SALT, the downtown St. Thomas cat rescue that made headlines this month over a nearly $200,000 provincial bill, can find homes for cats again. The province cleared the rescue to adopt out its first 10 cats since adoptions were halted almost four months ago.
SALT, short for Saving Animals’ Lives Together, has been at 353 Talbot Street since September 2024. The trouble started with an inspection on April 30, when Ontario’s Animal Welfare Services, the provincial team that enforces the PAWS Act, visited the rescue and began an investigation that is still open. LocVox reported on August 12 that SALT had received a Statement of Account for its dealings with the province, billing the rescue for the cost of cats taken into provincial care; that story first broke a day earlier, August 11, with CTV News London.
SALT was directed to halt all adoptions after that inspection, and the halt stayed in place while the investigation went on. That changed after a visit from the province on Friday, August 21, when SALT was told it could resume adoptions for 10 cats. Ministry of the Solicitor General spokesperson Brent Ross confirmed to the London Free Press that the rest of the cats still in SALT’s care that are considered in distress remain off limits for adoption, and that the province will keep inspecting the rescue regularly. Founder Bonnie Smith told the paper, “It’s been very difficult every day, even now it is. I just want these animals to find their homes.”
How many cats the province has taken from SALT over the course of the investigation has been reported differently as the story developed, sometimes within the same article. CTV News London reported on August 11 that about 60 cats went to the Toronto Humane Society, with roughly 60 more removed later. Global News reported that the Toronto Humane Society confirmed receiving 41 cats, with roughly 66 more removed afterward. The Free Press’s own account also puts the early transfer at about 60, but its most recent figure, from Ross himself, is that the province has removed 81 cats from the property in total. The province’s own number is the one to watch going forward. Separately, 17 of the cats taken into provincial care have been euthanized. SALT was told afterward, and says it did not consent.
The bill itself, a Statement of Account covering veterinary and boarding costs, was due August 25. (LocVox’s original coverage of the bill stated its total as $198,156.28; a closer read of the province’s own cost breakdown, plus the Free Press’s reporting, shows the correct total is $198,165.28, and the live article has been corrected.) Smith told the Free Press that payment is on hold while SALT goes through its appeal to the province’s Animal Care Review Board, the process that lets a rescue or owner dispute a Statement of Account in writing within 10 business days of being served, at no cost to file. That appeal was an open question when LocVox first covered this story; it is now confirmed underway.
Money is still the rescue’s biggest problem. A GoFundMe for the rescue began August 16 to help cover both the statement and its ongoing veterinary bills. As of the Free Press’s report, it had raised $2,335, less than two per cent of its goal. Smith said donations have declined amid criticism of the rescue: “We just don’t have the money because many people aren’t donating. I think it’s because of all the negativity out there, which is unfortunate because the cats are the ones that are going to suffer.”
Smith says the rescue will not be taking in new animals for now, and possibly for some time, so it can focus on finding homes for the cats already there. “This has been a nightmare and we do not want to have this reoccurring, so we are going to be not taking a lot of animals right now, maybe even in the future,” she told the Free Press. “We can’t get into this situation ever again.”
Earlier coverage: Downtown St. Thomas Cat Rescue Hit With a Nearly $200,000 Bill From the Province
Sources: London Free Press: “Local animal rescue cleared to resume adoptions after four-month halt,” Allison Young, August 25, 2026 (updated August 26), Global News: “London-area animal rescue faces $200K bill after cats seized by province,” Sean Previl, August 12, 2026 (updated August 20), Animal Care Review Board: Appeals, Applications and the Hearing Process, Tribunals Ontario
By Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom
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