URGENT Need for Foster/Forever Homes!

PLEASE READ and help! This is an urgent call for small animal adoptions! Spread the word!
Today, approximately 50 small animals arrived at TAS South. About 35 hamsters, 3 rats, and a whole bunch of rabbits. They all came from a hoarder, who dumped them on a pet store, who dumped them on us. None of the rodents had had water or food for quite a while. The Room was already full. I'm happy to say that Jojo was adopted today, and Sabrina was also adopted, to be picked up on Friday! THANK YOU to that adopter!
We still have NO ROOM.
Unfortunately Rabbit Rescue has no room right now for rabbits. Sadly, some of the hoarder's rabbits did not pass the health check and had to be put down. But we still have 6 new, young rabbits that we need to place.
This little girl has been named Coraline. I'm fostering her until we have room. There is one other new female and 5 males. All of them are very cute and young, and quite sociable. Plus we still have Ana, Ariel, Penny, Snowflake & Caramel, and Matilda up for adoption. All of them have been spayed, the new boys will be neutered Friday I believe. If you have been looking for a bunny, PLEASE look at ours right now! I will post photos of all the new ones tomorrow.
This is Thelma, she came in with her sister Louise a few days ago. We got three new rats from the hoarder, plus we have that pair of girls and Wiggins. Rats are very hard to find homes for, much less 6. They are wonderful, intelligent animals and deserve a home as much as any other pet!
Then we have the hamsters. Rabbit Rescue agreed to take all the Black Bear Hamsters, so they took 9 adult hamsters plus a litter of newborns for their foster system. I took the rest of them as a short-term foster. There are 6 (including the two above) females who are approx. 6 weeks old and fairly friendly. There is also a mottled black/white guy who is going to need a loving home and more socialization.
This is Sarah Jane, who is much more gorgeous than she looks in this picture. She is quite tame and currently with her approx. 4-wk-old daughter, but they will be separated when the daughter is old enough. Finally, there's Minerva, a momma hamster with 9 newborns, so young they don't even have fur.

These guys NEED homes, or at least foster homes who will be willing to care for them until the shelter has space to keep them. Right now we literally do not have the physical space for them! Hamsters are cute, small, no trouble, and only live a few years. I know we can find homes for all these guys but we need serious help - if you have room for a hamster, or ever thought of having a rodent - please, please consider adopting now!
SPREAD THE WORD - any way you can! Tell your friends! Help us find these guys proper homes!
Thank you!
If you can foster or adopt, please email me immediately!

CHUKAR

What in the world is a 'chukar'?
It's this pretty little game bird:
That's something you don't see every day at the shelter! This little guy was found as a stray yesterday and brought to the shelter. From the sounds of it, there's already a home ready to take him.
I just can't get over the name - chukar! It's so much fun to say. If I had a chukar, I wouldn't name it anything else, I'd just call it 'chukar'.
On the less exotic side, this is Windy the budgie, who arrived as a stray last week. I'm pretty sure his stray hold is about to run out, so anybody who wants this rather twitchy little guy can come on down!
And this incredibly cute little sweetheart is Sabrina, the scrawny little Dutch I keep talking about. We suspect she's blind, although I'm not sure we've gotten veterinary confirmation on that yet. She is just about the most affectionate little rabbit ever, she's awesome!

We're behind on spaying because we couldn't do it this weekend, so even though we now have 7 rabbits, only three (Ana, Ariel and Penny) are up for adoption. Pongo at Petsmart got adopted the other day! So Penny is heading out to the store to try her chances. We only have females right now, for some reason.
Hey - go check out our Facebook page, I recently discovered how to upload videos!

Weekend of Chaos

After half the city was shut down, police cars were burned, and the downtown core was smashed to pieces, the G20 is finally over. Like everyone else, I was infuriated to see our beautiful city attacked like that. Here's hoping that the world leaders actually did something productive and it wasn't all a waste. In the meantime, kudos to the protesters who remained peaceful, and the police officers who did their best to protect our Toronto.
This is one of the cops guarding the gate near the shelter, holding Caramel. The officers on Exhibition Grounds were very friendly, and mostly very agreeable about allowing volunteers and even some adopters on to the Grounds to get to the shelter. Since we were worried at one point about even being allowed to walk the dogs, I am very thankful they ended up being so accomodating.
Thank goodness it's over - now it's back to our usual schedule.

