A Room Full of Stories

We have quite the variety in the Room right now - hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, doves and rats! When we're full, each animal gets lost in a crowd, but each of them have had to deal with something along the way and each have some kind of story that left them here.
Bellatrix, our lone hamster, was rescued from a hoarder as a newborn with her mother.
Kayla, one of the prettiest, most laid-back rabbits ever, was found running around Queen's Park and rescued by one of our drivers.
Lewis, one of our long-term residents now, was abandoned as a "stray" (uh-huh) with his sister (now adopted) when he was only a few months old.
Munchkin, my beautiful little girl who is finally spayed and available (go get her, someone!!), was born in foster care after her pregnant mom was rescued from a hoarding situation.
Pumpkin's story is repeated a million times in this Room - she arrived as a "stray", which means her owner dumped her but was too cowardly to own up to it.
Rascal is a little rattie who is just full of energy - she was left outside the shelter door and found by one of our workers.
Shakira (Shakira, Shakira!), our newest addition, was surrendered by her owners and is between 2-5 years old (thanks for clearing that up, owners).
Swiffer & Sparkles were dumped by a woman whose awful story I already wrote about here.
Tapioca was surrendered as a "stray" to our Etobicoke shelter. They can't keep rabbits and after a week she was transferred to us. Another fake stray, just like so many others.
Trinity, our single dove, was found flying around Toronto after having escaped/been released from her last home. She's scared in the shelter but it's better than freezing on the streets!
Valentino, our handsome Rex, is one of the weird fake-strays we get sometimes - outgoing, friendly, healthy, shiny coat. Clearly well cared for, yet inexplicably someone dumped him and didn't even bother to admit he was once part of their family.
Finally we have Winnie and her daughter Piglet, who were dumped by their owners with a male. Of course. Luckily, two months in foster care proved neither was pregnant (woohoo!) - foster care also made them look amazing. Seriously, look at them before, they're like new pigs.

Every shelter animal has a story. They aren't always dramatic enough to make their way into a depressing SPCA informercial, but those aren't the stories that fill shelters. The oh-so-common fake strays, the mundane owner dumps, those are the ones that fill the Room.

It's Harry Freaking Potter!

It's Harry Potter day!
Ok, it's not, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I) was released today. I've already seen it twice because I'm a total nerd (midnight viewings are the best!). Anyway, being a nerd and prone to photoshoots, I decided to torture my own animals with Harry Potter photos!
Hint: The photos look much better in large, when you click on them!
Molly, our old girl, who was dumped at the shelter with a litter of newborns. She had 7 kids and was super-mom, so we naturally named her after Molly Weasley in Harry Potter!
I love this shot. Alastor, one of Molly's kids, who is named after Mad-Eye Moody from the books due to his crazy red eyes.
Ollivander, another of Molly's kids and Al's brother, who is named after the wandmaker in the books.
Jamie, the final member of our trio of Molly's kids. He broke the HP tradition - he's named after James Bond, because when we were fostering them as babies, we could never find him amongst his siblings! He was a master at disguise.
Giles, named after Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was dumped in a dog park by his charming last owners. He was, um, not pleased with the photoshoot, but did consent to a pretty hilarious head-on shot.
This shot cracks me up. Peggy (full name Pegleg) was dumped at the shelter as a baby with her two brothers. She has stumps for back legs, as she is missing her two back feet. She's also tiny - just a little bigger than the 7th book!
Carmen the canary wouldn't pose (as usual), but the other two obliged. Loki, the cockatiel, is our only non-rescue. Bailey, our lovebird, was rescued from a very abusive past home, and was absolutely fascinated by the display I'd set up.
Captain Jack is named after Captain Jack in Doctor Who and came to us as a foster baby from a hoarding situation that gave us 50 animals. He is possibly the poofiest hamster alive.
Finally Magic, our little boy still waiting on a new name, and who really enjoyed sitting on the book! Magic was born in our house after his mom arrived at the shelter pregnant, and is now four months old. He hates to stay still but he loved the photoshoot.
Man, I've really exposed my geek side with these names (and this post), haven't I? Ah well. Woohoo Harry Potter!!

