The Pembina Valley Humane Society (PVHS) is on the lookout for a cat adopted by a couple officials say gave misleading information about who they were and where they lived. PVHS lost contact with the couple shortly after they adopted two bonded male cats, Jam and Nicholas, in 2020, both with on-going medical needs.     

In early 2021, PVHS requested the Chief Veterinary Office open up an investigation on the couple in hopes of finding the two cats. A few weeks ago, Jam was picked up in Pilot Mound in serious need of medical attention.  Jam's tattoo led the rescuer to PVHS.

PVHS Animal Care Coordinator, Alesha Unrau, hoped these two kittens, who bonded instantly in the shelter, would go off to a loving furever home together, but it appears that was not the case.  

Unrau said Jam's recovery will be slow. 

"He will make a full recovery. It would just be a very, very long recovery for him. He was just extremely emaciated, he had gouges on his body from an unknown cause, he also had to have all but four of his teeth removed. We did that for him. He is still just the happiest cuddliest guy, considering all he's been through. Any person that walks into his room at the shelter here, he just greets with purrs. It's good to see, even though he's been through so much neglect, he is still a happy go lucky guy."  

Public Relations Chair Holly Thorne said this is a very unfortunate situation. 

"Honestly, when we got the word about what was actually happening, we all agreed this is a shelter's worst nightmare. We are very diligent in doing whatever it is we're able to do, to ensure the animals go to the right homes. We do our checks with references, and we call vets to ensure they are either aware of said person when they are adopting an animal, or landlord references these types of things."  

Thorne noted the couple was fully aware of the commitment they were making when adopting Jam and Nicholas, adding there is always an option to bring the animals back if the match isn't working.  

She acknowledges the challenges around making sure this never happens again.  

"If we can, and this is where the biggest challenge comes in, we are a shelter with three staff members, as much as we want to be able to go out every single time and do a site visit to ensure the animal is going to a safe home, this is where we struggle, because we don't have the ability, every single time, especially when it's a far location. This is all happening in Pilot Mound. This is where we struggle." 

Unrau is hopeful someone will see Nicholas in Pilot Mound as well, and let them know, so they can reunite the pair.   

"Our social media team did put up some posts with some photos of him, just asking people in the Pilot Mound area just to kind of keep an eye out...we're thinking he might just be kind of out on the town with the other stray cats in the area. We put some of his kitten photos up, he'll look a little bit different now, but he is tattooed. We're just hoping we can get him some help, 'cause Jam was kind of worse for wear than we were expecting." 

Anyone with information about Nicholas' whereabouts is asked to contact PVHS immediately.

Donations can be made toward caring for Jam and other animals in need of medical attention here.