Do What You Can

Unless you've been living under a rock in Toronto, you know about the Toronto Humane Society. Last Thursday, senior officials at the THS were arrested for animal cruelty charges, among others.
The charges aren't a surprise, except maybe for the fact that no one ever thought they'd actually be charged.
What has come to light is worse than expected...most immediately, there are currently about 1500 animals at the THS in need of care.
There are almost (or possibly more than) 200 small animals at THS. The focus is on the 800 (!!!) cats, but 200 small animals is no small beans either.
The OSPCA is in charge for now, and there is a small army of volunteers (including TAS people, and in a limited way, me) helping clean up the mess. I think the magnitude of this craziness has inspired everyone to want to help, and you know what - not everyone can volunteer, but everyone can help.
* Spread the word. Don't attack the dedicated THS workers who have done their best - focus on getting the senior officials prosecuted.
* Support organizations such as local rescues (Toronto Cat Rescue, Rabbit Rescue, etc) or TAS - and most importantly - once we can be sure the funds are going to the animals, keep donating to the Humane Society. They have hundreds of animals in need of care.
* Hug your own animals! I've been doing that a lot - it helps!

And especially, if you have rodent cages, towels, blankets or other supplies (anyone have cat/rabbit litter? That would be much appreciated) --> Drop them off at River Street!

(I tried to put cute photos in this post cuz I think everyone could use some cuteness at the moment!)

Older & Wiser

Adult cats have a harder time finding homes than kittens, and cats over 5 years old even more so. It's hard not to have a soft spot for these guys. I know some potential older-cat-adopters might be looking at this blog, so today I present some of the more senior sweeties at TAS South.

Yeah, this guy's a repeat from a few days ago, but how can you resist? Bradley is a total sweetheart. He is a big male who was surrendered by his owners back in September.
As you can see, he has no objection to being cuddled and stroked. He's a big purr-er and will just stretch out beside you. He's about 7 years old.

Then we have Sunny, another repeat from a few days ago. Sunny is a favourite of mine. He's so lovable! He loves people and he's just so handsome, but he's been at the shelter for four months now. He came in as a stray, and is also 7 years old.

This is Allie, a sweetheart who came to TAS South at the end of September. She was surrendered by her owners to the OSPCA at some point before that, before being transferred to us. She's a lovely girl and about 6 years old.

And this is the oldest cat on our list, and the one who's been waiting the longest for a home. Precious is an absolutely gorgeous cat - I think she was owner surrendered. She's been at the shelter since May! That's over 6 months. I think it's partially because Precious had a habit of hiding in her house all the time. Now she's at the Kennel Cafe, near High Park. At the new location, she's coming out of her shell. She's quite the sweetheart and the other day, she stretched out right in front of the door to get some cuddling!
Precious is 9 years old and she's a very sweet girl. I hope she finds a home soon, because she is lovely and has been waiting too long!

Snuggable

A new bunny was at the shelter today! She is just gorgeous. At first I thought she was going to be a big cranky girl because she was looking at me like that, in the photo up there.
But then I took her out, because her crazy nails had to be clipped. And I thought - oh, this isn't going to be fun.

Boy, was I wrong! What a snuggly, fluffy, lovable bunny. I may be in love. Look at those big fluffy feet!

Clipping the nails was no fuss at all. She has one of the sweetest faces I've ever seen.

She quickly turned out to be a big sweetheart. Her name is Chloe and she's pretty big, but I hope that doesn't hold back any potential adopters, because she will make the best housebunny.

In fact, as I was petting her, she flopped down in contentment. She even started tooth-purring (the bunny version of a happy cat-purr)! What a lovely girl. Apparently she was abandoned in a cage three weeks ago. I cannot imagine what kind of owner would just abandon this beauty. Let's hope she doesn't last long at TAS!

