America's 15th Annual Adoptathon comes to Eastern Passage

This weekend, Healing Animal SCARS is taking part in the single largest pet adoption event in the world. They are partnering with the North Shore Animal League for their America's 15th Annual Pet adoptathon.this weekend to find homes for rescued cats. .

WHEN: Saturday May 2nd and Sunday, May 3rd .... anytime from 9AM until 8 PM

WHERE: 143 Briarwood Drive in Eastern Passage.

WHO: Healing Animal SCAR

HOW: If you fall in love with one of their cats or kittens, they will complete an adoption application on the spot!

WHO: Sonya will have two very interesting fellows available, Ruffian and Homer and seven lovely kittens too!!!

WHY: Finding homes for these good cats will free up space and resources to rescue more cats in need.... sigh there are ALWAYS more in need

Pamela Sears from ca-r-ma has been invited to bring her cats along , such as .Phluffee B ... AND

SCARS often posts listings for private adoptions ...... the kind woman who rescued Baby Girl , Cranky Pants and Little Mac is going to donate the adoption fee she is charging to help SCARS carry on with its work.

Ruffian is such an interesting guy that his story is over on the pet blogs and Sonya also has a couple of You Tube videos of him at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U6S-Wg9K_8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3cjE5QpDJk

Sonya also has videos posted of Homer on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0U8J7nnUu4 and another one of him living outdoors before she rescued him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uzNMGHAI0o

Call Sonya at 469-MEOW (that's 469-6369) for more details.

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For more information about the North Shore Animal League and their Adoptathon, http://www.nsalamerica.org/adoptathon-2009/save-the-dates.html

Do You Recognize this Lovely Cat?

Press Release from SPCANS

April 30, 2009 Halifax, NS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPCA Seeking Public's Help with Badly Injured Cat
The SPCA is looking for assistance in finding the owner of a cat that fell from at least the third floor of an apartment building at 6969 Bayer's Road in Halifax on the evening of Friday, April 24th.
HRM Animal Services received a call at approximately 10:30pm from the Superintendent of the building who received a call from a tenant on the second floor who witnessed the cat falling from above, she hit the concrete and lay there in distress until she eventually dragged herself under a nearby car.
After being rushed to the Metro Animal Emergency Clinic, she was diagnosed with a broken leg and bruised bladder and is currently under observation at Eastern Passage Veterinary Hospital where she is in stable condition. At the time of this release, no one has come forward looking for their missing cat (see attached pictures). Anyone with any information is asked to contact investigator Nancy Noel at 835-4798 at the NS SPCA Provincial office.
Staff at the Metro Shelter have named the cat Hope. Due to the cast on her leg she has limited mobility, and despite her injuries she has maintained a wonderful spirit. Staff are hopeful that the cast will be a success, but previous attempts to heal the broken legs of cats have not always been successful and amputation is still an option that may have to be considered. Due to the expense of such an operation, the Metro Shelter is looking to the public to help out in any way they can.
At this time of year, the Metro Shelter is also in desperate need of foster homes for cats like Hope and all of the mothers and kittens that have been flooding into the shelter in the last few weeks. If you are interested in making a donation to assist Hope, or in opening your home to becoming a foster, please contact the Metro Shelter at 468-7877 or email foster@metro.spcans.ca. There is no cost to the public to foster; the shelter provides the food, litter, medicine and all other essentials to foster homes.
Media requests and interviews may be directed to media@spcans.ca or by calling 835-4798.

Outside of the special effects of cat treat commercials, cats have better sense than to jump out of windows. They are brilliant creatures, but they can come to harms way all too often from humans.

Thirty two years ago, when my daughter was a baby, we were adopted by my best friend's cat. She was babysitting for me and Mr Fritz just fell completely and utterly in love with my daughter. He was already a mature adult at the time, but he lived to the ripe old age of almost 22 .... tagging along with us as we moved from Alberta to New Brunswick to Ontario and then here to Nova Scotia.

While we were in New Brunswick, Mr Fritz was hit by a car and sadly after a couple of surgeries we were unable to save his rear right leg.

