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Outreach Canvasser
Not currently recruiting
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteer canvassers who are interested in promoting OHS Outreach Services in our community. Volunteers are required to canvass neighbourhoods, in pairs going door-to-door, to promote and raise awareness about OHS Services. Volunteers will also converse with neighbourhood residents to develop positive relationships between the OHS and potential clients, answer questions regarding the Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic and microchip events, distribute OHS materials, and schedule clinic appointments as directed.
Outreach Canvasser Volunteer Requirements:
- Volunteers must have experience with customer service, canvassing and/or public relations;
- Volunteers must be comfortable working and interacting with people in a variety of settings, including underserved/low-income communities;
- Volunteers must be able to make a minimum 1-year commitment;
- Volunteers must be able to work with minimal supervision, once trained;
- Volunteers must be able to attend a three-hour weekly shift, at various community locations.
A Day at the OHS
Have you ever wondered what happens in a typical day at the OHS? We take you behind the scenes and share what’s happening at the OHS today.
This morning, this one-year-old stray cat arrived at the OHS. Our intake team weren’t able to detect a microchip, so they’ll search through lost reports to see if anyone is missing this boy. If he’s not claimed after the three-day stray period, he’ll be assessed for adoption. He is one of approximately 11 stray animals that will be admitted to the OHS today.
An OHS staff member feeds a new arrival his first meal of the day. Before the end of the day, the animal care team will have fed over 400 animals, morning and afternoon feedings, as well as cleaned their cages, while the veterinary team makes sure that all animals receive any treatments they require.
Edgar recently arrived at the OHS with a bad eye infection. He has a high fever and is feeling so sick that he stopped eating. Today he’s in the critical care unit at the OHS where he can be treated and closely monitored by our veterinary team. Edgar is one of seven animals receiving intensive care in the critical care unit today.
OHS canine enrichment volunteer Ginette is taking Coco out for his morning walk. Canine enrichment volunteers improve the quality of life for dogs at the OHS by providing mental and physical stimulation through daily enrichment, behaviour modification and outdoor walks and play.
Feline enrichment volunteer Joan spends time with Eloise, providing the frustrated cat with important out-of-cage time to help maintain her physical and emotional health. Eloise is one of more than 300 cats in the shelter today. Feline enrichment helps to improve cats’ adoptability through behaviour modification, socialization, play, exercise, grooming and more.
The OHS Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic is at the Carlington Recreation Centre on Caldwell Ave. today where 20 cats, whose owners would otherwise have no means to provide veterinary care, have an appointment to be spayed or neutered.
Today is Bogart’s 254th day at the OHS. He’s waking up from his morning nap and getting ready to greet visitors in the Adoption Centre. Animals like Bogart have a safe and warm place at the OHS until they find their perfect match, no matter how long that takes.
A volunteer veterinarian is performing dental surgery on a dog to get him one step closer to his forever home. 17 animals are having life-saving surgery in the OHS clinic today.
Volunteer humane education dogs Charlie and Navi are on their way to Huntley Centennial Public School to teach kids in our community about responsible pet ownership.
Foster volunteer Mary is picking up her latest foster cat Gordon, who has an upper respiratory infection. Gordon will rest and recover in Mary’s home until he’s well enough to be adopted. The OHS currently has 242 animals like Gordon in foster care and 85 more waiting for a foster home.
Belle met her new family in the Adoption Centre today. Staff took Belle’s first photo with her new family to commemorate the occasion.
Because of the generous support of our community, the OHS is here today, and every day, to help animals with nowhere else to turn. Thank you for making this work possible!
Lacey Thoms
Coordinator: Communications
Different Cats, Different Solutions
As our new Mobile Spay/Neuter Vehicle hits the streets, the prospect for long-term solutions to cat overpopulation and cat welfare are becoming clearer. The thing is, cats in our community live in very different circumstances, there are many reasons for the problems, and all need tailored solutions.
A significant source of overpopulation is feral cats. Feral cats are not stray. They are generally the progeny of stray or roaming cats and have never lived with humans. They are not wildlife, nor are they pets. Their lives are generally nasty, brutish and short. According to the experts, our friends at Alley Cat Allies, adults cannot ever be truly socialized to humans, though their young kittens can be.
Then there are “porch” or “loosely owned” cats. These cats are socialized to humans, though may be very skittish. They have, or had, an owner and are fed and loosely cared for by a neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the neighbourhood’s care rarely extends to veterinary care or sterilization. Therefore, these cats are a significant source of unwanted litters. Those not vaccinated can be a reservoir for contagious feline disease.
It can be hard to identify a skittish stray or porch cat from a true feral cat. But in a shelter, socialized porch or owned cats will generally calm with time. Feral cats do not, and may injure themselves, sometimes severely, trying to escape. Their stress can be so intense that they can die of heart failure in a cage. It is not humane to shelter a severely distressed feral cat.
The issues of each type of cat are very different and require different solutions. Since most feral cats cannot be humanely housed, the standard humane practice is “TNR,” or trap/neuter/release, that is, capture, sterilize and vaccinate, and release them where they were found. Feral cat colonies can be phased out over time through TNR. The OHS assisted volunteers to phase out the famous Parliament Hill colony several years ago through TNR in advance of government intervention that may have seen the entire colony euthanized. The OHS will support other feral colony caretakers under certain conditions through free food and sterilization at our clinic.
Porch cats can and should be socialized and rehomed. If they are rehomed through the OHS, they will leave healthy, vaccinated and sterilized to a good home that is ready and able to care for them. They will no longer contribute to cat overpopulation.
I am feeling very positive and hopeful that our efforts are going to produce very significant results and quickly, changing the world for Ottawa’s cats by resolving the problem identified in the OHS’s new five-year strategic plan, that is, too many cats will live wretched lives as long as there are too many cats.
Bruce Roney
Executive Director
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