If a picture is worth a thousand words, just think what an entire calendar featuring our members beloved pets says about us! The first annual Let’s Adopt Canada Calendar Pet Photo Competition is underway. We are receiving so many great photos of your pets that choosing just 13 of them is going to prove a difficult choice. The competition is stiff, but we want more pictures to choose from! If you haven’t entered your pet yet, go to the competition site and sign up. Here are the rules:

1.) Photo must be YOUR original work no professional pet portraits may be entered.

2.) Photo must be highest resolution for printing.

3.) Photo MUST be accompanied by animals name and short bio. (Please note, as of June 1st, 2011 any entry without a bio will be disqualified.)

4.) Photo titles should contain your name and the name of your pet only!

5.) Entries can be made or changed up until midnight on June 1st, 2011. At that time the competition will be closed to entries.

6.) Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges chosen by Let’s Adopt Canada. Judges MAY NOT have photo submissions in the competition. Anyone wishing to be a judge for the competition can leave a note on the group wall.

7.) Each winner will receive a free copy of the finished 2012 calendar.

8.) Each member may enter a maximum of five photos (this is per member not per individual pet)

9.) Good luck to you all!

Here’s a short vid featuring some of the competition submissions:

To enter the competition go to the competition site. It is also the home of our new giftshop so be sure to check that out while you are submitting your photos. 10% of your purchase goes to our rescue fund. Here’s the link:

Let’s Adopt Canada Competitions

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

Someone sent me the following joke in an email the other day, and after I had my chuckle, it got me thinking. Well here, you read it, and tell me what you think after the chuckle value has worn off and you really think about it:

Patti asks her mother, ‘Mom, can I take the dog for a walk around the block?’
Her mom replies ‘No, because she is in heat.’
‘What does that mean?’ asks Patti
‘Go and ask your father. I think he’s in the garage.’ Replies her mom.

Patti goes out to the garage and says, ‘Dad, can I take Lulu for a walk around the block? I asked Mom, but she said the dog was in the heat, and to come ask you.’

Patti’s Dad took a rag, soaked it in gasoline, and scrubbed the dog’s backside with it to disguise the scent, and said ‘Ok, you can go now, but keep Lulu on the leash and only go one time around the block.’

The little girl left and returned a few minutes later with no dog on the leash..

Surprised, Dad asked, ‘Where’s Lulu?’

The little girl said, ‘She ran out of gas about halfway round the block, so another dog is pushing her home.’

Yes it has it’s chuckle value, but when you really think about it, it illustrates perfectly people’s ignorance when it comes to spaying and neutering their pets. It also illustrates the fact that we as a society have to come up with a serious working plan to deal with the pet overpopulation problem. That means educating the public to the TRUE realities of the situation, a tough thing to do when shelters such as the Newmarket, Ontario branch of the OSPCA for one, play fast and loose with the truth.

The reality of the matter is this, instead of fattening up the coffers of a poorly run system that has not seen a serious overhaul to its operations in decades, the government should be looking for practical solutions that actually work.

Perhaps instead of bolstering the corruption and failure of the present system with tax payers hard earned dollars, the government would do better to implement programs designed to address the companion animal overpopulation problem in a more practical and direct manner.

Spaying and neutering ones pets is an expensive endeavor. Many people don’t do so for that very reason, and no other. Given the opportunity to do so at an affordable cost most would. We have only to look at the miles long waiting lists in low cost spay and neuter clinics to prove that point. The local clinic which we use to spay and neuter our rescues has a present waiting list 16 weeks long. Clinics in other areas have waiting lists just as long if not longer.

If even a portion of the annual “gifts” given to SPCA shelters every year were instead used to offer pet owner no cost/low cost spay and neuter surgery to their pets, we would be a lot closer to solving the companion animal overpopulation problem.

Granted, that isn’t going to completely solve the problem. There are other issues to consider, such as the existence of many puppy mills across the country, and those idiots who, no matter what discounted or free services they are offered, still can’t be bothered to spay or neuter their pets, but it would be a step in the right direction. You can’t begin a journey without taking that first step. It is high time our government took REAL responsibility for animal welfare in our country! The number of innocent lives that are lost each year due to pet overpopulation is no joke!

