Search Results for: pet%20loss
A Breath of Life
Before the pandemic, we had annually hosted March Break Camp for kids in our education centre. Having children exploring the adoption centre, learning about animals and how to care for them, and just having fun and being kids was a breath of life after winter’s doldrums.
We’ve had to cancel our in-person March Break Camp for the past two years, and I know I sorely missed the energy and liveliness that came with it.
But for the first time in two years, kids are back for March Break Camp at the OHS, and in many ways, it feels like waking up from a long, long hibernation. Curious faces watch Ottawa’s animals with awe, questions that only a child could ask fly every which way and the education centre is piled with crafts — it’s wonderful.
We were able to run many of our programs online during the pandemic, but it feels good to step away from the screen and get back to teaching the next generation of animal advocates right here, at the OHS.
As excited as we are to have camp back on-site, we are still cautious and have a smaller camp group than usual, and other safety precautions are in place to keep everyone healthy. Despite this, the return of campers is a huge leap forward and has everyone at the OHS excited for more programs to come in the year.
We’re not the only ones thrilled to have campers back, here’s what we’ve heard from some of our campers:
Sefton, age seven, said his favourite part of camp is “meeting a hamster because she was rolling everywhere [in an exercise ball].”
Zane, age 10, enjoyed visiting the cat condos because he “was able to play with cats.”
Mia, age six, loved meeting “the doggy because she was cute” – referring to one of our lovely volunteer’s dogs, named Camie.
Manuela, age eight, learned that “when bunnies are happy, they do a spin in the air.”
Noah, age seven, was shocked to discover that some cats have six toes.
This week is also packed with a few fun surprises for the kids. We had a guest speaker from the Wild Bird Care Centre who led the kids through owl pellet dissections. An experienced rabbit owner shared what it’s like to live with pet rabbits. And a professional OHS dog trainer joined us with her dogs to give an agility demonstration, and have the kids guide the dogs to perform some impressive tricks.
This week has been so much fun, and we are already preparing for this year’s Summer Camp. If your kids love animals, we hope they will join us this summer. Save the date, Summer Camp registration opens Friday, March 25 at noon!
Allie Burke
Director: Outreach & Community Services
A Simple, Life-Saving Idea
Last Friday was pretty exciting at the Ottawa Humane Society. We had a fire truck visit. And the fire chief too. They visited to help launch a life-saving partnership.
Ottawa Fire Services and the OHS have teamed up to save lives by creating and distributing a simple decal. In a fire or other life-threatening emergency, the decal tells firefighters and other first responders that there are pets in a home; it tells them how many pets and what species need to be rescued.
You can protect your beloved pets with this simple decal. Because of the generosity of our donors, the decals are free for the asking. You can get yours by visiting the OHS website.
Don’t wait. Your pet’s life may depend on this simple idea.
Bruce Roney
President & CEO
The OHS has the best volunteers!
Our volunteers help make Ottawa a more humane place for all. |
National Volunteer Week is an annual celebration that recognizes and honours the 12.7 million-plus Canadians and the two billion-plus hours they contribute annually to organizations across our country. From April 10 to 16, the OHS will proudly celebrate our volunteer’s efforts and contributions over the last year.
Let’s face it — the OHS would not be able to continue to offer so many lifesaving programs and services for our community without the support and dedication of our volunteers. I am constantly overwhelmed by the selfless acts of kindness that our volunteers provide to help give Ottawa’s animals a second chance. From volunteer groomers who immediately abandon their plans to assist with OHS emergencies by brushing, bathing and clipping neglected animals to relieve their pain and suffering, to office volunteers who put in extra shifts to help with massive holiday and tax-receipt mail outs to thousands of OHS supporters, to PAL cat assistant volunteers who spend two mornings each week feeding, socializing and providing care to cats temporarily residing in partnering pet store locations, to volunteers who hand out flyers in the heat of summer to warn our community about the dangers of leaving dogs in hot cars. It’s because of volunteers that we are able to help the close to 10,000 animals that need our care each year, and it’s because of volunteers that we are able to continue to do so much for these animals.
A volunteer groomer helps give an animal at the OHS his second chance. |
Being part of the OHS volunteer team is a unique experience for each volunteer, but all volunteers share one common goal — to help give Ottawa’s animals a brighter future and make our community a more humane place for all. In addition to helping animals, volunteers gain invaluable experiences to help them expand or develop their skill sets, have the opportunity to network with more than 800 fellow volunteers, have the chance to learn at educational workshops and become a critical component to the success of the OHS. Let our volunteer’s acts of kindness inspire you to start making a difference for our community.
Please join me and everyone at the OHS in thanking our 800-plus volunteer team this National Volunteer Week. This amazing group of volunteers supported close to 30 volunteer programs and gave close to 60,000 hours of their time last year. The work of the OHS would not possible without them and I am so grateful to spend each day working with such an inspirational group of people.
Ashley Britton
Manager: Volunteers
A Week with History
Ever heard of National Little Pampered Dog Day? How about International Pooper Scooper Week? There are a lot of awareness days, weeks and months in animal welfare. They range from the mildly amusing to the very serious, like National Pet Fire Safety Day and Immunization Awareness Month. At the Ottawa Humane Society, we often leverage these events to get our animal welfare messages out to our community.
You may not be aware, but this week is Be Kind to Animals Week. This week is among the oldest, if not the oldest of these observances. Nowadays, we don’t do much for this particular landmark as our thinking has moved beyond mere kindness in our relationship with animals. Years ago, though, it was a mainstay of our humane education programming with children and youth.
A few years back, an OHS supporter gave me a book she won in an OHS-sponsored Be Kind to Animals Week essay writing contest, Stories of King Arthur and the Round Table. It’s printing date: 1927!