Did that mean the end of the line? Of course not ..... cats don't have the same hangups that people do about disabilities. The only time we were reminded about it was with what we all came to refer to as the "turkey trot" .... whenever I was cooking a holiday turkey, Mr Fritz would limp into the kitchen and fling himself down on the floor in front of the oven, always with the 'stump' side up.

We had the pleasure of Mr Fritz's company for nearly ten years after the accident as we kept moving around the countryside. He was still feisty enough that in spite of being neutered, his ear needed stitching while we lived in Ontario. By the time we moved to Nova Scotia, he had settled into his more sedate senior years. The point being of course that "till death do us part" should be part of every pet owners promise. But I am wandering afield here.

Hope is a great name for this lovely cat .... as we all hope she heals and gets to keep all her 'feet' on the ground. I know i sound like a stuck record on the pet blog when I say this, but Hope really would have more love than anyone could possibly imagine for the person who is kind enough to open their home and their heart to her.

We could learn a lesson or two from the generosity of spirit that allows animals that have been hurt to trust and love again.

When I am Old

When I am old... and no snickering please because fifty four is far from elderly .... I am not going to wear purple. Nor will I wear a red hat and spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves or satin sandals. Most importantly ... when I am old I will not be adopting four footed youngsters.
When I am old, I will foster and adopt old pets. By then I probably won't want to gallop through the woods for a couple of hours every morning and I will prefer their more sedate pace. I expect that will mean my pension will be spent at the vets .... as we all need a little more tlc when we get old.
I will not need to wait until I am old to do as I please because the best bit about turning fifty is losing the fear of looking foolish. It was very liberating to realize that I can do as I please now, because my eccentricities generally pass under the radar for most of the world.
When I am old, I will still eat brownies for breakfast and popcorn for Sunday Brunch. I will still speak my mind and scold politicians. My closet will still give the what not to wear people conniptions. And loving to cook will still be the only domestic thing about me.
But I will be sensible when I am old. I will remember that a well cared for pet can live well over a dozen years. I will remember how many mature pets I have listed on the homeless pet site who have become homeless when their owners became unable to care for them. I will remember how difficult it is to find good homes for older pets.
I will remember that my two good dogs who will turn three this year as I turn fifty five will, barring unforeseen sadness, still be with me in ten years time when I turn sixty five. I will remember that all my young cats who are here now should still be here with me when I am seventy.
So when I am old, I will be sensible .... at least about this.

A new visitor and a great new idea

From http://www.spcans.ca/

The NS SPCA will facilitate a Town Hall meeting between interested groups and members of communities who wish to be part of the Feral and Stray Cat solution. We invite all concerned residents, City/Municipal staff, and anyone who wishes to be a part of the solution to attend.
In addition to its core mandate of prevention of cruelty to animals, the NS SPCA also works hard to take in abandoned and unwanted animals whenever space and resources allow, accepting over 5,000 unwanted cats per year provincially. While the function of animal control falls under City/Municipal responsibility, the NS SPCA cares about the welfare of all animals and wants to be part of the solution. This is a community issue and therefore must be resolved by our community as a whole.
There will be speakers on successful local programs such a Trap-Neuter-Release program in the Halifax dockyard and a low-cost spay/neuter program in Halifax including discussion on how such programs are implemented, how they work, and how you can do it in your own community!
Date:Saturday, May 30th
Time:8:30am –12:00pm
Location:Saint Mary’s University, Sobey Building, Room 265, 903 Robie Street
Feral and Stray Cat Community Town Hall
RSVP appreciated to animals@spcans.ca