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

“We have the power to build a new consensus, which rejects killing as a method for achieving results. And we can look forward to a time when the wholesale slaughter of animals in shelters is viewed as a cruel aberration of the past. We have a choice. We can fully, completely, and without reservation embrace No Kill as our future. Or we can continue to legitimize the two-pronged strategy of failure: adopt a few and kill the rest. It is a choice which history has thrown upon us. We are the generation that questioned the killing. We are the generation that has discovered how to stop it. Will we be the generation that does?” { Nathan J Winograd}

It is a strong statement, ending in a question only YOU yourselves can answer. Will we be the generation that puts to right an ailing system of animal control in our country? Or will we continue to watch from afar expecting others to change things? We know what is wrong with the shelter system, we have figured out how to fix it, so why, when the answer is right in front of us, are we still allowing the archaic practices that have served us inadequately since time immemorial to continue in this country.

It is OUR problem, we created it, it is our obligation to right that which we have set wrong. According to Winograd we must:

1. End “convenience” killing when there are empty cages and when animals can share kennels or be sent to foster care;
2. Require pounds to post strays, including photographs and descriptions, on the Internet so their families can search for them online;
3. Require transparency in operations by requiring shelters to make their statistics public;
4. Require pounds to scan for microchips, maintain lost/found lists, and match lost with found animals in the shelter;
5. Require fresh food and water, environmental enrichment, clean living environments, as well as prompt and necessary veterinary care; and,
6. Allow shelters to transfer stray animals to rescue groups during the holding period to free up cage space or get vulnerable animals out as soon as possible, subject to the same rights of redemption for the animal’s family.

The above six steps are vital to the health of the shelter system. Let’s face it, most people you talk to think the present shelter system isn’t working, and they are correct, it doesn’t work. However, while I admire Winograd, fixing the shelter system is never going to happen until we educate the public to the TRUTH of the matter. Yes we have figured out how to fix the problem, but as with any social issue, that is only half the answer.

In the above list of steps Winograd mentions transparency in operation. This is an extremely important thing, even though to some of you it may not seem so. It is important simply because to this point with most municipal shelters there has been no transparency. They have told the public what they want them to hear, and been allowed to hide what the public would not approve of. In other words they have been allowed to snow the public into thinking that their methods are working, and thusly garner support and donation dollars.

That is slowly changing however, much to the chagrin of municipal shelters managers all over the country. Why? Social media mostly, and the drive of animal advocates everywhere to make the truth known. Shelters can no longer hide their proverbial skeletons in the closet. The internet age has allowed the average person to expose the truth and spread it far and wide. Shelters everywhere are suddenly being forced into involuntary transparency, and many are not weathering the change well.

While we still have a long road ahead of us, and many hurdles along the way, we CAN be the generation that stops the killing! We can be the generation that embraces the no kill philosophy, and sets the world on a new road to humane animal treatment. We have only to right what is wrong with the shelter system, but first we must convince the public that no kill is possible.

So, do a little homework, understand the no kill movement. Understand the present shelter system. Once you have that under your belt you will come to the same conclusion most of us have come to. No kill is not only possible, it is necessary. After all do we really want the next generation to go forward thinking that killing is the only answer? I think not!

Here are a few links to get your homework started:

NO KILL NATION – Facebook

NO KILL NATION – Website

NO KILL REVOLUTION – Facebook

NO KILL PRIMER…This No Kill primer addresses public health/safety and cost issues, as well as the excuse of “pet overpopulation” and the myth that open admission shelters cannot be No Kill. We encourage you to use it to educate shelter directors, city council members, the media, and others in your community that No Kill is a humane, effective, sustainable, cost-effective model that works hand in hand with public health and safety, while fulfilling a fiscal responsibility to taxpayers.

Be informed! NO KILL IS POSSIBLE!

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

Last Wednesday, our friends at R.A.A.W (Reform Advocates for Animal Welfare organized a peaceful vigil outside the Newmarket branch of the OSPCA. They gathered to remember the 102 animals who lost their lives in last years ring worm massacre. The group has vowed that they will never forget the actions taken by the shelter during the alleged ring worm fiasco, and they strive to keep the massacre in the eyes of the public until change is made in Newmarket.

