Nerve-Wracking

Last Friday, I was at the shelter trying to get a decent photo of our newest resident, a young budgie. Starburst here was found flying around Ave Road:

You'll note that I still didn't get a good photo of her. Anyway, she wouldn't come out, so I shut the cage door - or so I thought. I left the Room and when I opened the door to come back in, I had a split second to realize the cage door had fallen open and Starburst was flying toward me at top speed. I couldn't slam the door shut for fear of crushing her, so out she zipped, into the main lobby.
I may have possibly shouted some swear words.
Our upstairs lobby is quite....large. With a very high ceiling. It's not the greatest place to lose a small budgie.
Luckily for us, Starburst zipped into the smaller adoption office, giving me a heart attack in the process by slamming into the wall - more than once. One of the staff shut the door, and I hit the lights, scooping her up and returning her to her cage. Thankfully, she seems to be okay. I can certainly see how she ended up on the street - she's a little too good at flying.

About an hour later, I went to give some treats to the bonded girls, Holly and Ivy. Holly looked hopefully at me, but wouldn't budge from where she was sitting, at the opposite corner of the cage. Ivy was lying down under a wooden hideaway.
"What's the matter, you don't want a treat?" I asked teasingly. "That's not like you."
Usually the girls would come running out to greet me. I reached out to poke Ivy's feet, and recoiled in shock.
She was cold and stiff.

She must've died late the day before, or early that morning. We don't know what happened exactly, but the staff speculated some kind of internal hemorrhage, because she had a bloody nose. No one had noticed because she died under the hideaway - it looked like she was just sleeping.

It's such a shame. She was a real sweetheart, a very gentle girl with a shy streak. And poor Holly! Stuck in the cage with her dead sister for hours. No wonder she wouldn't come out from the corner. We've been giving her extra love since, but she is clearly affected. She's acting withdrawn and shedding a lot more. Being in a shelter is stressful enough, but it must be ten times worse now that she's on her own.
It's frustrating - these two were left in a box on the street. They came through that together, they were spayed with no problems - and then a freak incident managed to separate them.
Rest in peace, Ivy.

Just as icing on this cake of misery, this guinea pig arrived a few days later. His name was Sammy and he was given up by his owners due to 'allergies'.
Sammy had just about everything wrong with him. He had an eye infection, terrible ear mites, a skin condition, he was overweight and he had some kind of growth on his face. I'm pretty sure I forgot a few things. We talked about foster care, but once the vet had looked him over, it became clear he had just too many issues for us to treat. She recommended euthanasia, and Sammy had a peaceful end at least.

All in all, a fun week.
It's time for some good news now, right?

Candlelight Photos

Yesterday was Earth Hour, a mostly symbolic event to turn out the lights for an hour and promote energy conservation. In honour of the event, we did what we do best - a photoshoot!

 Our gang was not impressed.
The idea was to take photos in the dark, with only flashlights and battery-operated 'candles' providing any light. It was an experiment! They aren't the best photos ever but I thought they were neat.

 One problem, however, was that the flashlights made the stuffed animals look remarkably creepy. Especially that monkey. The eyes follow you, it's disturbing. I love this photo - Loki's like, "They're right behind me, aren't they?"

Cap'n Jack revealed a new-found love of lettuce during the shoot, and was unusually cooperative. Jack is the sweetest hamster in the world, but he never sits still.

The three dwarf boys were much worse, however. Al was the only one to sit still, and unfortunately he sat right in front of the flashlight. The end result was this photo, where he looks like the Ghost of Hamsters Past, plus enormous whiskers. And Jamie's blurred form running away in the background.

So the hamsters weren't a success, how about the rabbits? Neville was completely alarmed by the whole experience, and I don't know why. I mean, he likes stuffed animals normally, he got treats and he can see in the dark. Yet for some reason he acted like we were trying to murder him.

Unlike his younger brother, Giles did not try to run, but instead settled on giving us the Look of Death (a specialty of his).

At least Martha the Eternally Pregnant Foster Guinea Pig will pose for food!

I completely forgot that Bailey is terrified of the dark, but he actually did quite well once he focused on the treats. It's good to get him used to the dark sometimes, because otherwise he tries to fly and it's dangerous. I don't really want him running into walls if the power ever happens to go out.

But the star of the night was Loki. She decided to go into 'defensive posture' for reasons known only to her, and it certainly made for a hilarious photo. There is nothing funnier than a cockatiel trying to look tough.
"OMG It's Earth Hour!!!!"

Ah well. Not every photoshoot can be a success!

Update on Peach, Kirby & Zelda

Remember these three? Peach, Kirby and Zelda were my favourite rats to arrive at the shelter, and after a pregnancy scare (thankfully just a scare!) they were soon adopted. Recently, Nicola at the shelter received an awesome update from their new mom:

Hi Nicola!I'm half of the adoptive parents of Peaches, Zelda and Kirby - who kind of go by different names now. Peaches is still Peaches. Kirby has become Smeeps - she answers to it, so we're guessing she likes the name, and Zelda became Kirby - it just suited her better. She also gets called 'Ro-baby. My son insists she be calle Kir-baby though.