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It was lovely to find this ..... especially the day after I have caught site of a new visitor at the outdoor feeding station for the kitties.... one that was hungry enough to empty a fairly substantial dish of dry food. With my perfect track record of completely getting the genders wrong, I'm not even going to hazard a guess at the whole boy/girl thing until we get better acquainted : )))
Today's wish list starts with the hope that the Town Hall Meeting invitations included all the municipal councillors around the province.
If there are people who can't make it in ..... because not everyone around NS will be able to .... a timely submission of suggestions and practical lessons learned to spcans would help those chairing the meeting round out the picture for those who can be there.
I certainly can't speak for the society , but I can tell you that this new bod has been the soul of patience with this middle aged granny anytime I have had a suggestion or proposal for them.
Will this meeting solve everything? Not by a country mile .... but there will never be any solutions if we all wait for the 'instant fix".... because that's about as realistic as my great hope that people will stop dumping cats out here. This Town Hall is a great first step down a road that will need everyone to pitch in and help.
In the meantime ..... I think I'll call the new visitor Jamie .... after the chef who likes food so much ... just in case: )))

For the want of a nail

We are always hungry when we get back from the woods and it really says a lot about what sweet dogs Ruby and Henry both are that neither of them are food aggressive. Even though Henry wasn't as terribly emaciated as Miss Ruby was when she was rescued, at forty pounds he was still much too thin for his size.
They are both the soul of patience when Mcg, who has never missed a meal in eleven years, tries to tiptoe past his old fella weight control stuff to sample their bowls. ( If you've ever shared space with a Scottie, you will know that the 'thrill of the hunt' for someone else's dinner dish/toy/treat is something they simply can't resist)
My heart just goes out to families who are trying to make ends meet these days. It was a bit like winning the lottery a few years ago to become an empty nester .... now its easy to see why the mothers look shell shocked at the cash registers.
It seems everytime that I shop for the few little things that I need, at least half of what's in my cart has crept up in price again.... and I'm really a horrible consumer from the grocery store's perspective because I'm not a one stop shopper. Most of my staples come from our health food store, the vets or the feed store.
The 'free to a good home' ads on Kijiji are full of mature and even senior pets these days and many of the dogs are the larger ( ie cost more to feed) varieties. How many of these people would keep their pets if there was a pet food bank available to them?
At times like these, I can't think of a better way for the pet food companies to rebuild trust with animal lovers than by contributing to a pet food bank. The pet food industry is big money and would be hard pressed to turn down either the free publicity accrued from this or the long term loyalty their participation would earn from the animal loving community.
It should be no surprise that there already are quite a few pet food banks set up south of the border. The really clever ones recognize there is no such thing as a 'free lunch' and so they:

• 'seize the day' and make spay/neuter a condition for participation, with low cost vouchers available.
• "paying it forward". In other words, all participants are required to volunteer for at least five hours a month with the food bank,
• and if all else fails, they offer "owner foster" programs where the food bank provides the food so the the pets can stay with the owner until a new home is found through their local shelter or rescue

What time is it? Its time to remember that we will never get to No Kill Nova Scotia without pulling out all the stops for pet retention. At the end of the day, it wouldn't only be the pet food companies who would garner good will. This is the kind of thing that could build bridges between all the rescue community and more of the province's pet owners.

