'Where's my girl?' 20 years on, Burlington, Ont., woman learns cherished ashes aren't of her cat

Aura Carreño Rosas · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Valerie Stevenson's feline was playing astir erstwhile her favored knocked the urn containing the ashes of her beloved feline Jewels off her dresser, 20 years aft her death. 

The urn broke. 

As the longtime Burlington, Ont., nonmigratory started to determination the ashes to a caller urn, she recovered a canine tag among them.

"I wanted to cry," Stevensoln said. "I was shaken, conscionable shaken successful disbelief thinking, 'Holy crap, present what? Where's my girl?'"

Jewels had not been connected Valerie's dresser, as she had thought, for the past 20 years.

She took the bone-shaped tag and scrubbed it until the aged letters were visible. 

"Sparky," work the charred tag, on with a Maplewood Drive code and a telephone number.

Since then, Stevenson, 66, has made it her ngo to find Sparky's "rightful owners."

Valerie and her daughter, Rachel Stevenson, person posted connected section Facebook groups and Reddit forums. They called the telephone number on the tag, lone to find it had switched owners. Valerie also went to the code connected the tag but the existent residents had only been surviving there a fewer years.

Valerie besides went to the room and Burlington metropolis hall, again with nary luck. 

Valerie hopes Sparky's owners mightiness person Jewels's remains, but adjacent if they don't, she would beryllium happy Sparky went backmost to wherever helium was meant to be.

"In the meantime, we are holding connected to him," said Rachel.

A stain connected different favored urns

Rachel and Valerie described Jewels arsenic "warm," "sweet" and "beautiful."

"She would fto america formal her up successful doll clothes. She was similar 1 of those cats that was conscionable beyond tolerant," Rachel said.

"She would slumber betwixt maine and my sister each azygous nighttime without fail."

Jewels was adopted successful the 1990s from a section structure and named aft Valerie's erstwhile vocation arsenic a jeweller. The feline lived a agelong and blessed life, Rachel said.

"She was precise adjacent to each subordinate of the family." 

The household kept respective carnal ashes successful urns implicit the years. Rachel said their past pets are besides a "part of our family."

"We person ever felt it's truthful important to support them nearby," she said.

Jewels was among respective of the family's pets cremated by Gateway, a favored aftercare provider, and the urns remainder atop Valerie's dresser.

"[The situation] really casts a shadiness implicit my full postulation and makes maine think, 'is it truly them?'" Valerie said.

After Jewels's urn was broken, Valerie bought a akin 1 disconnected of Facebook Marketplace. It was portion transferring those ashes that she recovered Sparky's tag.

"I person [the urn] present now, but I don't person a feline to enactment into it," said Valerie.

Jewels's owner gets apology missive from cremation company

After Jewels died successful March 2005, the household paid Gateway an other interest for a backstage cremation, which Valerie said cost her astir $450 astatine the time.

Once she realized determination indispensable person been a mix-up with the ashes, Valerie contacted Gateway, which told her they did not person records going backmost that acold and would not beryllium capable to assistance her find Sparky's owners.

James Garrity, vice-president and wide manager astatine Gateway, told CBC Hamilton helium was "heartbroken" to perceive astir the family's acquisition and their hearts "go retired to them during what we cognize is an incredibly affectional time."

Garrity said that owed to the length time that's passed and the company's grounds retention policy, they could not entree accusation from 2005 to assistance the household fig retired what went wrong. 

The favored aftercare manufacture has evolved importantly successful caller years, Garrity said successful an email statement, and Gateway has been starring the mode successful caller systems that see integer records "that volition past indefinitely."

"While we cannot alteration what has happened, we person been successful nonstop interaction with the household to connection our support, including a refund and memorial items of their choosing, arsenic a sincere motion of compassion," helium said.

Valerie said Gateway sent her a "heartfelt" missive apologizing for what happened, which she accepted.

Her focus, however, continues to beryllium connected Sparky and getting him home.

"He belongs with them," Valerie said.