Although not officially employed by the grocery store, Mickey the cat has been a staple there for the past two years, patrolling the aisles for mice and enjoying the affection of customers. But after someone reported Mickey to the province, Vancouver Coastal Health visited the store. The inspectors said Mickey wasn’t allowed to be there. “It’s here for everything — therapy for all of us in this stressful time,” said Matthew MacDonald, Top Ten’s general manager for 21 years. “And most of all, it’s pest control.” MacDonald says that when a friend told him he could no longer care for her cat during the pandemic, he thought Mickey could help him deal with a mouse infestation. “When we first got him he was very scared of people,” MacDonald said. “He would growl at everyone.” But as Mickey got comfortable, he made friends and took on more responsibilities. Matthew MacDonald is the long-time general manager of Top Ten Produce. He says it’s “devastating” to see Mickey have to leave the store. (Mike Zimmer/CBC) “There’s a bunch of closed soda cans out front. He’s usually lounging on top of the cans, sleeping,” said Dorota Mann, who has shopped at Top Ten for about 10 years. Mann says Mickey is especially popular with her grown children and she doesn’t see a problem with him hanging around. “He’s very friendly, so everyone likes to scratch him,” she said. “It’s a bit of a celebrity.”
VCH says cats cannot be involved in food businesses
In a statement to CBC, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed it received a complaint and conducted an inspection of Top Ten Produce. A spokesman said that instead of issuing an order, inspectors provided the owner with “educational material”. People who shop at Top Ten Produce say Mickey has become a local celebrity, though he doesn’t seem bothered by all the attention. (Mike Zimmer/CBC) “The operation of food premises in BC is a regulated activity under the Public Health Act and the operator must not allow live animals on the premises,” the statement said, explaining that the use of live animals is not a recognized part of pest management programs. VCH says it understands the importance of pets and animals to people’s mental health and well-being, but its Health Protection team will work with the store to make sure it complies with the law. MacDonald maintains that Top Ten is not a restaurant and does not have open dining, but says he has no choice but to keep Mickey out of the store for now.
Customers are pushing for Mickey to stay
Emily Black is a graduate student at the University of British Columbia who shops regularly at Top Ten. “My apartment doesn’t allow pets,” she said. “I was so excited to have a furry friend in the neighborhood that I could visit [and] I’ve heard similar things from other people in the neighborhood.” Black says that when she heard about Mickey’s plight, she went on the “warpath,” posting on social media and getting a lot of attention on a Vancouver Reddit thread, where she went looking for suggestions on how to help the store help him. keep close Emily Black, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia, took to Reddit, Twitter and other online forums to try to find a way for the cat to stay in her local market. (Mike Zimmer/CBC) “I don’t see him being at risk to his health at all,” she said. “He is very clean. “I’d rather have Mickey around than have my food overrun by mice. And he’s very important to the community.” Animal advocate Victoria Shroff says the best possible way to bring Mickey back is to maintain a constructive dialogue with the health authority and suggest possible alternatives, where he could be in some sort of enclosure but away from food. “I think they need to look very carefully at the particular warning they’ve received … and see what they can do,” Shroff said in an interview. “And maybe also talk to the health authorities and see, is there a possibility of an exemption?” MacDonald says that from now on he will leave Mickey at his nearby home, although the feline friend usually returns to the grocery store whenever he is let out. “The sad thing is, I think he really connected with people,” MacDonald said. “You can tell it feels like home now. “To see him go is very devastating.”