I'm attaching the pics I promised. Peaches in her 'castle', the babies hanging out in their "pad", attacking a candy cane at Christmas...there are a few! "Mako" in one of the pictures is one of their new sisters. Her and Peaches normally scrap it out over Mako's favourite hammock, but their scrapping is noisy and painless - we always find them snuggled up together when they settle down and go to sleep. They really do act like siblings.

She also said she'd be happy to adopt more rats in the future! What a great home the girls found. I love the photos, especially of Peaches hanging out in her castle - adorable! And check out that fancy cage!

I forgot to mention this, but a while ago I ran into the woman who adopted Hudson and Arizona. They were renamed Bentley and Jethro and man were they living the spoiled life! They are eating a better diet than I am, and get daily exercise and cuddles.
Last week, we heard how Ben's doing, this week it's the girls. I love rat people!

Erin Go Bragh

It's St Patrick's Day! The day everyone pretends to be Irish and gets drunk! It's a marvellous day to be sure. Like most people, I am Irish - 10 generations back, but still my family insists on saying 'Erin go bragh' and 'Slainte' on March 17th as though we know Gaelic.
I'm just kidding, I love St Patty's Day and I love saying 'Slainte'  and getting weird looks. And of course, a holiday means...

A holiday photo shoot! Due to some unfortunate timing, we missed Valentine's Day, so it's been quite a while since we did one of these. I have to say, it's not our best, but at least some of them turned out. That's Mac up there, looking a little alarmed to be trapped in an explosion of green.

His sister Rosie did not pose so nicely, but I laughed when I saw this photo of her nose shoved in a shot glass. How could I resist posting that one?

I don't think I've posted Holly & Ivy here before - they're a bonded pair of sisters, sweet as can be. Ivy is the darker one and quite a bit shyer. Holly on the other hand is very outgoing...which is why we could do this:

Look at that bow! Ha, I don't think she was very pleased but it was unbearably cute.

Harry the hamster is just about the sweetest guy you'll ever meet, I love him. As long as we put treats inside, he was very obliging about sticking his nose into a shot glass.

But this is my absolute favourite, it makes me laugh. This is Bella, a very grumpy rabbit who does not want to be at the shelter. So we tortured her with this photoshoot and now she's even more grumpy! No, just kidding, we bribed her and she enjoyed the treats. I do love her disgruntled face, though.

We got another cat! Actually we tried to do a few cats, but understandably they wanted nothing to do with us. Magnum here was the only one to stay still, probably because he's a big lazy guy who doesn't move much. But isn't he stunningly handsome? He's like a plus-size supermodel cat.

Of course, now that I had this adorable bow, I had to try it out on my guys at home. For some unfathomable reason, Neville kept trying to take it off (never mind that I kept saying how handsome he looked).

But Giles will sell his soul for a treat. That's my boy!
Happy St Patrick's Day!

Don't Worry, Be Happy

As I mentioned in the last post, Ben was a young rat who was only 6 months old when surrendered to the East TAS location. He was a very, very sweet boy who enjoyed cuddling and giving kisses.

He was transferred to South, and was soon adopted by someone on a rat forum where I post our available rats. They've now had him two weeks and they posted these awesome photos:

 

Look at that! He looks so much happier. His new home really knows what they're doing. He's shown a little attitude with the other boys in their house, so they're planning to have him neutered. They report that he is being very cuddly and lovable in his new home.
This is my favourite photo:

Look at that comfy rat! Makes me smile every time I look at it.
From homeless to curled up on a soft blanket. I was talking to someone in rescue the other day. They were trying to make the argument that dog/cat/horse rescue is more satisfying than small animal rescue, and that's why those animals have more volunteers, more organizations and more publicity. The rescuer argued that happy endings for dogs, cats or horses are more satisfying to see.
I had to laugh, because maybe it's just me, but that photo is pretty damn satisfying. 

Outsourced

I think I've mentioned once or twice (or thrice or...more) that we have a Pet Valu store near the shelter which graciously hosts a few of our small animals and does adoptions. The store is staffed by awesome people and they take fantastic care of our little guys.

 

The Pet Valu location is remarkably valuable. It gives an entire second room. It also has a super fast turnover rate for lower-risk adoptions (hamsters and guinea pigs), and rats! This handsome boy is Ben, who was transferred to Pet Valu after a month at the East location. While sickness forced him back to the shelter, he was quickly adopted by some very rat-knowledgeable people. He's now been named Kenny and is living the good life!

That's a good example of another valuable use of Pet Valu - other locations can transfer their low-risk adoptions (hamsters, guinea pigs, rats) to our store. This supermodel of a guinea pig is named Molly, and she came to Pet Valu from the Etobicoke location. Look at that face! She won't last long.

This is Maggie, who we presume to be her sister (although they aren't living together).

