April 2017
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.
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.
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!
Local classes raise $500 through cupcake sales Support keeps coming in for our National Cupcake Day™ for SPCAs & Humane Societies fundraiser! On March 8, approximately 50 Grade 3 and 4 students from Wendat Village Public School in Stouffville, along with their teachers Allison Pottie and Sabrina Sinclair, visited and toured the Ontario SPCA Provincial Education and Animal Centre. This year, these teachers and students have been focusing on what it means to be a global citizen and the importance of making a difference and helping others. To do their part, these classes baked up a storm, raising $500 through cupcake sales for the Provincial Education & Animal Centre. What an amazing accomplishment! They also built and decorated cat cabins when they visited our animal centre. As you can see by this photo, our cats have some beautiful new places to relax! Thank you to the students and teachers at Wendat Village Public School for your commitment to our animals! We hope you’ll join us again next year to once again “bake a difference” for animals in need.	Chase needs your help while recovering from a broken leg Meet Chase, a four-month-old Miniature Pinscher who was surrendered to the Ontario SPCA Provincial Education & Animal Centre after suffering from a badly broken leg. This poor little guy fell from a staircase, fracturing his fibula and tibia. Whimpering from the pain as we examined him, Chase remained calm and friendly and just wanted to be held. To save his leg, surgery was needed to insert pins and wires to stabilize the injury. We’re pleased to report that the procedure was a success! He’s now recovering, but it will be a long road before he’s ready for adoption, which is why we need your support to help recover the costs of his surgery and care while he recuperates. Please make a special gift today to help Chase, and animals like him, get the life-saving care they require Without your support, new beginnings for animals like Chase would not be possible.
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.	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.
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!	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
Students raise over $1,100 to help animals in need On March 3, Dublin Heights Elementary and Middle School in North York brought their Grade 7 and 8 students for a tour of the Provincial Education & Animal Centre. This class had been busy baking, promoting and selling cupcakes, raising more than $1,100 for National Cupcake Day™ for SPCAs & Humane Societies. This class even brought toys for our animals and was eager to learn about the adoption centre and how the animals are cared for during their time here. As part of their ongoing education, we were fortunate to have Agent Rachel Vandenkroonenberg from our investigations department join the class and provide great insight into a day in the life of an Ontario SPCA inspector. The day was enjoyed by all! It’s always great for students to learn about career options and choices that are available within the Ontario SPCA and Animal Welfare. Special thanks to the teachers and students at Dublin Heights for their support!	Volunteer gets her first taste of camp March Break is over for another year and so is our Unleashed Children’s Camp. Thirty energetic and excited children joined us for a week of action-packed animal learning and activities. Organizing a camp is no small feat, which is why we’re so grateful for volunteers like Vanessa. Vanessa, who has been a volunteer with our centre for a year, eagerly put her name forward to assist as a support person within the classroom. As she put it, “I never got to go to camp as a kid, so now it is great to do it as an adult!” Vanessa jumped right in, assisted in all the activities and supported the kids with whatever was needed. She even ended up bringing in her dog Luna to meet the campers and teach them about animal care and adoption. Lunda was adopted from the Provincial Education & Animal Centre and is one of our many success stories.  Special thanks to Vanessa, who makes a big difference at our centre for both the animals and staff! It’s so nice to have her as part of our Ontario SPCA family.

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Newshound is a free electronic newsletter published monthly by the Ontario SPCA to inform our supporters and friends of animal welfare about Ontario SPCA Community initiatives, programs, events and experiences. Contents of Newshound may be reproduced with appropriate credit.

Ontario SPCA Provincial Education & Animal Centre
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