Doing Awesome Things

I thought I'd post some wonderful updates after that ugly story from yesterday. The blog title comes from our first update, in which one of our wonderful adopters had some very nice compliments for me and ended with 'Keep doing awesome things!'
So first up - that awesome young guy Beans (edited just to make room for more updates!):
Hi there, I love your blog - I read every entry. I think it's so amazing what you do for these animals and TAS. I understood from when I went there by just talking to the staff that you have a huge impact on these animals, the staff and the whole centre. (Aw, thanks guys!)
I have renamed Beans to Benji. I was inspired by the little Benji I met when I came there. He is doing really great. I brought him for a check up at the vet, and he received a clean bill of health. He was a little shy at first when it came to petting and picking up, but has learned that I give really good head scratches and ear rubs, and now he happily accepts them.
He is a really energetic bun and I love the way he stays so still and then has a quick run and a binky. His litter habits are awesome. Right now he and my other rabbit are living in separate pens in the same room. Benji has shown my other rabbit a little aggression through the pen's bars when he's gotten a chance, but I remain positive that they will bond.
Benji is a lovely rabbit - beautiful, with a soft, shiny coat, bright eyes, lots of energy and a friendly, quirky personality. I am happy to know he had you to love him while he was at the adoption site. I am really happy to have him as part of our family.
All the best to you and keep doing awesome things
Then we have an update on the two girls from Louise's litter (remember our rat family?). I'd like to point out that this adopter also fostered Maisy from the hoarder and went through the heartbreak of losing her, so I am super glad she now has these beautiful girls in her family, and that these beautiful girls have such a wonderful home:
Hi there Laura! I thought I'd send you an update on the two girl rats that we adopted from the TAS in August. We named them Whiskey (white blaze girl) and Kilo (Black hooded). They are named after two minor characters from the (short lived) show Dollhouse. They are doing great! They were a bit nervous when they first came home, but they've warmed up to us. They've brought us a lot of joy after losing Maisy. I've attached photos for you too.
Then finally we have an update on Mocha the dove! A bird update! I am so excited, I loved Mocha, and from the sounds of it, he is definitely living the good life now!
Hi Laura & Feathered Friends!
Recently my husband and I picked up Mocha at the TAS and we can't stop telling everyone how amazing it is to have a dove. Mocha has been such a wonderful little guy. He loves to hang out on top of his bird cage, take hot baths, eat fresh sprouts and shredded carrots as well as singing his coos and dancing around. He will nap on your chest if you give his low neck and shoulders a little massage. He is also a big explorer and with our two story loft with 17ft ceilings and lots of windows, he has had no problem finding places to discover. I'm just so happy that he was at the TAS!! Here are some pics to post, too!
I love taking his photo. He is a total natural in front of the camera! Hello Hollywood...or should I say Doviewood! Thanks again for your blog which was another reason why I couldn't resist Mocha!
Ok, can I just say these are absolutely beautiful photos of him? I noticed how much Mocha seemed to enjoy his photo being taken at the shelter, but man - these photos put mine to shame! This is my favourite:
So cute!
I also have a great update on Coraline, but I'll have to save it for another day because I think this blog post is getting out of control!
I may be doing some good, but I think it's these amazing adopters who are really "doing awesome things". And I couldn't be more thankful that those awesome things are taking place at our shelter!

Callous

A pair of 3-yr-old guinea pigs were surrendered to the shelter a few days ago. The owner was a woman who had her young daughter with her. She explained to the workers that she was giving up the guinea pigs because they wouldn't play with her younger child, a toddler. The pigs were terrified of the toddler and always hid from him/her.
The worker tried to explain that the pigs could just be kept out of reach of the toddler and maybe the toddler shouldn't be playing with guinea pigs anyway (except she said it much more diplomatically), but the woman would have none of it. She signed the papers and the guinea pigs came upstairs to me.
I immediately took them out for their photos. They are incredibly cute - Swiffer (the black one, love the name) is a Peruvian, with amazing long hair. Sparkles is an American and has the cutest cream and white colouring. They had clearly been well cared for, and were surrendered with bags of food and toys. They were super friendly.
There was a noise at the entrance to the Room and I turned to see the woman with her daughter.
"Is it all right if she says goodbye?" The woman asked.
"Of course," I replied, because even though I think you're a terrible person, I'm not going to take it out on your kid.
The little girl came in and said sadly, "Bye, Swiffer. Bye, Sparkles."
I told her she could pet them if she wanted.
"If they'll let you touch them," The woman said with a sniff. Justifying it, making the guinea pigs the bad guys. That's classy.
The girl stroked them gently, just the way guinea pigs like to be stroked. The pigs nuzzled up to her, clearly having been well loved.
"All right, let's go look at some more kittens," The woman said after a minute. She lead the sniffling girl away as though it were a fun day out.
I have seen a few animals surrendered. I'm only a volunteer so I haven't really seen that many, but every time it pisses me off and then I swear under my breath for a while and get on with things.
But this was just so cold. What is that woman teaching her child? That it's ok to discard living things, just because they're inconvenient? That if something isn't perfect, it's ok to give it away?
Those guinea pigs were three years old. They had them for three whole years. That little girl loved them and they were clearly fond of her. She will never forget leaving them behind, while her mother shuffled her off to look at the cute freaking kittens.
I'm not worried about Swiffer and Sparkles. They're cute, they're friendly, they're interesting breeds. They've probably already been adopted.
I'm worried about that little girl and what she learned that day. I'm worried about whether she's still sad or whether a distraction has lead her to forget her furry friends, whether she's learned not to get attached to pets and do away with them when they cause the slightest of problems.
I should be used to it, but I'm still appalled at how callous people can be.