We have one hamster at the shelter right now, and his name is Harry. Look at his spotted ears! He's a scraggly teddy bear, much like my boy Captain Jack. Harry is the biggest sweetheart you will ever meet. If he doesn't get adopted soon at the shelter, we may send him to Pet Valu, where we know he will find a home ASAP.

Wrapping up the current Pet Valu population, the young girls Callalily and Petunia are there as well. Rabbits are a higher-risk adoption, so unlike the others, potential rabbit adopters must do an interview with shelter staff over the phone.

This is a great example of how pet stores can promote their business and help people add to their pet family without supporting mills of any sort. Everyone knows about puppy and kitten mills, but there are mills for every kind of pet. Pet store animals are usually sick, often pregnant, and frequently inbred. With this program, Pet Valu is getting the business that comes with having animals in the store, but they are also helping a local shelter. That's the best kind of compromise!

Attracting Attention

Two rabbits were surrendered to the shelter this week. The owners said the reason was "lack of space", which doesn't even make sense. They had these rabbits for months, not to mention they are the smallest rabbits I've ever met. Did their house suddenly shrink? I'm not really complaining, as I'm glad they'll have a chance at a better home, but come on people - at least be creative!

 

Of course they are male and female, and of course they aren't fixed, and of course they are named "Beauty and Cutie". It's so predictable. I wonder if people like this are capable of foresight in other areas of their lives?
I normally don't judge names, as I have been the cause of many questionable ones myself, but "Beauty and Cutie" is so bad it's almost offensive. I threw them up on the Facebook page and held a naming contest. The girl's eyes have that wonderful 'mascara' look, so the theme was classic movie stars. Thanks to our Facebook friends, the girl's new name is Bette and the boy's name is Brando.

These two have a common story that is repeated over and over in the Room, but there is one thing that really interests me about them. Look at Brando up there - he's a perfect example of the Dutch breed (at least by markings). And he's much smaller than most pet store rabbits.

And look at Bette! Remember I talked about the Hotot breed?  At the time, I didn't have any good examples, but here we go. She has no markings except for the perfect eye rings. She is also tiny, with a compact body and a slightly squished face. These two do not say 'pet store' to me. They say 'breeder'. And since the owners told us they bought them at a pet store, what it really says to me is 'breeder dump'. I'm guessing something about these guys made them unsuitable for showing. Not that unusual, but interesting in that we hardly ever get such model-esque breed examples in the Room.

Here's the really crazy thing - we now have three perfect-looking Dutches in the Room. Click on the picture to enlarge it, it's bizarre! Brando and Jingle especially look almost identical, but Oliver also has the classic Dutch markings. I swear, someone's cloning rabbits out there!

 

Also, speaking of the Facebook page & getting attention, check this out! The Toronto Star wrote an article about TAS South and their amazing dog rescue program. The article talks a lot about my friend James, who does huge amounts of work for dog rescue, but also puts in lots of effort for the small animals. James usually arranges the transfers to Rabbit Rescue, he has a lot of knowledge about every kind of small animal, and he's the one who first got me doing the photos for the Room.

But here's the amazing thing - the Star article mentions the Facebook page! The Facebook page is a great tool for connecting with adopters and potential adopters, I'm really proud of it. But since I run it and I'm a volunteer, it can't be an "official" TAS page. Therefore they can't advertise it, and it's really hard to get followers.

Lately, however, it's attracted attention from the higher-ups at TAS, and now somehow it got mentioned in the article. Bizarrely it says that "staffers" run the page. Ha! Who are these invisible staffers? I've never met them!
Our manager apologized to me, as apparently she tried to tell the reporter I ran the page, but it got mixed up on the way to print. Hey, it doesn't matter - what matters is that our followers have gone up by almost 100 people since the article came out!
Thanks Toronto Star!

Gone in a Flash

We had an exciting guest at the shelter this past week. A Dusky Conure was surrendered by his owners because they got a cat. What a brilliant reason!

This guy loved the blanket that was half-covering his cage. As soon as I opened the door, he climbed out and snuggled under the cover. Conures often have that 'snuggly' instinct, and many of them enjoy having a 'cuddle buddy' in their cage (as long as they can't ingest any of it).

He didn't really get a name, but I nicknamed him Parker while he was with us. I miss having a conure - they have huge personalities, and leave a huge hole when they're gone. Every time a conure shows up at the shelter, there is a huge temptation to adopt them. They are such special little guys.

Luckily (for me), these guys always go super fast. I mean, super fast, we never even get them on the website. Parker was adopted the day after I met him, by a foster mom for us who previously had a cockatiel for 21 years! Obviously she knows what she's doing - I think Parker will be just fine.

 

I personally think there is nothing worse, in terms of surrendering an animal, than giving up a parrot. They are intelligent, incredibly social creatures who need a stable environment, but the vast majority of them go through up to 10 homes in their lives. In this case, however, I think Parker is definitely better off. An upgrade from being dumped for a cat to a home like that? Go Parker!