In some fantastic news, Campbell the budgie and Merlin the bunny have both been adopted! Also, Riff-Raff and Houdini the orphaned hamsters have found a wonderful new home, and I've already gotten an update, which I will post soon!
Also I know some people who are looking for an older cat will be reading this blog, so the next post will be some senior kitties =)

Well.

Toronto Humane Society Officials to be Arrested, Charged with Cruelty to Animals

How come animal rescue can go so wrong? Love for animals should translate directly into animal protection, but sadly that is not always the case.

Back on Track

Check out this little guy! He was just gorgeous. His name was listed as 'Samuel' although I suspect this has changed. I barely got to know him before he was scooped up by a very animal-friendly family. He's lucky he's got such a good home now, because we think Samuel had a pretty rough life before he came to us.

Freddy is just so sweet. Actually no - Benny! I've got to get used to his new name. Benny is just so sweet. I'm happy to say he and Buddy act so in love that they're officially designated a bonded pair. I really hope those two stay together, wherever they go.

Shrek may have a home already! He's marked as 'adopted' and is being held for some very nice people who are waiting for him to be neutered. They're bunny-people, which is great because I think Shrek is used to being spoiled!
I'm crossing my fingers that things are calming down for the small animal room. At last count, there's only seven rabbits, plus the two Orphans. I can't believe I'm saying 'only seven' - but hey, it's much better than fourteen!

Kitten Parade

I stopped by the kitten room last weekend! It was my first time photographing kittens and I've got to say - holy cow. Photographing those little guys is like photographing lightning.
This cutie came into the shelter as a stray back in August. I assume he came in as a litter with mom, but I can never keep track of the different litters. Anyway he's on his own now, and awfully adorable. I believe he's around 4-5 months old.
He was having a great time playing with his toy! I imagine he was in foster for a while, but now that he's showing off at the shelter I'm surprised he hasn't already been snatched up.
Boing! He's just dreadfully cute. I'm such a sucker for the orange guys.
Then there were these two brothers. Pom-Pom's on the left and Max is on the right. These guys were bouncing off the walls when I let them out.
Max did take the time to pose for a distinguished portrait (under a wall of cages), but Pom-Pom was much too busy bouncing around after a toy.
I always feel remiss if I don't get at least one black cat when I'm at the shelter. I love black cats, but they do tend to last longer. Lucky here was surrendered by his owners with his (presumed?) brother Falcon, also a gorgeous young black cat. The pair are 6-8 mos old.
Finally we have Lindy, who is the prettiest little calico, she's just stunning. She's quite the character too - she kept slinking up behind me when I least expected it, nudging for a pet. She came in as a stray and is around 8 mos old.
Right, next time it's back to the small animals!

A Grand Adventure

Riff-Raff and Houdini made the trek to the shelter this weekend! It was quite an adventure. They were the first to use our shiny new carrier, since the old one broke. Riff-Raff was not pleased at being removed from the 10-gallon tank for that tiny thing.

They were good sports about it though. Off we went on the TTC. The girls were jumping all over the place and attracted a lot of looks, especially from little kids. One little girl watched them for about 5 minutes before turning to her mom and saying, "Instead of going shoe-shopping, can we get hamsters?" Ha! Her mom wisely turned her down.

So now they're at the shelter waiting for a family. That sheet is a little 'biography' we typed up for them. Those girls are nutcases but we will miss them!
And that's it - no more hammies waiting to go back! Molly, Nicky, Al, Jamie and Ollie are here, but they're here to stay. The ever-rotating hamster group has finally settled down.

7 Years Lucky

Right now there are two handsome male cats at the shelter. They're both seven years old, and they've both been there for a long time - and they're both lovely, lovely cats.

First we have Bradley, who is huge! He's a big boy who was surrendered by his owners, waaaay back in September. The poor thing's been there for almost 3 months now.

Seven years old is too old for most people looking to adopt, but Bradley is a total sweetheart. He loves getting stroked and will come just hang out with you, enjoying the attention. His size and age must be scaring people off, because he is way too sweet (and handsome!) to have been there for 3 months.