Also, More Rats

This little girl was left outside the shelter a few days ago. A very outgoing little thing, she's only a few months old and super nice. I don't know why anyone would dump Rascal, but it doesn't really matter. She's off to Petsmart for this weekend's adopt-a-thon, where I'm sure she'll last approximately 5 minutes.
She isn't the problem. The problem is three other rattie girls.
The East location recently got a huge dump of rats and mice from some lovely person. They were understandably overwhelmed, so they sent us three gorgeous, outgoing females: Zelda (above), Kirby (darker) and Peach (fawn). They really are lovely, I would say they're the nicest rats we've ever had.
This one is Kirby. The only problem with these girls is that they arrived at East in a large group of 12 rats - males and females. So now there is a (very high, knowing rats) chance of them being pregnant. Pregnancy watch time!
Peach here is the only one I seriously suspect of being pregnant. She is outgoing just like the others, but freaks out if you try and pick her up, especially when you touch her stomach. She's also being very nest-y. But hey, who knows, any of them could be expecting. Or not. Rodents know how to fool you.
I really fell for these guys. That's Zelda up there, completely sacked out because I was petting her on the head and she just loved it. She's my favourite, such a sweetheart. The three of them were reaching through the cage bars to grab my clothes, trying to get my attention.
Zelda, Kirby and Peach will be going to Grace, our Super Foster Mom. She'll also be taking Marble the hamster. Luna and Ebony the hamsters are at my house and I'm picking up Shade tomorrow. Dottie the hamster is at the house of one of our workers.
That's five hamsters and three rats on pregnancy watch.
I am getting very nervous.

Oh Look, More Hamsters, What a Surprise

What a big freaking surprise.
A woman came into the shelter yesterday with a box. Which instantly sets off alarm bells in my head, because if it fits in a box, it goes in the Room.
"I have hamsters." She said apologetically.
"How many?"
"A lot." She sounded sheepish.
With visions of 30 hamsters in my head, I opened the box with trepidation. Inside were 8 adorable, friendly Black Bear hamsters. Not bad!
"Males or females?" The workers asked.
"Oh...both." The lady said.
"So they're all pregnant, then." I said gloomily.
"Oh, really? Do you think so?" She sounded surprised. "I had them separated before, but I put them in the same box to bring them here."
I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying something like, "How freaking dumb are you?"
So here are the genius' hamsters:
Guinness is one of the three males. I was trying to go with black-related names, so he's named after the black Irish drink. He looks like a baby in this photo, but like the rest of them he's a young adult.
Nimbus is named after the dark thunder clouds. Again not the best photo, but he's a real cutie with that little white stripe on his face.
Strider is the shyest of the boys, but all the hamsters have this going for them - they're all very social. They are very friendly, gentle and easy to handle.

Unfortunately the other five are girls, and any of them (or god forbid, all of them) could be pregnant. Syrians have a 2-wk pregnancy so we have to wait and see. For now we'll put them in foster care to keep them out of the way until we're sure.
Dottie is super cute, and one of the workers is already thinking of adopting her. For now, he's fostering her on pregnancy watch.
Ebony here is a lovely pure black girl, with super soft fur. She is very outgoing and is now at my house for fostering.
Marble is going to the same foster home as Dottie, with one of our workers. She's a lovely mottled colouring and crazy active, she was climbing the walls of her cage all afternoon.
Luna is a real character, very nosy and a little skittish. I really like her markings. She's at my house along with Ebony, on pregnancy watch along with all the others.
Shade rounds out the group and is rather pathetic. She was beaten up by the others and has some scabs on her belly, so she's a bit sore and twitchy about being touched. Not that I blame her! She's very sweet, just needs a gentle touch. I'm on the look-out for a foster home for her.

Their owner surrendered these guys because she was moving back into her mom's house, and "she's allergic". To hamsters? Really? There was no way you could keep them in a room where she wouldn't be bothered? Please.
Oh hey, we also got a new rabbit today! This is London:
It has been hypothesized by workers at the shelter that this is my fault, because I made the mistake of mentioning that we were down to a manageable number of animals.
Hey, I knocked on wood! Guess that doesn't work.