Foster Feature

One of the TAS foster moms asked if I could post her foster kittens, who are just about available for adoption. So you get a lovely dose of kitten cuteness today! The one up there is BJ (A544722). BJ (for Black Jaw) was born in Feb/March 2010, and is neutered and ready to go! From his foster mom:
"BJ is very playful and very affectionate; when it's quiet time he loves being held and having his tummy gently scratched or rubbed, but when it's playtime he is usually the instigator! BJ likes to climb into bed and under the covers with you, especially when it's chilly."
This little one is Dove (A549411), and he will be available after he gets neutered.
"Dove is the cutest little kitten with his fluffy coat. He was born probably in mid-April 2010. Dove is playful and very affectionate; when it's quiet time he loves being held and will purr up a storm, and he romps with the best of them when it's playtime!"
The black one is named Magic (A549413), and she'll also be available after being spayed.
"Magic is an unusual kitten, a black tabby rather than a black cat. If you see her in the right light, you'll see her tabby markings. Magic is usually the leader of the pack; she was first to figure out how to get up on the bed and the others followed her lead. When it's quiet time, Magic likes being brushed with a soft bristle brush."
Sweetums (A549412) is the last of the bunch. She will be available after being spayed.
"Sweetums is a beautiful gray smoke speckled tabby, quite unusual in that her markings are very symmetrical. She is playful and very affectionate. Sweetums tends to follow the lead of her siblings, getting into mischief when they do. She is affecionate but not overbearing; she will sit with you but not on you. Her favourite boy is a feather fishing pole."

All of these kittens have lived with adult cats and a dog. They should be adopted with one of their siblings or to a home with a friendly cat. All of them are used to open and hooded litter boxes. If you do adopt these guys, ask the shelter for detailed info on proper kitten diets!
These little guys get a second chance thanks to our awesome network of foster homes. If you ever want to experience adorable kittens without committing to 15+ years, try fostering! The only problem is trying to give them back.

Free Time at Fort Knox

Notice how Ariel's lying on wood chips in front of a fence?
The Exhibition Grounds, along with half of Toronto, have been shut down thanks to the G20 this weekend. The security is insane and tomorrow should be absolutely ridiculous. There's really only one entrance to the Grounds. Luckily, the cop guarding that entrance is a real animal-lover and was super nice. He even gave us veggies from his lunch for the rabbits!
The one good thing about the shelter being cut off from society is that you can focus solely on the animals. We managed to get all the bunnies out for a walk except one - Sabrina, the new little Dutch. However, while we were allowed to take the animals out, we were not allowed to go on the grass. Why? Who knows. Security. So they got to run around on concrete. Snowflake clearly didn't mind.
Ana was less impressed. It feels like a military compound or something there, with police cars driving by every few minutes. There was a bit of a problem after some dogs were sent to the vet to be fixed - security wouldn't allow a truck to enter the Grounds, so they couldn't get back in!
Matilda had a great time, which is nice, since last time I took her out she almost had a heart attack. Tomorrow is the day for protesting and politics, so it should be nice and utterly insane. From the sounds of it, we won't be allowed to take the animals out at all. No dog walks for two days? Should be fun.
"How do we get in here?" Good question. Tomorrow there will be only one way in - through the streetcar stop. If there's a nice cop at the locked fence blocking off the Grounds. Should be fun!
In the midst of all the insanity, a pretty little budgie has arrived as a stray, and we discovered the little Dutch may be blind - unfortunately after she dove head-first into the floor. She's all right though!
So tomorrow I'm going (or at least attempting to go) to the shelter.
Brace yourself, Toronto! The G20 is finally here.

How To Give The Volunteer a Heart Attack

I walked into the Room the other day and found that. She popped up a few minutes later, happy as could be.
Sheesh. Thanks for that, Penny. I've seen my rabbits do this, but I've never seen a bunny get so comfortable in the shelter that they did the 'dead sleep'.

Sprite the cockatiel has been adopted! And Pongo the rabbit is off to Petsmart. Meanwhile, a scrawny young Dutch has shown up. The ebb and flow continues.

Crossing the Species Barrier

Matilda, our newest rabbit, loves other small animals. I discovered this the other day while I had her out at the same time Sprite was flying around. For some reason, Sprite never flys anywhere but the main table, so they ended up hanging out together. Matilda really wanted to be friends. Sprite wasn't quite so sure.
The real fun of the day, however, was when I took the hamsters out. Unlike Sprite, the hamsters were happy to be buddies with Matilda.
Aretha is almost Matilda's size! Matilda kept jumping on the rodent cages to stare at them, hence why she's up in the air here. I have no idea why our two hamsters haven't been adopted, usually they go super-fast.
Jojo and Matilda got along splendidly and went exploring together. Cutest couple ever!
Hey, have you checked out the Facebook page lately?