A group of R.A.A.W supporters stands in vigil outside the Newmarket OSPCA shelter.

The group placed 102 white crosses along the side of the road across the street from the shelter. It was meant as a memorial to the euthanised animals, and when their vigil was over they left the crosses behind so others would see them and remember. The group feels as do many Ontarians, that there was no need to kill these animals as ring worm is treatable, they wanted others to remember what happened there, the crosses were meant to do that.

However, by noon the day after the vigil the crosses were gone. R.A.A.W’s founder Lynn Perrier suspected that the staff at the shelter had removed the crosses, but not wanting to accuse without proof she called Newmarket city officials to make sure it was not the city that had removed the groups tribute crosses. It wasn’t. Subsequent phone calls to the shelter went unanswered. The group is left with one question, what happened to their tribute crosses?

“We are heartbroken that such a beautiful tribute to animals would be treated with such contempt,” R.A.A.W founder and vigil organizer Lynn Perrier said in an e-mail to the York Region Media Group Saturday. “… many pet owners are furious this has happened. People leave crosses and mementoes on spots where there have been accidents, which are never touched.”
“True they are for humans and some may say there is no comparison, but, to us, animals are very important and those 102 deserved respect and dignity because of how they suffered. They paid the ultimate price to bring the spotlight on changes which need to be made to our animal welfare system in Ontario.”

The group is convinced that the removal of the crosses is the latest attempt by Newmarket OSPCA staffers to sweep the ringworm debacle under the rug. They are not the only ones who feel that way.

Todd Hamilton of Let’s Adopt Canada says “They want the public to forget, they want their bad decisions to be forgotten, having people remember what they did in Newmarket wreaks havoc with their ability to bring in donations. The public outcry over their murderous ways has effected their ability to bilk the public out of their hard earned cash. Those tribute crosses to them were a badge of shame they did not want visible!”

Were the crosses removed by OSPCA staff? No one is talking, but it seems that the shelter is the only group who would benefit from the removal of a tribute to the animals. However, if they think for one moment that this action will stop Lynn Perrier and her group from keeping the incident in the forefront of the social media they are sadly mistaken. R.A.A.W will not rest until the necessary changes have been made in Newmarket.

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

You have all heard of the Berger Blanc, Montreal’s widely criticized for-profit animal pound. A recent Radio Canada french language broadcast of the investigative show Enquete exposed the Berger Blanc’s cruel and inhumane treatment of the lost and abandoned animals they were contracted by the city to control. The broadcast put Montreal in the spotlight with animal lovers and advocates world wide.

Montreal city hall came under fire for it’s association with the Berger Blanc. Citizens banded together to protest the private pounds treatment of Montreal’s stray and unwanted pets. Montrealer’s want the city to sever all ties with the Berger Blanc, and are calling for the facility to be closed and charges of animal cruelty to be laid against Berger Blanc employees. The whole fiasco has become international news in the world of animal rescue and advocacy, and you know us animal advocates, once we get a hold of something we don’t give up without a fight.

Seems the powers that be in the city of Montreal know that too, and are trying to surrender. On Friday, Montreal city officials announced that they would take measures designed to overhaul the city’s animal welfare services system, and to encourage responsible pet ownership.

New measures proposed by the city will include the following:

• Harmonizing animal control bylaws in all 19 boroughs on the island.
• Better enforcement of current rules.
• Forcing pet owners who abandon their animals to cover all related costs (registration, sterilization, vaccination, adoption or euthanasia).
• Mandatory license registration for dogs and cats.
• Higher fines for bylaw violations.

Montreal also proposes a public sterilization program, and a pet permit system. Some boroughs already require permits, but the rule isn’t island-wide.

“We have to have consequences for [bad] behaviours,” said Richard Deschamps, executive city council president.

Deschamps adds the city has already taken steps to improve Berger Blanc’s operations, by staging surprise inspections and assigning municipal workers to oversee animal handling at the pound.

