ESQUIMALT, B.C. — As the cat named Sniff curls up to sleep, you may wonder what would fill his dreams. “I would say Sniff’s a social butterfly,” the cat’s owner, Fernanda Ewerling, says. So, perhaps he’s dreaming of being a kitten again, playing with his pup, or maybe jumping up on the trampoline with his human siblings. But more likely, Fernanda says, Sniff is dreaming of going back to school. “Which is where he likes to hang out most of the time,” Fernanda smiles. Yet when Fernanda opens the app that tracks Sniff’s movements, it shows the cat has avoided the elementary school all summer. “There are no kids, so he’s not there,” Fernanda says. “He likes to go when the kids are there.” So now that school’s back in session, Grade 5 student Ben says, expect countless Sniff sightings. “Here. There. Over there,” Ben points to all the places Sniff spends time. “On the other side of the school. Over there.” When the cat’s not riding police motorcycles during school visits from first responders, Ben says that Sniff is sneaking inside to attend an assembly. “He ran around, had a few kids pet (him), sniffed around and left,” Ben says, adding that Sniff’s fur is soft. Perhaps he left to visit one of the classrooms that educational assistant Holly Bygrove is working in. “Sniff is a cat who’s made himself a member of the school community,” Holly says. So when Holly was organizing a public art show and asked students to create images that represent them and their class, she wasn’t surprised to see so many tributes to Sniff. “I think it’s very telling how much the kids really love Sniff,” Holly says. But perhaps the cat’s most substantial contribution to the school is how — despite have no official role there — he supports students who find it challenging to regulate themselves in class. “This non-judgemental animal loves them for them,” Holly says. “And then they can be more confident in themselves, and they take that experience and translate that to the experience they have with their peers. It’s just very sweet.” So if we return to the cat curled up on the cushion, he could be dreaming of racing around his back yard or acting like a card shark during family game nights. But it’s most likely Sniff is indulging in a well-deserved dream about how wonderful it is to finally be back at school with his friends. “That’s the best life he could live,” Fernanda smiles. “And he loves it.”
