"Other"

On the main TAS website, you have three options when you search the available animals: Dog, Cat and Other.
The task of labelling the animals beyond cats and dogs is always difficult. I call them "small animals", much of TAS groups them as "small mammals and birds", the Toronto Humane Society labels them as "Special Species". I often think that rabbits should be their own category, since they far exceed every other kind of small animal we receive, but they just means everybody else is still 'Other'.

This past week, we've gotten a bunch of surrenders that really fall into the 'Other' category. No matter who's labelling them, birds are always separated. They are, after all, wildly different than everybody else. Three of these flying reptiles came to the Room last week:

These guys went a little bezerk when they arrived at the shelter, because prior to their arrival, they'd never been caged before. This made them a little difficult to catch, but I much prefer that to the opposite. Usually when we get birds (especially budgies), they've never been let out of a cage. Birds need freedom. I'm glad these guys have had it so far, and I hope they continue to get it in their new home.

That's Rowan on the left, and Ashby on the right, and the third one is named Willow. Unfortunately for them, their owner passed away, leaving them homeless. Considering the usual state of the birds we get, these guys are quite healthy, happy and obviously love being together. They aren't very social with humans, but they just need a little work.

A couple of days later, we got this odd couple:

 These two were surrendered for some unknown reason, and they are the most unlikely-looking pair. Banksy, on the left, is an adorable dumbo Berkshire girl, while Doby on the right is a hairless rat. This is the first time in my three years at the shelter that we've gotten a hairless rat. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of  hairless animals and I don't find Doby particularly, um, attractive.

"But I'm so cuuuuute.....in a creepy way."
Yeah, she kind of gives me the shivers. But she also turned out to be totally sweet and affectionate, and the more outgoing one in the two. She totally won me over. That'll teach me to judge a book by it's cover.

And of course, we have the usual hamster contingency. Triscuit and Soda were two of the hamsters left in the Walmart parking lot, and they've just returned to the shelter from foster care. I'm glad to say neither of them had pups, so they are now available as a pair.

I'm glad to say that the guinea pigs left in the Coffee Time (Espresso, Mocha and Latte) have found their forever home, as has Aurora the Rex and two of the other Walmart hamsters, Cracker and Biscuit. Knock on wood, but we've managed to maintain a manageable level of small animals for over a week!

A Parade of Pigs

Last year was relatively quiet for guinea pigs (certainly not for anybody else). In the past few months, we've hardly had any pigs. But never fear, the past two weeks decided to make up for that!

Guinea pigs are not my favourite animals, but they are absolutely the best small animals in the world to photograph. If you put a guinea pig in front of the camera, nine times out of ten, she'll just sit there. You can move them into a better position, get group shots, do whatever you like. It's amazing, especially compared to rats, which never sit still, ever.

These two beautiful girls are named Ginger and Lola (the one in the solo headshot is Lola). They kicked off our guinea pig trend two weeks ago when they were surrendered by their owners. They're only 10 months old, so clearly someone did not pay attention to the fact that guinea pigs can live over six years. They are lovely girls, and we've shipped them off to Pet Valu King & Dufferin to find a home there. The staff are in love with them, so until they do find a home, they're being utterly spoiled.

They were joined a few days later by Raza here. He was also surrendered, but he was surrendered without a name, age or sex. I mean, if you literally don't bother to know anything about your pet, what's the point in even getting one? Raza is super skittish, but he is also at Pet Valu King & Dufferin to try his chances.

 

 When I arrived at the shelter the next day, James greeted me with, "Have you seen our newest shipment? Guinea pigs just arrived."
"What, again?" I said in surprise.
"They're on the floor, we haven't got a cage set up yet."
Now, usually that means the animals are still in a carrier, from being picked up by one of the drivers. Imagine my surprise when the box in the photo above started moving.

Ta-da!
Three guinea pigs in a box!
Thinking this was a tad sketchy, I grabbed the driver, who was just leaving, and asked where he'd picked them up.
"At a subway station, in a Coffee Time." He said, shaking his head.
"In that box?"
"Yup. Left on the bathroom floor."
Well, that's one way to get rid of your unwanted pets.

The three girls are in good shape and all, but who does that?
Anyway, they are now looking for a real home and are named Mocha, Espresso and Latte (what, you expected me to resist naming them with a coffee theme?).

Espresso (the one with black on her face) is quite nervous, but Mocha and Latte are surprisingly easy-going for guinea pigs. They let you scratch them on the back and even come running up to say hello sometimes. If someone left me on the floor of a Coffee Time bathroom, I don't think I'd be quite so friendly.