Pawsitive Training

Water changes everything. It looks innocent enough in a glass, but one only needs to notice how quickly furrows can be formed by rain dripping off the roof to catch a hint of its strength.
Sometimes the change is abrupt and dramatic .... such as the strong fall storms that can sculpt entire sections of the rocky Fundy shore in a new and unrecognizable way. Normally its more subtle than that .... every year the spring runoff of melting snow down the South Mountain behind us has steadily reshaped the course of the little Fales River. Bit by bit .... year by year .... the riverbank is gradually shifting to the south.
So it should be no surprise that the rescue community would use water analogy by referring to the annual river of cats and kittens. When the something becomes a predictable annual occurrence .... when the 'free kittens' either keep recycling through Kijiji with 'free kittens' of their own or wind up fending for themselves on the back roads and byways around the province..... when everyone is 'up to their ass in alligators', its easy enough to forget that the original objective was to drain the swamp.
On a good day, there are normally at least eight cats for every dog that is listed on petfinder in NS. That of course does not count the ones with the shelters and groups that do not use Petfinder, the ones who have been scooped up by AC departments around the province and of course the countless ones who have been dumped or drowned or shot.
We already know what is needed to get to No Kill Nova Scotia. We know about TNR and the value of a good SNAP..... about the need for Rescue groups to work with the SPCA and AC .... everyone understands the lifesaving role played by Fosters. .... from mobile adoptions to adoption incentives to pet retention programs .... everyone is brimming with good ideas.
So if we already know what is needed..... what is the holdup? Everyone has been so accustomed to wrestling with the alligators of irresponsible pet ownership that a very important thing has been overlooked. We will never drain the darn swamp without everyone's help.
Not just the people involved in rescue ... not just the folks who already ARE responsible pet owner ..... but everyone in the province. If those darned 'irresponsible pet owners" aren't part of the equation, they are simply going to keep on filling up the swamp.
One of the most important things we need to do is be more proactive about getting the right information out there to everyone. Right now in NS there are too many 'urban legends' and outright misinformation about animal welfare and animal rescues that are taken as gospel by too many people. We need to recognize that:
1. TNR is only a lifesaving tool when people know how it works and who provides the service. For instance, I've lived here in Kings County for 22 years and if I wasn't interested enough in animal rescue to have done a bit of research, I would never have known that we have TNR groups here or even about TNR at all. Many of my friends live in Annapolis County, and they had no idea who Team TNR were until I told them.
TNR is an 'easier sell' for a community BEFORE situations reach a crisis point.
2. Nothing will replace a good SNAP There is no point is getting judgemental about people getting pets that they cannot afford. Just as some people never marry the right partner, when it comes to love, common sense often goes out the window. Twenty five dollar discounts are meaningless for those who cannot afford the remaining hundred plus dollars for the spay or the neuter. The good news is of course that each pet only has to be altered once, instead of producing hundreds and even thousands of progeny which will need to be rescued/TNR'd or killed by AC.
3. Aggressive Adoption Incentives for Cats are not just an adoption tool .... every cat that is adopted from a responsible rescue that alters its adoptees is one more that will not add to the River of Cats.
4. Alienating 'irresponsible pet owners' is not the path to success. Its not human nature to respond well to criticism and pet owners are under no legal obligation to be responsible as long as they are meeting the horribly basic bare minimums required by law. In this, as with many other things in life, there is a choice between the moral satisfaction of scolding an idiot, or getting the job done.
5. Don't depend on Websites and Animal Clinics to get the word out In a province where many well loved pets never see the inside of a vet clinic in their entire lives, its important to remember that Animal Welfare Websites and Vet Clinics are normally 'preaching to the choir"
What time is it? Its time to use some of those pawsitive training techniques to make better pet owners.

Getting better bang for the buck

From today's online edition of Metro: http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/local/article/218816--province-gives-100-000-to-spca
Province gives $100,000 to SPCA
METRO CANADA
April 25, 2009 9:37 a.m.
The province is giving $100,000 to the Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to help with new legislation.The Animal Protection Act, passed in November 2008, designates the SPCA as responsible for the enforcement of the companion animal portion of the act."The SPCA plays a significant role in assuring companion animals in Nova Scotia are protected and treated with the care they deserve," said Minister of Agriculture Mark Parent. "This funding will help the SPCA meet its obligations under the Animal Protection Act."The new act shifts responsibility for farm animals from the SPCA to the Department of Agriculture. It will allow the SPCA to focus on the protection of non-farm animals. The act is scheduled to be proclaimed in the coming months."We are very pleased to receive this funding from the department as it allows us to focus on improving our investigation capability by providing our staff and volunteers with operational funding and additional training," said Jim Kochanoff, treasurer for the provincial SPCA. "As well, it allows us to adjust to our new administrative requirements and responsibilities under the act."The provincial SPCA has been incorporated since 1877.
Nova Scotia was the first jurisdiction in North America to pass laws for the prevention of cruelty to animals.
No denying this is a well needed change from the existing $3000.00... which was so woefully inadequate the province should have been embarassed to grant.
If the province really wants to get the most value for this money, they should arrange for some "humane education" for their public prosecutors so that appropriate penalties are consistantly sought for the animal cruelty cases that are prepared for them by the SPCA.