MISSISSAUGA HUMANE SOCIETY

Transcription

1 FDIN IN THIS ISSUE s PATRICIA & CUTLER, two of the many strays kittens we took in, enjoying leg hugging from PAULA their adoptive mom. MIKA was rescued from an abusive home. She has now been adopted and is living happily with her new family. Here she is resting with her little smiling brothers Jaxon and Madoxx. 44th Edition Jan 2017 MISSISSAUGA HUMANE SOCIETY IN THIS ISSUE 2 President s Message/ Adoption/Rescue Statistics 3 Whom Have You Helped to Save? 4 SPARED SASSY PROJECT 6 The Story of PINKY 7 HOMESWEETHOME 8 HOMESWEETHOME 9 News & Events 10 Humour Time/ Compassionate Living EDITOR: LILY CHAN SPARED SASSY PROJECT FINDING HOMES for the DOG MEAT TRADE SURVIVIORS (Page 4 & 5)

2 Page 2 Page 2 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE Dear friends: I wish you a happy and healthy 2017! January is the time for our report card! I am pleased to say that a total of 602 homeless animals were rescued in 2016; please see the statistics below. This is an excellent achievement considering our Society is all volunteer run and does not have a venue, a shelter or any paid staff. I want to give a big THANK YOU to all of our foster parents and volunteers for their dedication. The support from our donors, sponsors and fundraisers are greatly appreciated. Together we have been able to continue to achieve our mission: SAVE AS MANY COMPANION ANIMALS AS POSSIBLE. I am pleased to announce that MHS has recently started a very meaningful project, named SPARED SASSY project. The purpose of this project is to help FIND HOMES for the survivors of the cruel DOG MEAT Trade in Thailand. We will be making a difference in the lives of these precious souls who were spared from death. You may ask: Why are we rescuing dogs from other countries when we have many here in Canada? You will find the answer on Pages 4 and 5. Your support for this project is very important in order for it to be successful. We look forward to another milestone! Have a safe and cozy winter! Lily Chan President VISIT OUR Cat Adoption Rooms at 4 locations GLOBAL PET FOODS Burnhamthorpe (Creditview) PET VALU Dundas St (Dixie Rd) RESCUE & ADOPTION STATISTICS Jan-Dec 2016 No. of Dogs Rescued: 78 No. of Dogs Adopted: 56 No. of Cats Rescued: 524 No. of Cats Adopted: 370 TOTAL RESCUED: 602 TOTAL ADOPTED: 426 About Mississauga Humane Society (MHS): RESCUE & ADOPTION STATISTICS MHS is a registered charity run 100% by volunteers. It does not have a shelter, business venue or paid staff. It receives no support from the Government, City or the SPCA. Without a shelter, MHS depends on the kindness of foster parents who open their heart and home to animals in need. By fostering a pet you are helping to SAVE a LIFE. Since 1999, MHS has rescued over 6,500 homeless animals. MHS Is NOT Mississauga Animal Services, the animal shelter which is run by the City. PET VALU Mavis Rd (Dundas St) DUNDAS EAST ANIMAL HOSPITAL Dundas St (Tomken)

3 WHOM have you helped to SAVE? Here are just a few of them... Page 3 JACK A young Bulldog whose owner left the country and the new owner also gave him up after 2 months SAYDI A young Beagle Boxer found tied up to a tree & owner could not be found AVLON, BENZ, MERCDEDS & JAQUAR One of the many strays found hanging around a mechanic shop TITANIA & Cocoa, Zsa Zsa, Marmalade, Kochka, Gigi Stray mom found with her 5 10 week-old kittens BANDIT An 10 yr old Shitzu whose family no longer wanted due to his old age and health issues SNOWBALL SHAWN &SHAWSON Three of the 20+ strays hanging round a truck yard scavenging for food LIBBY A stray mom that had been straying for a long time and had given birth to 2 litters of kittens TREASURE An old stray cat found with an injured tail that had to be amputated. apart. PANDA & TIGER Two older cats whose owners could not keep due to allergy of the baby PHARO A young Malamute whose owner could not keep due to owner s health SONY An 11 yr old pommerarian who had to stay at a kennel for 5months as owner never came back for him. CLEMENTINE An 11 yr old girl whose owner had to go to a nursing home due to dementia. A tumour was also found on her neck her LAUREN A survivor from the Dog Meat Trade in Thailand CHLOE A 4 yr old Husky whose owner no longer had time for her due to work GEORGIE A stray cat in bad shape and was tested positive for feline leukemia MAC An 8 months pup taken to the pound by his new owner due to biting RYU A 9 yr old male whose owner could not keep due to allergy of the baby. He is also diabetic. OTIS A young Shepherd X who became homeless due to a divorce WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! ONE TIME GIFT. Make a DONATION online or by cheque in the mail. MONTLY DONATION. Be a MONTHLY DONOR. TRIBUTE GIVING. IN HONOUR OF SOMEONE or YOUR BELOVED PET. Send a GIFT to celebrate the special occasion. IN MEMORY OF SOMEONE or YOUR BELOVED PET. Send a GIFT to celebrate their lives. CELEBRATE YOUR WEDDING/SPECIAL EVENT. In lieu of a gift, suggest a donation per guest. HOST YOUR OWN FUND RAISING EVENT. Bake Sale, Garage Sale, etc. PLANNED GIVING. Make a BEQUEST in your WILL for MHS to be the beneficiary. CORPORATION GIVING. Many corporations have programs designed to match gifts their employees make to charities, or donate to the charity with which the employee volunteers. Check with your Human Resources department.