And so, we find ourselves with six guinea pigs. Guinea pigs get adopted fairly quickly, so I'm sure they won't last long. It does kind of crack me up how, every time rabbit intake slows down, something else has to pop up to take their place. Keeps us on our toes!

I'm very happy to say that Boris has finally been adopted. Also, amazingly, all 21 of those dwarf hamsters have been adopted! It only took about a month and a half, and about 10 of them were in foster care for half that time. That's pretty impressive! No wonder people keep giving us small animals.

Take Two

On Tuesday, Nicola and I went back to the CityTV studios for another attempt at appearing on Animal House Calls - and this time we succeeded!
Since Topaz had been adopted, we brought different bunnies to get their chance in the limelight - Indigo the Rex, and our long-term foster, Poe. Indigo didn't really need the exposure, but Poe needs any extra attention he can get - of course, Indigo showed off better!

Look, there's one of my photos on TV!
It was all very interesting. Many thanks to Ann Rohmer and the team at Animal House Calls for having us and being so kind. Their coverage was very complimentary! I especially liked the tagline along the bottom before our segment: "How One Woman's Efforts Improved Adoption Numbers 200%". It makes it all sound very dramatic.

There's Indigo in the break room, being as cute as can be. I'm very happy to say that he's already been adopted, although not, as far as I know, because of his TV star status. Probably more because of his Rex/super-nice-bunny status.

And there's my little problem child, Poe, of whom I am growing much too fond. They were both very well behaved on screen, although Poe clung to me rather than face the cameras most of the time.

And there's everyone! It was a neat experience. I've somehow ended up on TV a few times now, but this was the first time I was specifically on to be interviewed. I think I did okay - helps to have a pro like Nicola alongside. And hey, I can talk about small animals until I'm blue on the face. Just get me started and I'll talk for hours!


One thing that made me laugh was that the show really wanted to emphasize this blog. Before the show started, Ann was saying I should mention the blog, since she thought it had made the most difference in adoption numbers. In reality, while it was my first "extracurricular" shelter activity, this blog has probably made the least amount of impact on the shelter itself. My photos and bios, the Facebook page, and setting up the small animal foster network - those all made way more of a difference. The blog is really for me - it's a rant outlet, and a place where, unlike the Facebook page, I can be negative or unprofessional.


 TAS has been really pushing the volunteer angle lately, and I think that's fantastic. But this particular appearance was really great because it showed that volunteers are important for the small animals, too. Most pamphlets and ads only discuss cat cuddling and dog walking, but hopefully this interview helped inform some people that small animals need love too! I do realize I am preaching to the choir since this entire blog is all about small animal volunteering, but ah well. And, of course, it never hurts to remind people that we need foster homes.

Happy at Home

As promised, a post about the opposite end of the rescue spectrum: happy updates!

Moppet and Snowshoe were just adopted a few weeks ago, but we already got a lovely update:

When my mom had to go in to renew my dog's license, she mentioned we had just lost a Lionhead bun. The girl told my mom that they had a beautiful Lionhead at the downtown location. She showed their pictures to my mom, and it was love at first sight. When my mom came home, she said, "You need to see these bunnies!" When she showed me them, my heart melted. Something just clicked. I said, "We have to go get them!"
We ventured to the depths of downtown Toronto to rescue my future fur babies. The girl at the shelter said that the buns could be separated, but in my mind, they didn't need to undergo any more trauma! Being abandoned was enough. In the bottom cage, nearest to the back wall, I saw them. I sat down with them and started bonding instantly. Unfortunately I couldn't take them home that night because I had to disinfect my home because Fu had had snuffles. 

On January 7th, I finally brought them home. They adjusted so quickly to their new home, I was very surprised. After a week, I can't imagine life without them. I'm so happy they are together. There's nothing sweeter than watching them kiss and groom each other, they are never apart. Snowshoe, as expected, doesn't like to be handled much. He does like to sit on my lap and be pet though. Snowshoe pretends to be a big bad brute, but he's really a gentle bunny. Moppet is an absolute sweetheart. She loves to be brushed and cuddled, and is always happy to receive new toys and cardboard tubes. They both seem to be happy bunnies who binky and flop to let me know they're content. Moppet has also started giving kisses, which is something Fu always did. 
Hopefully they will continue to be happy and comfortable in their new home, where they won't have to experience any more abandonment or trauma. They're awesome fur babies. Fu would be happy that with his loss, I saved two bunnies. Cheesy, I know, but it's the truth!

So sweet. These two were a really lovely pair, I'm glad they got an experienced, loving home that can see through Snowshoe's grumpy ways.

