Businesses
pledge support for No Hot Pets
To help spread awareness about the dangers of leaving
pets unattended in vehicles, and to assist pet owners, the Ontario SPCA is
encouraging businesses across the province to take part in its annual No Hot
Pets campaign.
Through this new initiative, businesses that pledge
their support for our No Hot Pets campaign will receive a digital sign that
they can print and display in their store window, letting pet owners know they
can bring their animals inside while they shop or do business. They will also
be added to a growing list
of participating businesses on the No Hot Pets website,
nohotpets.ca
To date, over 500 businesses in towns and cities
across Ontario have joined the No Hot Pets cause. Interested in joining the
growing list of businesses that support No Hot Pets? Take the pledge at
nohotpets.ca and email nohotpets@ospca.on.ca to receive your digital sign.
|
Friends for Life! Walk™
Join us for our Friends for Life! Walk™ on Sunday, Sept. 24 in support of animals
in need. This one-day event includes a vendor marketplace, dog agility, barbecue,
music, behind the scenes tours and more!
Please consider lacing up and collecting
pledges to help change the lives of animals, one step at a time. Visit
friendsforlifewalk.ca for more details and to register. Every pledge you
collect makes a difference to the lives of our animals! Registering is easy:
- Select “Register to
Walk”
- Select “Select your Location”
- Select “OSPCA
Provincial Education & Animal Centre (Stouffville)”
- Select the
appropriate participation – either as individual, join a team, or form your own
team
- Raise pledges either
online or via pledge forms
- Attend the walk and
have lots of fun!
|
Pride Toronto
Festival
The Ontario SPCA Provincial Education & Animal Centre had a lot of fun taking
part in the Pride Toronto Festival June 24-25.
Thank you to our dedicated staff
and volunteers who came from many different parts of the province to participate
in this fun event!
If you attended this year’s Pride Toronto Festival, thanks for coming out to
see us. It’s always nice to chat with others who are passionate about animals
and support the work we do here at the Ontario SPCA. It was a great weekend to
be an active part of our community as we celebrate our history, courage and
diversity.
Keep an eye on our Events page for information about upcoming events.
|
Rachel is our volunteer of the month
Meet Rachel, one of our dedicated volunteers. She first started volunteering
with the Ontario SPCA two years ago to obtain volunteer hours and experience
for school.
Rachel only needed 40 hours, but chose to
stay here long after she completed her school requirements. She felt she was
truly making a difference in her community and found the experience rewarding.
As well, since Rachel hopes to one day become a veterinarian, learning about
and working with a variety of animals will help prepare her for her future
career.
An interesting fact about Rachel is that
she was unsure about birds when she first started with the Ontario SPCA
Provincial Education & Animal Centre, but she ventured outside of her
comfort zone and they are now one of her favourite animals.
During her time with our animal centre,
Rachel has made new acquaintances, learned a great deal from the staff and has had
a lot of fun. Congratulations to Rachel on being our Volunteer of the Month!
Interested in joining our volunteer team?
Visit our website to learn more about how you can make a difference in the
lives of animals in need.
|
Celebrating our 100,000th
spay/neuter procedure
The
Ontario SPCA and Humane Society has reached a major milestone, performing our
100,000th spay/neuter procedure since we began offering high volume
spay/neuter services to the public.
As part of a larger provincial
strategy to help reduce pet overpopulation, the Ontario SPCA began offering high quality, high volume and self-sustaining spay/neuter
services to the public in 2009 when we opened the Ontario SPCA Centre
Veterinary Hospital near Newmarket.
Mirroring the success of that
service, the Ontario SPCA Marion Vernon
Memorial Animal Clinic in Barrie transitioned that same year to exclusively offer high-volume spay/neuter services.
Based on a conservative estimate of average litter size and how many
litters can be produced annually by every unfixed female, the number of female
cats and dogs that have been spayed to date could have produced more than
6,152,000 kittens and 1,338,000 puppies, respectively.
|
North Star Air Ltd.
makes $30k donation
The Ontario SPCA
and Humane Society was given a boost to continue to provide support and
services to remote Indigenous communities in northern Ontario thanks to a
$30,000 donation by North Star Air Ltd
Over the last two
years, the long-time air transport service provider and partner to the remote
northern communities has teamed up with the Ontario SPCA, local groups,
Indigenous communities and Humane Societies across Ontario to help find new
homes for over 140 northern dogs.
Recently, close to 20 dogs and puppies arrived in Thunder
Bay from Big Trout Lake with North Star Air’s assistance. Volunteer
veterinarians accompanied the canines after a spay/neuter clinic in the
community. The animals then travelled to Southern Ontario where they were
placed up for adoption. North Star Air assisted in the project by providing air
service for the volunteer teams to travel to the remote community and to
transport the animals back to Thunder Bay.
|
Waze alerts
remind pet owners not to leave animals behind
As part of our
No Hot Pets campaign, the Ontario SPCA has partnered with Waze to bring helpful
reminders to pet owners travelling with their four-legged friends.
Waze, the world's largest community-based traffic and
navigation app, has introduced a new safety feature, Waze Child/Pet
Reminder alerts. After
navigating to any destination, this customizable, opt-in alert appears at the
end of your ride and reminds you to check your car before you leave.
Time driving is
usually spent planning next steps – what we’ll do when we reach our
destination, what to make for dinner, which route to take. We hope this feature
serves as a reminder to be present and remember our furry friends who cannot
speak up when it’s time to get out of the car.
To set up the reminder alerts, make sure you have
the most recent version of Waze downloaded from your App Store or Google Play and go to Menu
> Settings > General > Child Reminder > Turn on “Allow Reminders.”
You can also customize your message to include the names of your children or
pets. To customize your message, follow the steps above, then select Custom
Message.
For more safety tips, and to take the No Hot Pets
pledge, visit nohotpets.ca
|
Over 40
animals find new homes during northern transfers
It’s been a busy summer for the Ontario SPCA
Provincial Animal Transfer Team and for the Ontario SPCA Indigenous Programs.
The Ontario SPCA once again partnered with Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (Big Trout
Lake First Nation), located about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, to
deliver essential Animal Welfare services. Pet owners brought 73 cats and dogs
to be fixed and receive vaccines to help control the local animal population.
Following the recent spay/neuter clinic, 18 community
dogs and cats were transferred to central Ontario. Those dogs and cats have
since been placed up for adoption through the Peterborough Humane Society and
have already found new homes.
While this important work was taking place, the
Provincial Animal Transfer Team was in a different part of the province working
side by side with leaders of another community that has also made Animal
Welfare a priority. During our visit, 25 animals were transferred to the North
Bay and District Humane Society to be placed up for adoption.
Special thanks to Big Trout Lake First Nation for inviting us to your community, as well as
PetSmart Charities of Canada, North Star Air Ltd., the Canadian Animal
Assistance Team, Beat the Heat Kenora, the Ontario SPCA, the Peterborough
Humane Society, the North Bay and District Humane Society and our many
volunteers for making this important work possible.
What can you do to help? A donation to our Provincial
Animal Transfer Team will ensure this important work continues. Make
a gift today and simply select “Provincial Animal Transfer
Team” when asked where to designate your gift.
Interested in volunteering on a transfer? Learn
more on our website.
|