Meet Your Match® through the Ontario SPCA
You could be
gazing at the animal of your dreams, but you just can’t tell what they’re
thinking behind that cute little furry face. What if you knew a little
something about their personality and habits before you moved in together? Get
ready to find a pet that suits your needs – get ready to “Meet Your Match!”
A program of
the ASPCA, Meet Your Match® is the only method in existence that evaluates an
animal’s behaviour and interests and matches them to an adopter’s preferences
so that you take home a pet you can really click with. The Meet Your Match
program won’t let you go home without knowing who’s in that carrier or on that
leash. Watch our video to learn more about this innovative
program and see the matches it has made.
Already have the pet of your dreams? We want to hear your adoption story! Enter the #IMetMyMatch
video contest. For your chance to win, upload a video of your story telling us
what made your pet perfect for you, or post your, video on Instagram using the
hashtag #IMetMyMatch and then claim your entry. The contest closes April 17, so don’t delay!
The randomly selected winner will
receive a $50 credit for PawsandGive.ca, our online giving catalogue, and
an Ontario SPCA swag bag.
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Nominate your veterinarian today for this year’s Got A Pet? Get A Vet!™
Award
Help us
recognize local veterinarians and their staff who go above and beyond to
provide excellent care for pets and their families.
From May 1
to May 21, we want to hear from you! Submit
your favourite veterinary clinic for the 2017 Got a Pet? Get a Vet!™
Award and encourage friends and family to go on the gotapetgetavet.ca website
to vote for the winner.
Got a Pet?
Get a Vet!™ is an annual education campaign by the Ontario SPCA, in association
with the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) and participating SPCAs
and Humane Societies across Canada. It promotes and educates owners about the
importance of annual veterinary checks. Just one checkup a year will help
protect your pets against a variety of potentially life-threatening diseases,
detect health problems sooner and help you avoid unexpected costs.
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Paws & Give: Better than a chocolate
bunny!
Spring is
finally here and Easter is just days away. If you’re looking for something
fresh and meaningful to give, we have Easter and spring-themed “animal-grams”
for you!
Donate just $10 through Paws &
Give, our online giving catalogue, and send an eCard to your friends and
family to celebrate the season, all while helping animals in our care.
Or, choose a
Rocky & Friends plush adoption to give in place of a basket of chocolate or
trinkets. The little ones in your life will be cuddling a soft plush dog, cat
or horse while you’ll have the warm, fuzzy feeling that animals in need are
safe and cared for, all because of you.
You can be a hero this spring!
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National Volunteer Week celebrates
unsung heroes
Ontario SPCA
animal centres will be joining Canadians from coast to coast April 23-29 in
celebration of National Volunteer Week.
Volunteers
are the backbone of every not-for-profit organization, and the Ontario SPCA relies
on hundreds of volunteers across the province to help keep our animal centres
running smoothly. From walking dogs and socializing cats, to driving animals to
appointments and helping out at events, our volunteers dedicate their time to
helping animals in need.
National
Volunteer Week is a time to recognize, celebrate and thank our volunteers for
their hard work. This is the seventh consecutive year the Ontario SPCA,
together with Volunteer Canada, has celebrated this important week.
During
National Volunteer Week, we will honour those who have volunteered their time
to Animal Welfare and improving the lives of the animals in our care. Each
animal centre will be hosting celebration events to thank volunteers, and their
families, who help shape our communities.
Volunteers
are vital to our animal centres and we can’t thank them enough. If you would
like to get involved and be part of our team, visit our website for more
details.
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Meet Smiley the blind therapy dog
Despite abuse
suffered at a young age, you’ll never find this Golden Retriever without a big
smile on his face. We recently welcomed a very special guest to join us on our
Animals’ Voice Pawdcast: Smiley, the blind therapy dog.
Smiley the blind
therapy dog, as he’s become widely known on social media, was born without eyes
and spent two years living in a puppy mill, where he suffered attacks from
other dogs. Even after being rescued, Smiley struggled to find a loving home to
care for him. Nobody wanted him because of the challenges they thought would
come with owning a blind dog.
From those
traumatic beginnings, Smiley never lost his calm and gentle personality. After
some time adjusting to his new home, he became a certified therapy dog with St.
John Ambulance. He now visits schools
with his owner, Joanne George, who shares with children how Smiley was bullied
for being born blind. It’s a powerful
story to explain to children why bullying is wrong and hurtful.
To hear Smiley’s
story and the challenges of raising a special needs dog, listen to our podcast
with this incredible dog and his dedicated owner.
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Pet Brand Survey: The results are in…
Thank you to
everyone who participated in our Pet Brand Survey earlier this year.
Congratulations to Cathy of Gravenhurst who was the winner of a $100 MasterCard
gift card.
Here are a
few fun things we learned about you and your pets thanks to your participation
in the survey:
- 41%
have both a cat AND a dog in their household
- The
most common pet name (across all types of animals) was Bella
- 11%
of responders spend 3+ hours per week watching animal videos online (we won’t
tell your boss, we promise!)
- The
most popular toy brand was Kong
The overall sentiment was that all pet suppliers
and brands should support the Ontario SPCA and other animal welfare
organizations – so thank you for that ringing endorsement!
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Cupcakes come to the rescue to
support animals in need
Thanks to bakers and
supporters across the nation, close to $530,000 – and counting – was raised for
National Cupcake Day™ for SPCAs & Humane Societies in 2017! To date,
the campaign has raised nearly $2.38 million, proving that Canadians have a
sweet tooth for cupcakes, and a love of animals.
The average cost to care for
a shelter animal is $568, which means that over 900 animals were helped with
the success of this year’s National Cupcake Day. The wonderful success of the
day showed that animals in need across Canada can have their cupcake (pet friendly, of course!), and eat it too!
Set your baking timers now
for the 2018 National Cupcake Day taking place on Monday, Feb. 26.
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