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Cherry Lane Canines and Cats book highlights project in New West

Margaret Halsey has some new tales to tell in her latest book. In 2016, the New West resident created the Dogs of Sixth and Devoy, which featured dog and cat faces on a mural along a long fence.
margaret halsey
Margaret Halsey is an artist who has started painting dog and cat faces on the fence of an alleyway at Sixth and Eighth Avenue. She's now published a book, which is being launched tonight.

Margaret Halsey has some new tales to tell in her latest book.

In 2016, the New West resident created the Dogs of Sixth and Devoy, which featured dog and cat faces on a mural along a long fence. She followed that up with a second fence, Cherry Lane Canines and Cats, in 2018.

Halsey is inviting community members to attend a launch of her new book, Cherry Lane Canines and Cats. It’s on Wednesday, April 17 (tonight) from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Old Crow Coffee Shop, 655 Front St.

“It is stories gathered from the participants of the fence, and pictures of the dogs and cats, and pictures form the fence,” she wrote in an email to the Record. “There are over 50 dog and cat faces now painted on the fence.”

The book launch begins with a time to eat, drink, mingle and buy the book from 5 to 6 p.m. From 6 to 7 p.m., attendees will hear from: Halsey, the book’s artist/writer/publisher; snippets of stories from participants featured in the fence and the book; and New West resident Lynn Radbourne (accompanied by puppy Willie) who will talk about guide dogs.

Anyone wanting to buy a copy of the book can contact Halsey at clephadij@shaw.ca. Books are also for sale at the Pharmasave in the Crest Shopping Centre (8697 10th Ave.) in Burnaby, where Halsey will also be doing a book signing on May 2 as part of Dog Day.

Cherry Lane Canines and Cats is $30, with 50 per cent of net proceeds (after printing costs) going to the B.C. and Alberta Guide dogs.