Then we have another beautiful black and white boy - Sunny. I've actually photographed Sunny before. He is just so gorgeous! Sunny is seven like Bradley, but he came in as a stray, in August. He is a big snuggler, doesn't mind being picked up and cuddled at all!

Sunny has been there for four months but he doesn't seem to begrudge people. He still runs over to say hello when you go to visit him.

Older cats tend to get overlooked, which is such a shame, because these two boys are two of the loveliest kitties at TAS!

More Happy Hammies

The Orphans also got some playtime in the playground. Houdini and Riff-Raff went first. I think Twin 2 got adopted (yay!), which means these two will go to the shelter to wait for adoption.
Houdini especially liked playing with the cardboard. She was running all over the place (well, more than unusual). I have a very strong suspicion that their lack of nutrition/mother when they were babies affected these guys' brains as well as their growth. I mean, they're smaller than normal dwarf hammies, they've got big eyes, and they act totally nutty. They never stop running and jumping - usually into solid objects, like the wall.
They're still cuties though. Plus they're very gentle when held. Riff-Raff the one-eared wonder was not as impressed with the playground as her sister. She mostly sat in the corner grooming herself.
Nicky and Molly also got some time to play. It's been decided that Nicky and Molly are staying here with us. We didn't want to give up Molly the super-mom, and where Molly goes, Nicky goes.
I also got another fantastic update from the new owners of Boxer and Thundershock (once known as Twin 1). Those two are obviously being spoilt rotten in the best way possible!

Hi Laura,
Hope you are doing well. We have recently found out that some hamsters really enjoy it if you give them a tiny bit of goat cheese. Boxer still loves boxing and he's taught Thundershock a few boxing moves. They have a new wheel, the same as before, still a green silent spinner, but smaller, so perfect for dwarf hamsters. They also have a smaller water bottle, which Boxer loves. Whenever he sees it, he'll drink from it, thirsty or not. Now they have two sleeping places, so if they get fed up with each other they can escape. They really enjoy climbing in and out of tubes, especially the ones with a hole in the top which they can pop their heads out of. We have also noticed that since they are nocturnal, if we put a towel over their cage, they will come out of their nests after a few minutes, even if it's daytime. That's our news, will write again. Thundershock says hi.

Happy Hamsters!

Check this out! When we were at Petsmart for the adopt-a-thon, somebody (not naming any names) went a little crazy buying pet stuff. One of the purchases was this thing - a play pen for rodents. So we decided to give our three hammie boys some time in it. It was a big hit!

"I'll go over, you go under!"

Ollie has the cutest face in the world.
This was hilarious. The wheel doesn't really fit on the stand, so it wouldn't spin - it just sat there. We put it in and Ollie was like, "Hey guys, it's the wheel!!"
So everybody had to come check it out...
So Alastor and Jamie decided to make the wheel move through sheer hamster-power! It sort of worked, which was the funniest part.
But of course, the toilet paper roll will never be beaten for a hamster's favourite toy, no matter how fancy the set-up.
Bailey the lovebird also stopped by to say hi! He couldn't figure out how to get in though, because apparently he forgot that he can fly.
Group hug! Overall the 'playground' was quite the success!

Loving Homes Needed

Campbell - Brought in as a stray on October 24

Fred - Abandoned October 23 - Yes, it says Benny; I'm not sure when that happened! He'll always be Fred to me though, I'll never remember to call him Benny. Of course someone will adopt him and give him a third name at this rate! He comes with George (or Buddy, if you so prefer).

Riff-Raff - Abandoned with his siblings October 2 - Comes with Houdini, his identical twin
Sure, he's slightly mentally unstable, but he's also constant entertainment!

Chubbs - Surrendered on September 25 with her sister - Her sister's been adopted, now it's her turn!