In Toronto, when people think of an animal shelter, they automatically think of the Humane Society. Very few people know what TAS is, and if they do know, they tend to think of us as the city pound that euthanizes animals every three days. Once upon a time that was true, but clearly that's not the case anymore.
Every time we do an event, we reach out to the community and let them know who we are, which is great! A few days ago, the Running Room in Liberty Village held their grand opening and to celebrate, they organized a run/walk to benefit TAS. We brought dogs and kittens and had a great time.
A lot of runners/walkers turned out and we got on the news. It was great exposure for all four shelters, as there were officers from all locations.
There were also dogs from all locations. This girl is from our shelter, and she arrived with no name. We had two kittens that one of the staff named Ritz and Crackers, so to continue with the theme, we called this excitable pup Triscuit.
John Stanton, the founder of the Running Room, also came out to the event and spoke about connecting to the community. That was the theme of the day.
The evening started with the ribbon-cutting ceremony and continued with the run. I couldn't stay for the whole night, but it sounds like it went well!
Some of the dogs were tired of standing around, so the volunteers took them on the walk. The next day I found this on one of their kennels:
Cute!
On another note, I was thinking of doing more 'informational' posts, about general small animal care and such. Things like common health problems, how to fix certain behavioural issues, what makes a good kids' pet. One of the biggest problems and frustrations with small animals is that no one knows anything about them. Maybe I can be mildly helpful in that regard!
Recent Adoptions: Baggins (one of my foster babies!) and
Legolas were adopted at Pet Valu, and
Stuart Little was adopted (not by me, although it was a close thing).
Frodo and Bilbo were adopted together, and the
Flemish Giant baby went to Rescue.
5 comments:
Laura, I say a big yes yes yes to adding informational posts to your blog. While in the pet store getting food, I was talking with my husband about how long it's taking our new pair of skinny pigs to learn not to nip. The cashier asked if we were talking about puppies, because there was a class at the store that helped with obedience training, but no such thing exists for small animals. You'd be doing even more of a service with advice like that!
I agree - it's always good to know, and knowing is half the battle! People know very little about small animals - life span, general care, that is IS possible to spay/neuter rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, etc.
Knowledge is power! :)
Yes, please to info posts. I, for one, know very little about small animals and would love to learn more. Can rabbits really be trained to a litter box? Is it possible to keep little animals safe in a 2-cat house? Is it ok to buy a small guy from retail outlet or does that just keep the "bad breeders" in biz?
Information posts it is! I'll probably do them about once a week, they take a bit more thought than normal posts.
Anonymous - Yes, rabbits can easily be trained to a litter box (at any age). Some people have great success keeping small animals safe in homes with cats, but it depends on the cat personalities and on the set-up of your home. Buying small animals from retail outlets has the same effect as buying a dog or cat there - it gives you an unhealthy animal, and encourages breeder mills and irresponsible pet store management.
I think the first post might actually be about where to get a small animal, as that is something that often comes up.
Hi Laura,
Just read a really nice Toronto Star article about the small animals that you take care of. Good interview!
Post a Comment