This absolutely hilarious photo was sent by Marbles' new owner. I love it so much! She also sent a nice email:

Marbles is adapting well to his new home and he always runs over to see me, and even allows me to pet him when he's in the mood. When he's running around the apartment, he likes to check in with me every so often before going back to acting hilarious - jumping, running, twisting in the air, exploring - sometimes he even gets going so fast that he can't quite stop in time before hitting the wall. Marbles is a little interior designer whose favourite activity is determinedly and systematically rearranging everything in his cage. He never seems to be satisfied with its fung shui. He is a very fun bunny with a healthy appetite and I am glad he is my pet.

And finally we have this adorable Christmas photo! I just looked it up, I never posted about Frosty the rabbit. He was a gorgeous Jersey Wooley rabbit, a long-haired poofy breed, and he was adopted into an absolutely wonderful home last year. Here he is with Rosie the cat, who was also adopted from TAS South.

I'm very glad to say that we had two important adoptions this last week. Jellybean has been rehomed - third time's the charm! Her new home is experienced and were very patient waiting for her to finish treatment for an eye infection. I think this time she's found the right family.
And best of all, Topaz has finally found a home! That poor boy has been through so much in his short life - born in foster care, transferred to Scarborough, adopted, returned for "strange behaviour", back in foster care, back to the shelter. But at last, after 7 months, he's found a great home where he will be free-range and well loved.

Neglect

There are a lot of different ways to be cruel to animals. Volunteering at a shelter allows you to see a depressingly diverse number of ways in which an animal's home can be sub-par. With small animals, it's almost always neglect, and that has been on parade in the Room this week.

Aurora is a young Rex rabbit who was surrendered to the shelter along with her brother Indigo and an abundance of excuses about how she didn't really belong to the surrenderer. The Rex breed is very popular, partially because of their typical laid-back personalities, but mostly because their beautiful fur feels like satin. Aurora's fur has that trademark feel, but it's dry and thin from poor nutrition. She's also under 2 pounds. Now, she's not fully grown yet, and I'm not saying she's on the brink of starvation. But she is underweight and there is no way she was getting proper nutrition in her last home. Poor thing stuffed her face as soon as we gave her hay and pellets.
I'm very glad to say there's already interest in Aurora and I suspect she will be adopted as soon as she's spayed, hopefully to a home that knows how to feed her.

This is her brother Indigo. He's in better shape than she is, but he could certainly stand to gain some weight and I'm sure he will at the shelter. Considering their poor care and their abandonment at such a young age, these two are remarkably good-natured. Indigo in particular loves people and I'm sure he won't last long.

Rabbits must have pellets, greens and hay daily. The greens are not, as so many people think, optional. The hay, as well as cool, clean water, must be available 24/7. Occasional papaya is a good idea, as is the occasional fruit as a treat. Their diet is a bit complicated, but five minutes on Google will tell you what you need to do. I will never understand why people don't use the Internet. I've certainly seen rabbits in worse shape than Indigo and Aurora, but I would be utterly embarassed if any rabbits of mine ever looked like that.

The same day Indigo and Aurora arrived, these two bundles of cuteness were transferred from North York. Rosemary (on the right) and Sage are almost identical and just as cute as buttons. Like the Rexes, these two are under a year old. They are rather skittish, especially Sage, but once you get them to calm down a bit they're quite affectionate.

This is Sage's leg (I apologize for the gross photo). It has lost all of its fur and is red and raw from urine scalding, due to the poor sanitation in their last home. The skin has even broken open in some places. This leg is worse, but both her back legs have lost their fur. Rosemary is in much better shape.

Nutrition and housing are always the two things that get rabbits. An incredible amount of people think it's fine to leave a rabbit in a cage and clean it once a month. For one thing, rabbits need to run and exercise. Young rabbits especially need lots of exercise, because their hearts are still developing. But for another thing, if they are caged, their cages must be clean! An unclean cage is gross, uncomfortable and leads to health problems.

And finally we have the old "abuse-and-abandon" one-two. A small cage of hamsters was found, abandoned in a Walmart parking lot. In the middle of January. The little guys are damn lucky it's been a warm January. Cripes.
The real kicker? They were left in the parking lot in a duffel bag. What is with bad hamster owners and duffel bags?!
They were also left with this charming bowl of food. I don't even know what it is. Raisins and couscous, soaked in water? It was disgusting and unsurprisingly the six hamsters were underweight.

