsitive Thrift?
When we first started as an organization, I was able to team up with a private donor who paid for our TNR program, so the donations that we got would help top up surgical care that [was] needed beyond regular TNR, as well as help with our in-care stuff. Unfortunately, that private donor wasn’t able to do that anymore as of spring 2024.
… Last year [was] when I came up with the idea for the store, and we started fundraising in October 2024 for this. Then, our great veterinarian [Dr. Montgomery] teamed up with me to open the clinic inside the unit. We’re still working on that, [but] it’s not ready.
… The community support since opening has been insane. It’s been really appreciated, and it’s nice because we get to now have a face-to-face with the community instead of being decentralized.
How is Pawsitive Thrift unique from other thrift stores?
We have cats inside the store, in the playroom that you can see [and] are available for adoption. You do have to do an application before you get to interact with them, and that’s for health and safety for the cats … it’s [also] our soon-to-be clinic and our food bank. It’s a central location for the rescues as well.
How can the community help?
We have on our website a tab that says “Get Involved.” There [are] volunteer applications there, as well as foster applications, whether you want to volunteer to do cat care, help in the thrift store doing sales, or pricing. You can also do cat care at our adoption centres and at both PetSmarts [in Abbotsford].
Are there volunteer opportunities for students?
Once we have our clinic up and running, vet students can help, apply, and get their practicum hours … We do have two vet techs now supporting us, [they] volunteer caring for cats, vaccinating, doing physicals, and we would be open to having veterinarian students also doing that.
What advice would you give students interested in a similar career?
Part of me says don’t do it, because it’s so hard on the soul some days, but we need more people doing this. We need more people who are passionate, but [who will] also listen to the science. There’s a lot of science in what you do, and if you aren’t following scientific methods, you’re harming more than you are doing good … My biggest advice would be to start. Whether that means you’re fostering or you join an organization … find your cause, your niche, and advocate for that!
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Rachel is working towards a BA with a concentration in English and Theatre. She has been employed at The Cascade since Fall 2021 as a Staff Writer and a Jr. News Editor. Currently, she is the sectional News Editor and enjoys meeting and interviewing people as well as taking long walks in nature. Rachel also likes to stay up to date on the latest trends and informs students through her fashion column entitled Campus Fashion.