4 SPARED SASSY Project Finding HOMES for the DOG MEAT TRADE SURVIVORS Page 4 44 LOVE & LIVES have NO BOUNDARIES SASSY has been SPARED from being killed for meat for human consumption. She s one of the SURVIVORS from the DOG MEAT TRADE in Thailand. SASSY was rescued by a rescue group there, but she still needed a HOME which is hard to find in Asian countries. To help find HOMES for these SPARED DOGS from the Dog Meat Trade, MHS has started the SPARED SASSY project. DOG MEAT TRADE has been going on for many years. Every year, thousands of Thai dogs are smuggled illegally and transported inhumanely to China and Vietnam for human consumption. They are packed tightly into cages in small pick-up trucks (often with 160 dogs) and often go for days without food and water. Many die from suffocation, dehydration and injury long before they reach their destination. In reality, these are the lucky ones. Upon arrival, the live ones generally have material forcibly pumped into their stomachs to increase their weight and hence value. They are then butchered with cruel and barbaric methods such as being cooked alive in the mistaken belief that the increased adrenaline produces tenderised meat. In addition, hundreds of thousands of dogs are slaughtered in Thailand for their fur and for local consumption. Traditionally, dogs were gathered from poor areas of North Eastern Thailand and often purchased in exchange for plastic buckets. In recent years owing to increased demand and a shortage of dogs, the collectors now travel all over Thailand and are targeting pet dogs as well as dogs living in Thai temples. Many of these dogs are STOLEN PETS as stray dogs are generally too difficult to catch. The following video I DID NOT KNOW tells about the reality of the CRUEL Dog Meat Trade. FINDING HOMES for the SURVIVOR DOGS Because of the culture of Thailand it s very hard to find homes for these dogs where they are treated as family pets. Knowing about the fate of these poor dogs Mississauga Humane Society decided to TAKE ACTION! WE have started the SPARED SASSY Project! On the night of Dec 19, 2016, MHS welcomed our first two DOG MEAT TRADE SURVIVORS at the Pearson Airport. LAUREN & SASSY were flown from Thailand on a 20+ hour flight. They were transported to the foster homes arranged for them right after. A new chapter of their lives have begun! On Jan 12, 2017 we took in two more dogs from Thailand, BAZOO & CHAMP. Joanna and Pawel Kurnat, our Co-ordinators for the SPARED SASSY project, picking up LAUREN & SASSY at Pearson Airport By partnering with the SOI DOG FOUDNATION in Thailand, we plan to take in 4 to 6 dogs each month. They are healthy and just want LOVE.

5 Page 5 PARTNERING with the SOI DOG FOUNDATION The SOI DOG FOUNDATION ( was established in 2003 to help abused and homeless animals. It has now become the largest organisation animal rescue group in Asia. The main headquarters are located in Phuket. For many years SOI DOG has been actively campaigning to END this cruel DOG MEAT Trade, resulting in the trade being legislated against in Thailand, and thousands of dogs being rescued, and numerous arrests made. The dogs are saved during smuggling, raid and close down holding pens, slaughterhouses and tanneries. Dogs which are saved alive are taken to a holding shelter in Buriram, north east Thailand, where they will stay until adopted or rescued. Many cannot cope and unless they are re-homed they will spend the rest of their lives at the shelter. They don t have a future unless they are rescued or adopted. Since it s impossible to find homes in Thailand for all of these dogs, the group has reached out to countries in Europe and North America. Our Society started partnering with the SOI DOG FOUNDATION in December SOI DOGS are now pressuring the government of SOUTH KOREA to end the dog meat farms. SOUTH KOREA is the only place in the world where dogs are farmed on a large scale for human consumption. SOI DOGS is asking people to sign petitions and as of January 2017 they have already collected over 252,000 signatures. Their target is 500,000 signatures. CANADIAN DOGS vs. ASIAN DOGS CANADIAN DOGS WILL ALWAYS BE OUR PRIORITIES. The resources of our Society will never be used on dogs of other countries at the sacrifice of Canadian dogs. There is a big difference in the concept of treatment of animals between Western countries and Asian countries. In most Western countries you rarely see stray dogs. Stray dogs will be picked up by the local animal service department. If they were not claimed, they will either be placed for adoption, or euthanized humanely if deemed unadoptable. The animal welfare laws in Thailand and most Asian countries are far underdeveloped. For religious reasons, Thailand does not officially euthanize dogs, but many dogs are unofficially poisoned or passed on to dog meat traders or dumped on the road. The rescue of Dog Meat Trade dogs will have no negative impact on our rescue of Canadian dogs. These Dog Meat Trade Survivors are usually smaller in size. Most are sweet and gentle, very adoptable. They can easily find homes in Canada. On the other hand, most of the dogs in Canada that need rescue usually have issues, either behaviour or health wise. The budget for our Dog Program is mainly on treating their health issues or on training to change those with behaviour issues. These dogs also need experienced or special foster/adoptive homes. By partnering with SOI Group we receive a special subsidized rate (sponsorship from donors of the SOI GROUP). The cost of rescuing a dog meat trade survivor dog (sterilization, vaccinations, microchipping, pet passport, flights and the flight crate) will be absorbed in the adoption fee that we charge for the dog. The cost on rescuing these Thailand dogs will not affect the funds needed to be spent on Canadian dogs. HELP us HELP many more SASSIES by FOSTERING ADOPTING DONATING SIGNING us: info@mississaugahumanesociety.com CHAMP THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME SASSY