Also unsurprisingly, the group was made up of both males and females. That's the two boys up there, we've named them Cracker and Biscuit and they're now at Pet Uno waiting for a home. Again, despite their mistreatment, they are sweet and gentle. Animals have an amazing capacity for soldiering on.

This of course means we have four female hamsters on pregnancy watch. They're at my house and in keeping with the theme, they've been named Triscuit, Ritz, Breton and Soda. Triscuit and Ritz are looking quite round in the middle, so I'm just waiting for that familiar squeaking sound!

The point of this post is that people suck, but never fear! The point of the next post will be that people rock, because I have a bunch of updates!
I guess it's a cliche to say that rescue is an emotional roller coaster, but nevertheless, it's true.

Almost Famous

A few weeks ago, Nicola at TAS asked if I'd join in her on Animal House Calls to showcase volunteer work at the shelter. TAS has been trying to put the spotlight on volunteers lately. Fred went on the show last week to promote our dog walkers and his hard work, and this week it was my turn to promote small animals (and cats). 

So yesterday I picked out two rabbits (Topaz and Abeline) and off we went! 

I'd been to the studio before, when we brought Raven and Melody on the morning show. The security guard brought me in just as they were practicing for the show with an absolutely gorgeous Great Horned Owl. The security guard and I both snapped photos, naturally.

 We had our makeup on, the bunnies had their harnesses on, and we were in the waiting lounge when the host ran by shouting, "All officers meeting! Newsroom now!" 

Not very promising.

The waiting lounge is full of TV screens, so we were treated to the view that was causing all the excitement. Turns out hundreds of protesters had started swarming city hall - police were arriving, pepper spray appeared, people were being kicked out of council for chanting. It was all very exciting and all very poorly timed, as far as our show was concerned.

The producer came in and told us the first half of the show was being cut (naturally we were part of the first half), but a few minutes later the entire show had been bumped as CP24 covered the protests. And so we packed up the bunnies and went home. And that is the story of how Topaz, Abeline and I were thwarted from stardom by an angry crowd of protesters. So close, yet so far!

At least I got this incredibly adorable photo of Topaz out of it:

This is actually the second time I've had an appearance on Animal House Calls cancelled, although last time it wasn't quite so last minute. I'm bad luck!

We're rescheduled for January 31st - hopefully third time's the charm! And if you happen to be planning any protests, please try to work around that date. Much obliged!

Mix & Match

Happy 2012! I realize we're two weeks in already, but I've been away and then wrapped up in re-starting classes. My New Year's Resolution is about this blog actually, because I am terrible at remembering to post so this year - at least every three days! I realize I may lack credability already, considering I haven't posted in three weeks, but from now on!

 First off, I wanted to share some photos of Northern Ontario over the holidays, because it was a winter wonderland and just gorgeous. Like a postcard! This is what a Canadian winter is supposed to look like. I hate the green winters we've been having lately. Give me freezing temperatures and snowy inconvenience any day!

The shelter has, of course, been chugging along, although there is a great deal of worried whispering that it won't be chugging along through February. Toronto may be facing a city strike or lockout within a few weeks and that, of course, includes the shelter. At this point, I'm not sure there's much hope of successful negotiation, but all my fingers are crossed. Closing the shelters, even for a month, puts a lot of animals in danger.

 The Room is down to - are you ready for this? - five rabbits, plus two at pet stores. That is a pretty great change from Boxing Day. We are very lucky, because three nearby humane societies worked with TAS South to transfer some rabbits out. Small animals don't show up much in smaller city shelters, and since we were overflowing, we were happy to oblige. Cashew went to Orangeville, Cascade and Rocket went to Stratford, and my boys Silver & Emerald went to Cambridge. Huge thanks to those shelters for the helping hand!
Even better, Moppet and Snowshoe were adopted just a week after arriving - together! They were adopted to a great home and I've already received an update. I'm so glad two big, bonded bunnies were able to get a home so fast! Marbles has also been adopted (along with Pancake the rat, Pete the guinea pig, and Chip, Patches and Penelope the hamsters). We haven't been doing too shabby!

Thanks to this burst of adoptions and transfers, we had room to bring back every animal from foster. Boris and Abeline (from the hoarder) have finally found a place in the Room, after three months of waiting. Grace Kelley the rat is also back, and that blossuming family of 21 hamsters have been cleared out of foster care through adoption, except for six which are waiting at two Pet Valus.

Latest count? We have five rabbits, one guinea pig, and three rats in the Room. We have six hamsters at our Pet Valus, one rabbit at PetSmart, and one rabbit at Pet Uno.
And how many in foster? That's right, count 'em - NONE.

Well, except Poe. He's still with me.
But he doesn't count.