Hanging in the hallway just outside my office is an undated news clipping and photo of A.Y. Jackson serving as judge for the OHS Be Kind to Animals Poster Contest. Yes, it’s that A.Y. Jackson, member of the Group of Seven!
Clearly, once upon a time, Be Kind to Animals Week was a very big deal here at the OHS. While the OHS and the humane movement have evolved since then, its core message influenced generations of young people and shouldn’t be forgotten.
Bruce Roney
President & CEO
Offshoring Puppy Mills
There’s a persistent rumour going around the country that the many thousands of people who acquired pets during the pandemic — mostly dogs — are surrendering their pets to shelters in droves because those people are now going back to work. We receive regular calls from the media wanting us to talk about the story, but the story isn’t true; not in Ottawa, and not in any part of the country that I am aware of.
It certainly appears very true that a huge number of people acquired a pet during the pandemic. But even though many people have now returned to work, we aren’t seeing those thousands of dogs show up at our shelter.
This is not to say that there are no issues stemming from what has been called the “pandemic puppy” phenomenon. Demand for dog training has skyrocketed at the OHS and elsewhere. There is a severe shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians for all these newly acquired pets, and not just for emergency care. Even routine care such as vaccination can be hard to come by in Ottawa and in many communities.
One of my biggest concerns is the source of all these puppies. When demand is high, money follows and a tremendous number of puppies have been flown to Canada from puppy mills far away. Canada has offshored our puppy mills. Dogs are repeatedly bred in deplorable conditions without regard for their welfare. The puppies are then flown to Canada en masse often in poor conditions, without food or water and accompanied with falsified medical records — often through third-party countries and middle people to disguise the animal’s real origin.
The result too often is heartbroken families with either huge veterinary bills or no veterinary access at all for their dog. Too often, families are left with an under-socialized or traumatized dog that is not the companion they envisioned.
Don’t contribute to this sad state for dogs or for yourself. Read about how to find your new best friend responsibly. Find an ethical rescue, a responsible breeder, or visit the animals for adoption at the Ottawa Humane Society.
Bruce Roney
President & CEO
OHS in the Dark
Saturday’s storm knocked out power to the OHS — toppling trees on our property, causing some damage and making our outdoor dog run unusable. We are still in the dark and have had to cancel most of our programs for the week. Adoptions continue, but at a slower pace.
Fortunately, disaster preparedness is often front of mind for us. We are always asking how will we be there for the animals if _____ happens, and our extended loss of power during the tornados taught us a lot.
When the power goes out for an extended length of time, we have a backup generator to keep us from being completely in the dark and to keep our most essential operations up and running.
We are still able to admit animals who immediately need our help. These are the stray animals who are sick or injured, the animals whose owners cannot afford life-saving treatment and dogs running at large.
In our critical care unit, you could almost be convinced that the power never went out. The lights are on to help our team care for the animals safely and the beep and drip of life-saving IVs carry on as always.
Until today, looking in our surgery room told a different story. We’ve since made some changes and contacted an emergency electrician to restore power to the surgery room, but before that, the room stood dark, quiet and empty. The technology we use to perform surgeries required more power than our generator was able to provide, but our team is resourceful. Rather than falling behind on spay/neuter surgeries for Ottawa’s animals, our team made arrangements to perform the surgeries on our mobile spay/neuter vehicle that runs on its own power supply. This helped keep us on track and will make it a lot easier to get caught up when power is fully restored.
Our animal care team has also tirelessly continued their work, strapping on headlamps and using other alternative light sources to make sure Ottawa’s homeless animals receive the daily care they need.
To help the community during this time, we’ve also invested in ensuring our pet food bank runs as planned this week — we know a lot of people may be struggling with their grocery bill as food spoils in powered down refrigerators.
There is no question, Saturday’s storm was a disaster. Lives were lost, homes were damaged, and many are still far from completely recovering. Despite all of this, I find solace at the Ottawa Humane Society. Our community, our staff, and our volunteers have all gone above and beyond to ensure the animals are cared for during this tragedy.
And for that, I am grateful.
Bruce Roney
President & CEO
Ginnie
Hi, I’m Ginnie!
The staff at the OHS call me a Performer! Performers love being at the centre of attention and are usually excited to meet all types of people, often introducing themselves! Performers need a high amount of exercise daily, and would love a daily hike, jog, bike ride, or long session of fetch every day. To work their minds, Performers usually love the excitement of food puzzles, frozen treats, training games, and hide-and-seek!
Performers need to be integrated into the family and are usually pretty fun to take out and about for family activities – they love being where the action is! After a good day of socializing and exercising, you’ll usually find Performers flopped down next to you to enjoy some quality sleep time. If you’re looking for an active, social companion, then you’ll have lots of fun with a Performer!
I am looking for an Akita-savvy owner!
If you are interested in setting up an appointment to adopt me, please email a completed adopter profile found at https://ottawahumane.ca/adopt/ to adoptions@ottawahumane.ca. Please be advised that although we do offer on-the-spot adoptions, this is dependent on appointment schedules and cannot be guaranteed.
Adoption Centre visitor hours:
Tues-Fri 12pm to 7pm
Sat-Sun 11am to 5pm
Items you must have with you:
Proof of Address
Photo ID
Collar
Leash
A collar, leash and other pet supply needs can be purchased at the time of adoption as the OHS has an excellent selection of these items. All proceeds from your purchases from the OHS Buddy & Belle Boutique support the animals at the OHS.I am a “Foster-Me-First” adoption. You can find more information about the Foster-Me-First Program at https://ottawahumane.ca/adopt/adoption-faq/#answer13 or call to speak to the adoption team.
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