A NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY RESOURCE SINCE 1972 SERVING THE BEACH, UPPER BEACH, BEACH HILL, CRESCENT TOWN, EAST DANFORTH, GERRARD INDIA BAZAAR, BIRCH CLIFF, AND CLIFFSIDE
Volume 44 No. 5
May 5, 2015
Danforth defeats East End rivals Danforth’s Zak Georgis-Yap serves the ball during co-ed volleyball action on April 30. Danforth CTI defeated Riverdale CI in three straight sets, 25-10, 25-14, 25-16. PHOTO: PHIL LAMEIRA
Friends help Familia from tree INSIDE By Andrew Hudson
A CALICO cat is safe after a hair-raising rescue way, way up in the Upper Beach. Startled by a racoon, the young cat scampered about 20 metres up a maple tree on Glenmount Park Road. It stayed there, mewling, for two days. Homeowner Gail Starasts says even a Toronto Animal Services worker was surprised to see it. “He had never seen a cat that high,” she said. Growing on a ravine slope, the Norway maple towers at least six storeys above Starasts’ backyard. Animal Services told her it was best to wait for the cat to get hungry and climb down on its own. Plan B was to call a tree-service company. Plan C, the one that worked, called for her son, Yuri Fraser. Even as an adult, Yuri says he’s never really stopped climbing trees — the last time to rescue a
Frisbee in nearby Cassels Park. Yuri also used to work with a mason, who taught him the safest way to climb ladders and rooftops as they fixed windows, walls and chimneys. So climbing was likely in the back of his mind after his mom found the stranded cat’s family using Facebook, and invited them to come have a look. That’s when they found out the cat’s name, Familia. She belonged to their neighbour Kari Svenneby, and was much missed by Svenneby’s fiveand 11-year-old daughters. As it turned out, Yuri had baked a cake the night before. So to cheer everyone up, he invited the Svennebys to have some at their backyard picnic table, where at least they could see their cat. “Kari said let’s go home and eat some dinner first, and the girls came right back,” said Starasts. Over cake, milk, and a game of Connect Four, they agreed to call Animal Services first thing in the morning.
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Familia the cat is back home safe and sound, thanks to the efforts of neighbour Yuri Fraser.
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When that didn’t work, Yuri decided to change course — he got a 40-foot ladder and a backpack. They had been warned that treed cats usually back away from a rescue, but Svenneby’s daughters were convinced Familia would welcome it.
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Police Beat.....................4 Deja Views.....................7 Community Calendar.....10 BMN’s Neighbourhood...11 Eye on Business............12 On the Wild Side............13 Sports..........................14 Food and Drink.........18-19 Money, Life & Law........20 Horticultural Views.......21 Beach Memories..........23
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