New News

We have a gerbil! I love gerbils. Despite being the hamster lady now, I never liked hamsters, I always had gerbils. This is the first one we've had at the shelter since I've been there. His name is Minx, and he's a tame little cutie. Get this - he was brought in as a 'stray'. That's hilarious. A) How would you find a stray gerbil, but more importantly, B) How on earth do you expect us to believe you could catch it?
This is Pongo, one of our new rabbits. He's an English Spot (yay!) mix and one of the calmest, most confident rabbits I've met.
This is the weirdest thing, but a week after Pongo arrived as a stray, another one came in:
This is Matilda! This sweetie is my new favourite. She and Pongo are the same size, have similar markings, and both have a slight curl to the fur on their head. I cannot believe these guys aren't related. Anyway, it's quite confusing, having them beside each other, but it won't be for long. I'm happy to say Starbuck the bunny got adopted! Since he was at Petsmart, Pongo's going to take his place and hopefully also find his new home.
We also have a new cockatiel! This is Sprite; she's not quite tame but she's very gentle and probably half-way to being trained already. I was hoping an owner would show up, but no one did and her stray hold is up, so the hope changes to hope for a new adoptive family.
I'm not sure I ever mentioned taking Ana as a foster, but I did, a few weeks ago. Ana turned out to be a total sweetheart in a home environment. She just doesn't do well in the shelter (and who can blame her?). Luckily, she has quite a few volunteers and staff pulling for her. I made her the 'pet of the week' on the Facebook page, and hopefully there will be some interest in her.
Finally (this post is getting long!), adoptions. As I said, Starbuck was adopted, and Smudge and Barney have also found new homes over the last few weeks. Sugar the lovebird finally found a home (and I have a small update!). And Wiggins the rat charmed one of our volunteers, who will hopefully be picking him up this week!

Two Farewells

The Cat had to be euthanized a few days ago, after he went into liver failure. It wasn't a surprise - he had a lot of health problems and in the end, it was just too much. This old boy went through a lot, but I'm happy to say that in the end, he was comfortable and comforted. He got lots of scratches and love in his foster home for his last month, and I hope he was content as he passed on.
I'm very sad to say that Sunny also had to be put down recently. Sunny was surrendered to the shelter back in August 2009, and he was a super-sweet, cuddly older boy. He was finally adopted in December, only to be returned two months later. He was clearly depressed to be back in the shelter, and his awesome personality quickly disappeared. He stayed in the corner, not moving, not interested in people. And then recently, he started biting people when they tried to pet him. Four months had passed since he'd been returned, it was clear no one was going to adopt him, he was depressed and he was going to hurt someone.
Sunny was my favourite cat of all the ones I've known. If I could have a cat, I would have taken him long ago. I hate that he was overlooked for so long that it got to this point. If you're going to adopt, please look at older cats!

Guest Shelter: Have You Got Room in Your Family for Some Lovely Oakville Rats?

I recently got an email from a worker at Oakville & Milton Humane Society, asking if I could do a feature on their rats, as they were having trouble finding homes for them. I don't know how much help this will be, but I'm happy to post them! Rats are great pets and a lot of fun, but unfortunately they suffer from an overwhelmingly negative reputation. They are really hard to adopt out.
Oakville/Milton has a bunch of these lovely guys/girls! Do you know anyone who has room in their homes (and hearts) for any of them? Spread the word!
This is Aimee, an adult female brown rat. Look at that sweet face! She is about a year old and was surrendered by her owners because she had a litter of babies. Now all her babies have been adopted and it's mom's turn!
This little girl is Angel, who is 9 months old. Her mom was surrendered to the shelter because of unwanted babies. Since then, her mom and almost all her siblings have been adopted. The only ones left are Angel and two sisters.
This is Paige, one of Angel's sisters. The third sister is named Maria. All three girls are fairly nice, but they would definitely benefit from more socialization and handling. They deserve to finish growing up in a loving home!

Please pass the word on about these rats - they shouldn't have to wait so long to find a home just because of human superstition!
All photos were taken by Lisa at Oakville/Milton Humane.