While it is obvious the city is trying to address the situation at hand, we have seen these sorts of tactics before from politicians. If city officials “appear to be doing something about it,” then people will take their protest signs and go home. Once the initial scandal has blown over, the situation will be put on the back shelf with a “we’re in the planning stages” sticker slapped on it’s side, and things will return to normal. Problem solved! At least for the city.

Montreal city officials have yet to address the other issues the Berger Blanc “scandal” has brought to light. What of the fact that ALL of the Berger Blanc’s contracts were broken by the Berger Blanc when they chose to euthanize animals in a manner contrary to that outlined in said contracts? The city claims the Berger Blanc’s contracts with several boroughs are legally binding and can not be broken, but last time I checked I am pretty sure that breach of contract was grounds for breaking contract. How is it then that the Berger Blanc is still in business after being exposed for questionable euthanasia practices?

Where are the criminal charges to address the evidence of inhumane euthanisation practices carried out by people without the credentials to be handling legally controlled substances?  Or the cruelty charges to address the issue of animals being forced to die a slow and agonizing death at the hands of shelter workers? What Montreal city officials have handed us, while it may look like a step in the right direction, could very well be a politically motivated move to sweep the issue under the proverbial rug.

Montreal is going to have to do much more than scribble a few notes and present a few proposals. Canadians are not going to allow this to be swept under the rug of political agenda. Animal advocates will continue to put Montreal city officials in the hot seat until the Berger Blanc is shut down. We don’t tolerate torture camps for our lost and abandoned animals here in Canada. The city of Montreal is about to learn that there is a new breed of animal advocate, one that does not back down, one that does not fall for political spin. We will not go away until they do the right thing, and the right thing is to SHUT DOWN THE BERGER BLANC!

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

The tide of animal rescue and advocacy is changing. More people are beginning to raise their voice for the voiceless. Canadians are beginning to come together to fight for the rights of their animals, and their rising numbers are making it hard for the powers that be to ignore the issue any longer. Those of us who have been beating our heads against the stone wall of ignorance for years are finally beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, at least here in Canada.

While our victories are small ones, any victory brings us one step closer to bringing about necessary change, and should inspire us to push for the next victory. We stood strong in our protest over the senseless and brutal massacre of 100 sled dogs in Whistler B.C, and in the end that province is considering tougher legislation for animal abusers.

Canadians banded together in Montreal to protest the Berger Blanc and demanded that it be shut down. Hundreds of citizens lined the streets, and the city of Laval is reconsidering it’s association with the Berger Blanc. As I said small victories, but baby steps toward change.

Yet to most, it would seem that the situation is getting worse. Many people have said to me in the past few weeks that the number of abuse cases seem to be growing. They are not, the abuse has always been there, it is just now beginning to rise to the fore front. People are no longer reluctant to bring these cases to light, in fact the opposite is true. The rise in the use of social media and the internet has given groups such as ours the power to make the truth known. In the past we could not do so, we had to be content with whatever the papers printed or the TV stations didn’t edit out. Now we tell our stories directly to the public, without the middleman and the politically correct editing. We now tell the unbridled truth as we know it to be, and people are listening, but more importantly, people are responding.

More of you are speaking out, more of you are getting involved. I guess what I am really saying is, as our numbers grow so does the strength with which we fight. More and more people are stepping forward and fighting for the rights of our animals. Perhaps they are beginning to understand that in order not to get what you have always gotten, you must do things differently from the way you have always done. I don’t know, but I do know that change is in the air, I can smell it. But to get there…to get there we will have to step out of our comfort zone. We will have to do things differently, change begins with us!

I am happy to say that we are beginning to build a Canadian core group, a group that will lead our Canadian tribe to go into troubled areas of our country and solve problems, rescue at risk animals and educate on the benefits of spaying/neutering, proper animal care and handling, and the need for veterinary care. We have suffered a few set backs of late, FB improvements that aren’t really improvements, and lack of active participation have prevented us from rescuing many animals in the past year. Going into the summer months that will change as we bring onboard a core group of people from all over Canada who will help us build a solid foundation from which to save lives and foster change.

If you have not already done so, join us on Facebook by “liking” our page, we have a lot of work to do! Let’s get to work!

Let’s Adopt Canada Facebook Page

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette