Tradition has it in many countries around the world that the day after Christmas is Boxing Day, or St. Stephen’s Day. It’s a day when goods or money are wrapped in boxes and shared with the poor and the needy.

One of the earliest accounts of the origin of this day appears in the Christmas Carol, “Good King Wenceslas.”

“Wenceslas, who was Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, was surveying his land on St. Stephen’s Day, 26 December, when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. Moved, the King gathered up surplus food and wine and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant’s door.” [1]

Given that bit of history about this day, it seems quite fitting that today I tell you the rest of the story about one of our Canadian rescues who came to us in need.

Stray Guy had been left behind when his family moved away. He was on his own to forge out a survival. But from the scratch on his face, it did not look like things were going so well for him. A woman named Irene who lived nearby did all she could to help him, but because she had dogs of her own, she did not feel she could take him into her home. So she began her search for a home for him.

One of the people Irene contacted was Ginette, a Let’s Adopt member, who contacted me. We immediately sent out a request for a forever home or a foster home so we could get this boy off the street. This was in July, 2010.

A woman several hours away from Ottawa offered her home, but the lack of transportation became an obstacle.

That’s when Maggie stepped up saying she could foster him in her home. She had several cats of her own and was familiar with our needs having rescued and fostered cats on her own in the past. She had a bedroom she could keep him in while we went through getting him tested and neutered and on his way to a new life.

We had a plan! Irene caught Stray Guy one evening and put him in a carrier. Ginette picked him up and delivered him to Maggie. In the coming days, we got him vetted and neutered. At this point, Stray Guy became Stary. In making his vet appointment, Stray was misspelled as Stary… and it was discovered that he had a small white “star” on his chest.

During vetting, we ran into another speed bump. Testing revealed that Stary had FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). Though that is not a death sentence, it does require a special family to adopt him. One that is aware of his illness and can provide for his needs. Simply put, he has a compromised immune system so he has to be treated quickly if a secondary infection occurs. Here is a link to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s webpage about FIV.

In late September, Inessa and Paul came forward and asked about Stary. They were familiar with FIV and were interested in meeting him. Emails, Facebook messages and phone calls were exchanged; a visit was arranged; and it was unanimously decided that Inessa and Paul were perfect for Stary.

On the first Sunday in October, Stary was loaded into his carrier for his trip to his new forever home.

And the news is all good. He has since been renamed Vovochka (or Вовочка). His family describes him as a playful, friendly cat. In the beginning, he slept with his new family in their bed and never let them get very far from his sight. He has become more secure, but still keeps his eye on them. And from the looks of things in these photos, life is good in his world. Stray Guy aka Stary aka Vovochka is finally and forever home!

So on Boxing Day, we wrap the story of this once needy little guy who was left behind by his family, but was eventually adopted by a wonderful couple in a tidy box for you to enjoy.

It takes a concerted effort of caring people to rescue our homeless pets and find them the forever homes they deserve. I hope in the coming year, you will be a part of the efforts to find homes for them. Did you realize that if just 3.5% of a community adopted the pets from their shelters, the shelters could be empty?

Please be part of the 3.5% solution and opt to adopt.

Click the photos to enjoy all of Vovochka’s handsomeness.

Ciao, Holly

I am a rescuer… and a dreamer of greater things. Simple things. But things bigger than just me.

Things like cats and dogs with happy homes and loving companions, food to eat, a roof over their heads, warmth, security. Love. Long lives.

I subscribe to this reality.

I am quick to offer help when an animal is in need. I believe if I take care of the immediate needs – health, food and shelter — the rest will fall into place.

But I am only successful if I have a network that supports me. The larger the network and the more far-reaching the network, the more I can do… the more ALL rescuers can do.

Not everyone can rescue just as not everyone can perform brain surgery or walk and chew gum at the same time, but there are other areas of help that are just as important and just as needed. These include, but are not limited to: fostering, medical assistance, transport, social media support.

Yes, even just using your network of friends and family via Facebook and Twitter to SHARE/ReTweet our messages can help us find foster homes, adoptive families, financial contributors and more members.

Let’s Adopt! is an all-volunteer international animal welfare group that is spreading around the globe to help animals in need. We use the strengths of one area to aid the weaknesses in another so we can offer the same level of commitment and care everywhere we are. And we want you to help us. Join us!

Tell us what your interests are and what talents you bring to the group. Let’s roll up our sleeves and save some lives. Add your info to our community map so we can see where our members are when a situation arises.

The weekend is almost upon us. Maybe there will be more time to peruse the web and catch up with friends. This weekend please share this message with your networks and ask them to join Let’s Adopt! Canada.

I really do need you! And so do Buster and Patches.

Ciao, Holly.

The city of Corner Brook, a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, seems to be one of the next stops for the Cirque Estival. And their track record of animal abuse has already arrived.

A Facebook group to boycott the Corner Brook Circus on June 19 has been formed to persuade the city that Corner Brook is not the place for animal circuses.

While the sight of these magnificent animals and the pagentry that goes into every act is incredible, what is the cost to these animals just for our entertainment?

In a recent interview, Louis Leonard, Director of Cirque Estival, said that during the nearly 3-month 70-show tour, Limba the elephant (who was snared as a baby and enslaved for the past 40+ years) performs for about 7 minutes of each show.

The majority of elephants used in circuses are captured in the wild as babies. In 2000, poachers killed 60 free-roaming female elephants so that their babies could be collected and sold to the entertainment industry. The still-nursing elephants, all under the age of 3, refused to abandon their dead mothers, even attempting to suckle from their corpses.

Baby elephants born in breeding farms are torn from their mothers, tied with ropes, and kept in isolation until they learn to fear their trainers.

One study of traveling circuses observed an elephant who spent up to 96 percent of her time in chains. The circus deprives animals of their basic needs to exercise, roam, socialize, forage, and play.

Repetitive and often destructive behaviors such as obsessive swaying, bobbing, chewing, sucking, weaving, rocking, and licking are common in circus animals, and are manifestations of their extreme stress and boredom.

Abusive training techniques, lack of socialization and other stimuli, and constant confinement often causes animals to become so stressed that they become dangerous, lashing out at trainers and spectators. Deaths and injuries from such incidents are not uncommon.

In the wild, elephants don’t balance themselves on three legs atop a stool while twirling hula-hoops around their trunks and legs.

That’s for our entertainment.

Surely you do not support this abusive treatment of animals. Surely this is not what you want your children to learn. And surely this is not worth spending your money on to support.

Neville Greeley, the Mayor of Corner Brook is a modern man,  he is on Facebook.  He understands social media and how powerful a voice it is. Please send him a Facebook message and kindly ask him, in a polite way, to do the right thing and cancel Cirque Estival in Corner Brook due to overwhelming public demand.

Imagine this. You are driving down a desolate stretch of North Dakota highway when you notice two dogs running down the side of the highway towards you. You pass them. When you look in your rear view mirror, you see that they have turned around and are running in your direction.

What do you do?

If you are a rescuer or an animal lover, your knee jerk reaction is to pull over and help them. And this is exactly what one of our members did. She stopped. There were no houses in sight and no cars on the road. The dogs were thin, matted, filthy and covered with sores and ticks. She and her friend put the dogs in the back of her car.

They stopped at the nearest farm house and, through a phone call, the dogs’ story came out. Buster and Patches belonged to Jerry.

To him, they were the world. He took them everywhere he went; his companions; his closest friends. But Jerry passed away the week before. His funeral service was that day, an hour from the time they were found.

Jerry’s family did not want Buster and Patches. They planned to destroy them. They had locked the dogs in the barn, but they escaped.

When they were found running down the highway that Thursday morning, they were already 25 miles away from home and still running. It’s as if they knew what fate awaited them if they stayed.

So with everyone’s okay, Buster and Patches went home with Robin to lower Saskatchewan.

It’s been three weeks now. Though they still show signs that they miss Jerry and their old life, they are adjusting. They have been groomed and de-ticked, and their sores are mostly healed. They are vaccinated and fixed.

And now they are searching for a loving family.

Buster (above) is a Brittany mix, about 4 yrs old. Patches (right) is a lab/collie mix, a bit older but not much. Their foster mom says they are well-behaved, good boys. (Click photos to see larger image. Or click here to see more photos.)

Are you the family for them?

Let’s Adopt! conditions for adoption:

1. Family MUST have an existing animal.
2. Animal MUST live inside the home, not on the garden.
3. Animal MUST be fed raw (http://rawlearning.com).

We do not apply an adoption fee. One can’t buy any Let’s Adopt! dog or cat.

Contact: viktor@myletsadopt.com

If you are not the family for Buster and Patches, please SHARE their story with your friends and family… and help us find them their new home.

And please join us on Facebook!

Ciao, Holly

If you are old enough to remember the 70s, you might also remember this iconic poster entitled “Building a Rainbow.”

At first glance, it’s pretty cool. There are a lot of little stick people building a rainbow.

But the beauty to the image is in the details. Look closer at it (click the image).

Aside from the references to Edith and Archie Bunker from All In The Family along the bottom, it illustrates the work involved in creating great things today. Success takes the concerted effort of a lot of people doing different tasks to reach a common end goal.

At Let’s Adopt! Canada, we want to continue building our “rainbow.” We want to increase our community, our tribe, our resources. And we want you to be a part of it.

We are expanding our worldwide network of volunteers and activists to aid us as we rescue homeless companion animals… people with big hearts and a loving concern for animals. Our mission is to find homes for our homeless cats and dogs. It’s do-able.

The power of social media to bring their stories into so many homes has helped us place cats and dogs across the globe. To continue the momentum, we are asking more people to join us and share our stories through their networks. As the membership builds, the stories spread further and the work becomes easier.

A bigger network will help us contact volunteers quickly when we need local fosters, volunteers, transport/rescue or for local action alerts. Same as building a rainbow — the more hands you have helping, the less each has to do and the more we can accomplish.

Imagine how many lives we will save together. Imagine being part of that joy.

So if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook. And if you have, please share us with your friends.

There are homes for our homeless.

Let’s Adopt! Canada
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101251555667

Give Our Angels Wings:
http://bethechange.chipin.com/simbas-fund

Put Yourself On The Map:
http://bit.ly/LetsAdopt-Network-Map

Ciao, Holly

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The trouble with words is that we “hear” them in different ways. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear. Sometimes we hear what others want us to hear. And sometimes the message is just not quite clear.

In the end, it’s the actions that follow the words that speak the loudest and with the most truth.

As the situation with the ringworm killings unfolded, I expressed a cautious support for the OSPCA — for a couple reasons. First, we need a humane shelter for our homeless animals. To simply shut it down leaves many animals with a lot less hope for a home and deprives the community of a needed service. Second, with this opportunity to take a look inside the OSPCA, we are afforded a great opportunity to make significant changes. Changes that will benefit the animals and bring a new trust and support for the work the OSPCA could be doing within the community. Maybe even a no-kill agenda.

I listened to their words as the OSPCA gave statements to the press. I rejoiced when they announced on Thursday that they had halted the killings at the Newmarket facility. I counted on them to honor their word. But then came news that three animals were killed on Friday… for “behavioral” reasons (my thoughts on that label are best saved for another post). Included in the three was Sago, a German Shepherd who has become the unofficial poster child for the anti-killing protests.

A caption under Sago’s photo in the online press mentioned that she was about to be adopted. Instead she is dead.

Why did these killings happen? What was the point of killing them at a time when the OSPCA said killings had been halted?

The deaths of these three animals the day after the OSPCA released a statement that killings had been halted has certainly given pause to my thinking that the current management was going to embark on a new path. I obviously heard what I wanted to hear when I read their statements. But their actions have set me straight.

At the very least, I am discouraged by their logic.

My focus returns to the animals that survived the killings. They are obviously not out of the woods.

As people scramble to correct the problems at OSPCA, let’s not forget these survivors. Kate MacDonald has stated that all will be quarantined and tested throughout the next month, but we must remain diligent in following up on them. We must not let these survivors fall through the cracks. And as soon as possible, we must ensure that they find loving, forever homes. Else their fate will be no brighter than it was before the ringworm outbreak. They will again hang precariously in the balance of life or death.

I encourage everyone to stay in close touch with the OSPCA regarding the progress of the animals still in their care. Request follow up reports often. Some may be ready for adoption before the 30-day period. Some may require more time. Either way, we need to find homes for them.

Will you be one of the homes?

Please share this post with your friends and ask them to share it with their friends… because we know there are homes for our homeless animals. We are thousands and they are but a couple hundred.

If you are interested in adopting or want to follow up on their progress, please contact the OSPCA. Let them know we have not forgotten the survivors.

Anne Buonaiuto, Executive Assistant to CEO
Phone: 905-898-7122 ext. 304 or abuonaiuto@ospca.on.ca

Take action…

Support a new OSPCA. Volunteer. Adopt. Share. Save a life!

Ciao, Holly

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