An Amazon, A Pigeon, and A Pair of Ducks

I'm back! I was away for a week working at a camp. I think I went into shelter withdrawal!
I came back to many new faces and a few adoptions. We got quite a few unusual birds! This blog title sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but all three of those unexpected visitors showed up at the shelter over the past week. Check out this guy:
Isn't he gorgeous? I completely fell in love with him! I love larger parrots. They have such a presence about them. This guy is an Orange-Winged Amazon, and he was totally tame and sweet.
He would say 'hello' to you and happily get scratches and treats. What an awesome bird!
I'm thrilled to say that his owner showed up the day after I took these photos. They had paperwork for him and everything, and were so happy to have him back. This lovely boy is once again safe at home!
This handsome boy was sharing the room with the Amazon. He's a racing pigeon, identified by the bands on his legs. His owners were tracked through the bands and should be picking him up this week. I don't think he won the race, but he's getting home safely!
Have I ever mentioned that I love ducks? These two tame ducks showed up at the shelter somehow last week. They're currently living in a stall in the barn (we are attached to the Horse Palace, after all), and awaiting their new home. I don't think it's quite all worked out yet, but the shelter has a few places where they usually send all the ducks and chickens. These two will end up somewhere nice.

Sometimes the most interesting stuff in the shelter goes on behind the scenes. None of these guys ever made it to adoption or the public area. They all got happy endings though!
Lots of news to write about in upcoming posts. Two rabbits and a lovebird (finally!) got adopted in the last week, plus I have a few updates, there's a new gerbil and a few rabbits, and there's an overload of cats. Never a dull day!

Cat Interlude #11

Bolts: This little guy is a lot of fun, he's full of energy. He's got this cute little white tip to his tail and he's bursting with personality.
Dunlop: A super-sweet cat, he's also quite shy, so you need a little patience with him. But he's a doll if you take the time, very cuddly and gentle.
Pica: This beautiful girl was surrendered by her owners with kittens at the beginning of May. The value of spaying cannot be overrated! She seemed shy in the cage, but when I let her out she turned into a total sweetheart. She's very affectionate!
This cutie is so far nameless. He's one of Pica's kittens, and of course, he resembles a bouncy ball more than a cat. He was with his (identical!) brother, but one of them was adopted. I'm sure he won't need to wait long.

Oh Glorious Youtube

There is nothing better than Youtube when it comes to wasting time. The other day, I had nothing to post on the TAS Facebook page, so I had the brilliant idea to search for 'animal adoption' videos on Youtube. I found one to post, but I also found a whole bunch of others that are just awesome! Some of them are ads for very creative shelters, some of them just general information, all of them are fun to watch (no sobby sad-dog-through-bars videos here!).


Ha, I love this one. I've been singing this song ever since I found it. "Adopt a dog, adopt a big dog, unless you have, a small apartment..."



The Shelter Pet Project is a great movement to try and make shelters the No. 1 choice for pets for the general public. It always bugs me that they only ever mention cats and dogs, but why should they be different than anyone else, I suppose. Anyway, they made some fantastic ads. I love the affair one the most, but 'ditched' is also excellent:



This one is just cute. And true. Rescued animals are very rewarding....but not the instant you arrive home! I love the cat's expression when he's under the couch.



Youtube is such a goldmine. Though I searched, however, I couldn't find any good 'adopt a bunny' (or other small animal) videos. Darn, guess I'll have to keep looking at animal videos to find them...

Pocket Pets

I can never decide if I like the term 'pocket pets' or not. We got three rodents from North this weekend! What's that, you say? We were only planning on getting two hamsters? Well, yes. Somehow we got a rat as well. Hm.
Jojo is a golden hamster, and just about the cutest little thing ever. Look at that soft, shiny coat! And those adorable dark ears! Aw. He's sweet, too, and friendly. I bet he won't last the week.
This hammy girl doesn't have a name yet. She's shy but very easy to handle. She's also HUUUUGE! Holy moly! I thought she was a guinea pig at first. Maybe I'm just too used to dwarf hamsters. This (freakishly large) hamster was left on someone's doorstep with a note. I have to say, I wonder what that note said. "Oops, turns out I'm too lazy to even take care of a hamster"?
And here's Wiggins, our bonus rat. S/he is just a baby, a little Dumbo Rat (look at the big ears!). S/he's a cutie, but quite shy - squeaks up a storm when you try to hold her. As you can see, I am terrible at photographing rats.

Coco the guinea pig has been adopted! And the nice young budgie was taken by a family. Kiwi has also been adopted, and so we are down to one bird, Sugar! Lately we've been doing quite well on small animal adoptions except rabbits - where are you, rabbit adopters?