By Jenn Watt
I t took less than a week for a GoFundMe campaign launched by Cabin Pressure hosts Colin and Justin to surpass the $10000 goal for Maureen Adams retiring owner of The Great Haliburton Feed Company.
The effort continues this week with the pair encouraging those who benefited from the work of Maureen and her late husband Charles to consider donating to ease her transition to this next phase of her life.
Colin and Justin said they decided to help out because their lives had been improved thanks to The Great Haliburton Feed Company’s animal rescue efforts. Their two cats which they affectionately referred to as “our boys” were given shelter food and care by Maureen and Charles while they awaited the right family to come along.
It’s a story that has repeated literally thousands of times over the 24-year history of the business. If you check out the GoFundMe page you’ll see dozens of comments from people who have found new companions thanks to the feed company. Without this local business all of these connections would never have happened.
As Colin and Justin told the Echo their concern over the closure of The Great Haliburton Feed Company is twofold: one for the well-being of Maureen Adams who lost her husband earlier this year and couldn’t continue with the shop any longer; and two for the animals in this area.
What we’ve had for years in Haliburton really was a public service being subsidized by a kind-hearted couple. We paid no tax dollars to have the feed company take in the litters of kittens abandoned at the side of the road and our community was better off for not having strays roaming the streets and
multiplying in people’s backyards.
Now that the feed company is no longer providing the service it’s not clear what will happen to all of the abandoned pets found around the municipality.
Losing The Great Haliburton Feed Company changes our community – and not for the better.
When I said this to Maureen at the store on her last day open she apologized. Even though she has given two dozen years to the care of animals in need she still wanted to do more.
Hopefully the success of the GoFundMe campaign helps her understand just how grateful we all are.
With The Great Haliburton Feed Company no longer in operation we will come to understand just how crucial a role it played in this community now that we have to find new ways to care for pets in need.
