The last living feline from Parliament Hill’s famous cat colony, which operated from the 1970s until 2013, has passed away.
Coal, a black cat that had been fighting salivary gland carcinoma since 2024, passed on July 8 after it became clear that his condition had become “grievous and irremediable,” his owner said.
“Saying goodbye to Coal was heartwrenching, but it was the humane thing to do,” Coal’s owner Danny Taurozzi said online in an update to a GoFundMe fundraiser organized for the cat, adding that Coal was a “living thread to a cherished chapter in our country’s history.”
Coal was adopted by Taurozzi after the cat sanctuary where he was born, located on the west side of Parliament Hill, closed in 2013. Taurozzi was able to raise more than $15,000 for Coal’s veterinarian bills through the GoFundMe campaign launched in June 2024. Taurozzi said the generosity of those who donated “made it possible for Coal to receive the very best medical care and to enjoy more time with a good quality of life.”…