Top Ten Produce in Vancouver’s West Point Gray neighborhood is losing a beloved staff member.
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.
Inspectors said Mickey has no permission to be there.
“It’s here for everything — therapy for all of us in this anxiety-filled time,” said Matthew MacDonald, Top Ten’s CEO for 21 years.
“And mainly, it’s pest control.”
MacDonald says that when a friend told him he could no longer care for his cat during the pandemic, he thought Mickey could help him deal with a mouse infestation.
“When we first got him he was very afraid of people,” MacDonald said. “He growls at everybody.”
But as Mickey got more comfortable, he made friends and took on more responsibilities.
Matthew MacDonald is the long-time CEO 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 cases of soda out front. He’s usually just chilling there on top of the cases, sleeping,” said Dorota Mann, who has been shopping at Top Ten for about 10 years.
Mann says Mickey is especially popular with her grown children and she sees no problem with him.
“He’s very friendly, so everyone likes to give him drafts,” she said.
“He’s kind of famous.”
VCH says cats can’t be in food business
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 a warrant, inspectors provided the owner with “educational materials”.
People who shop at Top Ten Produce say Mickey has become a local celebrity, though he doesn’t seem to mind all the attention. (Mike Zimmer/CBC)
“The operation of food premises in BC is a regulated activity under the Public Health Act and an operator must not allow live animals to be present,” the statement said, explaining that the use of live animals does not is 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 ensure it complies with the law.
MacDonald claims Top Ten is not a restaurant and does not have open food, but says he has no choice but to keep Mickey out of the store for now.
Customers push for Mickey to stay
Emily Black is a Master’s student at the University of British Columbia who regularly shops 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 come 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 “war path,” posting on social media and gaining a lot of attention in a Vancouver Reddit thread, where she went looking for suggestions on how to help the store to keep it close.
Emily Black, a master’s 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 it being a health risk,” he said. “It’s very clean.
“I’d rather have Mickey around than mice invading my food. And it’s so important to the community.”
Animal rights lawyer Victoria Shroff says the best potential way to bring Mickey back is to have 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 specific notice they’ve received … and see what they can do,” Shroff said in an interview.
“And maybe also talking to the health authorities and seeing, is there a possibility of an exception?”
MacDonald says that from now on, he’ll drop Mickey off at his nearby home, even though his feline friend tends to return to the grocery store whenever he’s let out.
“The sad part is, I think it really connected with people,” MacDonald said. “You can tell it feels like home now.
“Seeing him go is pretty devastating.”