Never mind Poe! For the first time since the rabbit hoarders in the summer, we are at a manageable number and we can finally take a breather!
I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Have a Holly Jolly...Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day everyone!
I had the most ridiculous Christmas, starting with a 5 AM visit to the emergency vet clinic with my boy Giles. Thankfully he is doing much better, but the whole thing made me miss my flight, so the last 24 hours have been a flurry of reorganizing and scheduling. Hence the Christmas post on Boxing Day!

Because I thought I was going to be on a flight on the 25th, I wasn't able to make my annual Christmas Day visit to the shelter. Instead, I went in on Christmas Eve armed with the makings of a bunny feast:

They ended up being spoiled rotten with a ridiculously over-the-top salad o' treats. It was Romaine lettuce and mixed garden greens, with a baby carrot, slice of apple, banana chip and dried cranberries on top, along with a sprinkling of these fancy lavender/chamomile treats.

 The boys approve.

I also made up little Christmas presents for everybody in the room, and left them for the next day. They were paper bags filled with hay, with a few cranberries, banana chips and lavender treats in each one and a toilet paper roll on top.

 

The staff gave everybody one on Christmas and apparently they had a blast playing with them, so hooray!
Sadly, I never had time to do a Christmas shoot this year, but I always like to review who's in the Room over the holidays. So I went a little crazy with Picnik and made a bunch of incredibly cheesy Christmas-themed photos. They're hilariously bad, in my opinion, so enjoy!
Presenting the Room's holiday residents (are you sitting down? It's a loooong list):

Can you believe Cashew's still waiting? He's six months old, for crying out loud. He is a rather strong-minded individual though - I think he intimidates people. But so handsome!

I really can't believe Silver's still waiting, he's a sweetie. He's six months old too! Sheesh.

Emerald and Silver are brothers, but for whatever reason, I have decided Emerald celebrates Hannukah. Happy Hannukah! I'm really sorry there wasn't latke clipart.

Cascade here looks like the leader of the candy cane mafia. It's a little intimidating. I did not mean to insinuate that she is the member of any crime family, I swear.

I love this boy. This is Finn, and he is just such a sweetheart. I was hoping he'd find a home for the holidays, but he's rather unassuming and I think he often goes unnoticed. Hopefully he'll have better luck in the new year!

Marbles looks kind of intimidating too, I just noticed. Maybe he's the leader of the stockings mafia, and he and Cascade are in cahoots.

Sawyer is just the cutest little guy. I think he's rather dashing with a hat on - I'm going to have to try it in real life. This little dude, who hasn't been on the blog yet, was found outside, completely filthy. He sure cleans up nice!

Pancake the rat was rescued from being eaten by a snake when he was a baby, but his near miss doesn't seem to bother him much. He's a sweet boy, and he went absolutely bananas for the Romaine.

Pete arrived in a pair, but he was a bit of a bully to the other pig so now he's on his lonesome. He doesn't really seem to mind, to be honest.

Peaches & Pippa are two of the kids from Popcorn's second litter. They are a packaged pair and make fabulous substitute Rudolphs.

Patches and Penelope are also from Popcorn's second litter, and this photo is just embarassing. I could not get a decent photo of these two together, but everybody else got in this post, so I didn't really think it was fair to leave them out.

Mr Rabbit (the name, I know) always looks a bit uptight but he's actually quite lovely. I spared him the shame of Rudolph noses and Santa hats, and just gave him a cup of cocoa and stuck him in the snow.

Jellybean, who was adopted a few months ago but returned last week, also got a cup of cocoa. The adoption was a bad match and despite the family's best efforts, it was in Jellybean's best interests to try and find her another home. Still, poor girl's not too pleased about being back and I rather wish I could give her an actual cup of cocoa.

I actually kind of love this one, not going to lie. This is Chip, the only boy out of Popcorn's four youngest.

And our last two arrived as a pair, dumped outside the Veterinary Emergency Clinic the week before Christmas. Happy holidays to you too, owners! Moppet is an incredible Lionhead and just gorgeous. She arrived with Snowshoe (below, also gorgeous), but they don't seem particularly bonded so they will probably end up finding separate homes.

Snowshoe reminds me of Alice's looks with Giles' "I'm-going-to-pretend-I'm-a-grump-but-I'm-actually-a-suck" attitude. Obviously, I totally love him.

And that's all! Just, oh, 18 animals. I left out the 6 at various pet stores and the 14 in foster care for everyone's sakes. Man, if you got through that, you deserve a whole plate of holiday cookies.

Happy holidays everyone!