I have made a pledge of compassion and action for positive change in the way Winnipeg deals with its community cats.  I challenge every mayoral and council candidate to make the same pledge.  Join me in making Winnipeg a truly modern city using good science, common sense, and compassion in dealing with its free roaming cat population.

I have decided that being in the public eye is not without its perks.  I mean, who'd have thought that I would have thousands of adoring fans, and be feted all over Winnipeg?  Granted, I am a remarkably handsome fellow, with a keen eye for what needs to be done to help community cats, but those things don't always add up to celebrity.  And I am about to become a celebrity.

It seems that the staff sent out a media release about me, and I have been invited to appear on television to talk about my campaign and Pledge.  Needing a translator, I will have to take the staff along for my appearance on CTV's Morning Live program, tomorrow at 8:45 am.  I'm sure we'll delve into my origins on the street, as well as my plans for City Hall, and my Meet the Catidate event planned for tomorrow evening.

Anyway, I am looking forward to my first visit to a television studio.  I hope all my fans are watching, and that someone remembers to set the PVR so that I can watch myself later!

You know, it's one thing to recognize that there is a problem and speak up about it.  It's an entirely different thing to commit to doing something about it.  I've noticed that a lot of people are very good at seeing problems and letting the world know about them.  I've also noticed that not very many of those people do anything about those problems.

I have decided that I am not like that.  I have seen a problem (okay, I've lived it), and I promise to do something about it.  In fact, I am making a pledge to do something about it.  I am also challenging every other candidate running for council to make the same pledge.  Here it is:

There are over 100,000 community cats living on Winnipeg's streets, and the population continues to grow.
 
If elected to Winnipeg City Council, I, Tobias Tuxington, pledge to help the cats.  I will support a comprehensive feline population control program to humanely control the feline population and prevent suffering.
 
Such a program would include, but is not limited to:
 
-- adoption of trap, neuter, return as the preferred method of population control for Winnipeg's community cats
 
-- implementation of an affordable and accessible spay/neuter program.

May 6, 2014

There it is.  Simple.  Concise.  Fellow candidates, will you join me in my pledge?

Many people have asked me why I, a handsome tuxedo cat with a comfortable living, want to run for mayor of Winnipeg.  Politics is an ugly game, they say.  You should just let things be, and enjoy yourself!

If only I could.  I am one of the lucky ones.  I was found.  I was brought inside. I lived.  Most of my relatives were not so fortunate.

I guess I should start at the beginning.

Almost five years ago I was born on the streets of Winnipeg.  I was very lucky.  A kind person took me in, and made sure that I got to a shelter.  I wasn't at that shelter very long before a nice lady adopted me, and took me to her home.

I wish I could say that I was a wonderful kitten, and the lady and I lived happily ever after.  I can't.  I was still a scared, semi-feral boy who didn't know how lucky he was.  I hissed, and scratched, and the lady took me back to the Winnipeg Humane Society after just a few days.

That would have been the end of my story if not for another kind person.  Because I had been returned for bad behaviour, I was supposed to be 'put to sleep'.  A lady who worked at the Humane Society didn't like that, so she took me to her home, where I lived for almost 3 years.

Unfortunately, I was still something of a 'wild child', and liked to pick fights with the other cats in the house.  I was getting to be quite outrageous in my behaviour, so my kind lady decided that I needed a different home.  She found Craig Street Cats, and they were able to offer me a home for however long I need it.

I have learned a lot of things since I moved into my suite here at CSC.  I have seen how badly some of my fellow cats are treated by people, and how they suffer from neglect -- on the streets of Winnipeg and in homes that don't give them what they need.  I know how many kittens die on Winnipeg streets each year, and the best way to prevent it.

These things bothered me for a long time.  Then I heard about Tuxedo Stan, and how he was trying to change things for cats in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  I became a big fan, and decided to make a difference for cats in Winnipeg, like Stan was doing for cats where he lived.  I wrote to Stan to ask for his endorsement, which he gave me.  Sadly, Stan went to the Rainbow Bridge shortly after he sent that endorsement.

Stan ran for mayor of Halifax "because neglect isn't working".  After Stan went to the Bridge, his brother, Earl Grey, ran for premier of Nova Scotia, "because neglect still isn't working".  I am running for mayor of Winnipeg because neglect doesn't work anywhere.