Monday, August 29, 2016

The City of St. John's Volunteers: Kat de Metz

Kat de Metz volunteering with one of the horses
Originally from Newfoundland, Kat de Metz is an animal lover who grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She credits her family for instilling in her the desire to care for creatures big and small.

“I think I was born into it. My grandmother Metz and Uncle Ed homesteaded in Alberta, where she was in charge of the two big draft horses. I look like her and I’m petite and strong also. I’ve never had a fear of animals, only respect.”

Kat told us all about her experiences caring for animals in B.C. She has rehabilitated family pets, livestock, and wild animals alike. Her wards have included everything from cats and dogs to horses, toads, and birds of all kinds. She told us what it was like to work with raccoons:

“They’ve got little, almost human-like hands with little opposable thumbs, and they are quite grabby! They’re very intelligent, and we had double locked entrances, because if they saw how you got in they would know how to get in and get out - they’re very smart! They would remember it and go ‘Ah, I can do that!’ Little hands, you know…”

Kat is presently working on a related novel, The Dragon of Tessier Place. It’s a story about Peter Easton, a certain dragon, and modern day domestic violence.

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