Advocating for the animals... read more

You can Write the Future for Ottawa's Animals

In preparation for its five-year strategic plan, the OHS is consulting the community on the greatest needs of pets and their people.

The survey is available until Sept. 5 and feedback from all is welcome.

The OHS's previous strategic plan ended in 2021 and produced innovations like the OHS Mobile Spay/Neuter Service, behaviour intervention for cats and dogs, enhanced education for pet owners and youth, and building a safety net for all animals through community partnerships. 

The public health crisis interfered with the plan's final years and stalled the creation of a new plan. As the pandemic subsides and fewer uncertainties cloud the future, the OHS is seeking feedback from the community to ensure its vision for a strategic direction truly meets the needs of Ottawa's pets and their people.

One of the biggest topics the OHS is looking to advance is creating more supports to help pets stay with their people and protect families from having to make the heartbreaking decision to give up a pet. The rising cost of living is forcing more people to surrender their pets. To help bridge this gap, the OHS is considering establishing a new veterinary clinic to provide low-cost veterinary services to families who usually wouldn't be able to access them.

The OHS is also looking at how it can expand the care it provides to Ottawa's animals, how to better advocate for improvements in legislation governing animal welfare, and how to further expand education surrounding responsible pet ownership. 

The survey is available until Sept. 5. You can change the future for Ottawa's animals by completing the survey now.

Homeless Animals Like Hashbrown Need YOU now More Than Ever

Every day, you give hope to homeless and vulnerable animals like Hashbrown. Will you give a gift today to ensure animals receive the care and attention they deserve?

At nine weeks old, Hashbrown's journey had already been rough. This poor, tiny kitten was lost and all alone. With multiple injuries: a swollen eye, a bloody face and limping on her left leg. Hashbrown needed urgent care immediately.

OHS veterinarians acted fast to put Hashbrown on pain medication and X-ray her leg. Unfortunately her leg was beyond repair, and the best option for her to live a happy, pain-free life was to amputate her badly broken leg.

Thanks to the compassion of generous people like you, Hashbrown is now safe and receiving the necessary medical treatment she needs. Will you extend this same compassion to more animals like Hashbrown and give them a second chance at life? 

Your support provides essential care and medical treatment to Ottawa's homeless animals, giving them the love and compassion they so desperately need.

Conflicts with Wildlife are a Human Problem

Last month, it was reported that Ottawa has experienced an uptick in complaints about rodents and that wildlife control companies have received an increased number of calls.

Killing rodents who have entered a home is not only cruel, but also pointless as it is only a matter of time before new animals take their place. The advice for solving conflicts with animals entering a home remains the same: monitor for entry points, close entry points, and don't make your property attractive to wildlife. 

Ottawa has revived an anti-rat working group in an effort to address the alleged rat problem. The exact methods of the working group are unclear, but the city claims its focus is education, inspections, park maintenance, and baiting and trapping on city property.

It's too soon to examine the results or methods of the working group, but it's likely the odds are stacked against them. Urban expansion continues to eliminate habitats and food sources for wildlife — homeowners near LRT construction sites are reporting surges of rat encounters. Worse yet, even a homeowner who takes every precaution to make their property unattractive for wildlife is still at the mercy of their neighbours and nearby businesses. In late 2022, a poorly maintained garbage disposal near a Tim Hortons was discovered as a source for rats and there are likely many more examples throughout the city. 

It's clear that while personal responsibility can help prevent encounters with wildlife, there are persistent root causes that will cause people irritation and property damage, and will result in many animals being cruelly and pointlessly killed. If Ottawa wants to limit encounters between wildlife and people, habitat preservation must be a top priority along with enhancing and enforcing the maintenance of outdoor spaces — especially waste disposal areas. 

Without these considerations animals and people will continue to suffer.

Smoke, Fire and the Future

Throughout June, smoke blanketed Ottawa as forest fires raged in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Several times, the city's air quality took the spot as the worst among major Canadian cities.

Forest fires in Ontario are becoming more intense, and extreme weather events are becoming more common in Ottawa. In 2019, it was considered a statistical anomaly that three tornadoes touched down in Ottawa in the span of nine months. In 2023, Ottawa saw three tornadoes in less than 30 days.

The devastating effects of climate change continue to amplify. Individual action, and its importance, remains ever relevant, but only governments truly have the ability to make the massive changes needed to save the planet and its human and animal inhabitants. 

In the face of overwhelming uncertainty, the OHS is continuing important work today to support animals and people when disaster strikes. Homeless animals surviving outdoors face some of the most dangerous and direct risks from extreme weather. The OHS's efforts to reduce the homeless cat population like the Mobile Spay/Neuter Service, microchip clinics and education campaigns around the importance of keeping cats indoors are crucial to protecting animals from environmental disaster. 

To support pet owners, the OHS offers an emergency pet food bank to supply families with critical resources for their pets. If a family is displaced by a disaster and are not able to stay with their pet at a shelter, the OHS will shelter the animal as a part of the SAFE program. 

Working together, there are ways to protect pets and people today from disasters.

Thank You for Supporting Ottawa's Animals!

You save animals like Coco, a two-year-old black and white Siberian husky, who arrived at the OHS in terrible pain with a broken leg. Because you care, Coco was given the medical care she needed. As a PAW monthly donor, YOU provided Coco her second chance until she found her fur-ever home. 

Thank you for helping Ottawa's animals!

The Standards Program Trustmark is a mark of Imagine Canada used under licence by the Ottawa Humane Society.

The Humane Canada Accreditation Program mark is a licenced mark of Humane Canada used under licence by the Ottawa Humane Society.