6 Page 6 SEVEN years ago... We met this mean cat... The story of PINKY (Dude) By Shiromi Udugama You came to us at a very low point in our lives. We had just lost one of our pets and we were grieving. We visited countless shelters: searching, and searching to make a difference in another animal s life. We visited Pet Value when we first met you. You were a scared and quiet cat; hiding behind another cat for protection. We could barely see you only a glimpse of your glowing eyes. You had stayed at the shelter for the longest time way past your other comrades. We were discouraged from taking you home since you were deemed the mean cat. But all we could see over and over again, as we went home thinking about adopting you, were those eyes. Finally, our mind was made up. We were going to adopt you. Even though you were supposedly an aggressive and mean cat, we felt sorry for you, thinking no one else might adopt you. So we eventually brought you home. When you entered our home, you were scared. You hid from us for a week as we tirelessly tried to get you to trust us. But, little by little you started to come out of your hiding spot and explore your new home. Little by little you started to trust us and within no time you made friends with your live-in partner, a grey Russian Blue, Smokey. We were so happy with you that we wrote to the MHS folks: I'm just writing this to let you know that we all love PINKY (DUDE) and he has made our lives so beautiful with his lovable nature. I'm so thankful to you for rescuing him. He is so happy with us. -- Shiromi Over the next seven years, you truly showed us what happiness a pet can really bring to a human s life. Your purr was so loud and loving, it lifted our spirits every time we saw you. Growing up, whenever we were stressed, feeling sad or discouraged, having you by our side seemed to absolve all the worry away. It almost felt as if you were absorbing all the pain for us. You followed us wherever we went around the house. Silently moving along and showing us your love for us. Rubbing your cheeks against the walls to show us your love. We fell into a pleasant routine where you would greet us every morning and watch us make our way to work. After work as we arrived home, you were the first at the door. Greeting us as if to say don t worry, relax, you are home now. We were a happy family: mom, dad, two kids and two cats. You were always there for us throughout those years: through depression, through job instabilities, and even the time I had to stay home after removing my wisdom teeth. You were the bright light in our lives and we protected you from everything. We protected you from the outside world, from traffic. We protected you from other cats or other animals that visited our backyard. Having protected you to the extent we did, it was a mind-numbing shock to discover that you were suffering from a splenic tumour. Our happy world seemed to suddenly collapse. If only there was a way to treat you, we would have traveled the ends of the world to find it. We knew we only had little time with you. We tried to make sure you had the best last days of your life. We fed you the best treats and the most variety of food. We tried to make sure you spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoors. Even in your last few days, you still showed us so much love and affection. Even when you barely had much strength, you tried to purr and cheer us on. Till the very end, you were our best friend and you made our lives so beautiful with your presence. It wasn t hard to appreciate you because you were so flawless in every sense. I don t think many people can understand the pain we are going through after losing you because to them, you were just a cat. But to us you were no different than a family member, and we miss you very much. Seven years ago we never would have thought you would end up being the bright light in our lives. Seven years ago we thought we were just helping you find a loving home. But it was you who ended up helping us the most by bringing so much happiness to our lives. It was you that taught us what affection truly means. Despite our wounded hearts, we are still glad we had the pleasure of meeting you, some seven years ago. We are glad we had the chance to make you part of our family and the chance to love so unconditionally. You will always be loved and remembered, Pinky. With love, Your family

7 SOME OF OUR ADOPTED PETS IN THEIR FUREVER HOMES! Page 7 AJ & MAX (left & right) SHELBY SHOO SHOO & CHANTEL SONU (RIGHT) LUWA ELBI (STORM) & JURA (WHISPER) SIMON SAYDI SIMON ZAZU (PRECIOUS) EDDY JACK O LANTERN STAR (AYERS) SOPHIE BRENDA JEDI OTIS GOLDEN & DANCER CJ WHISKEY (NALA) ELFIE SAMUEL (MAX) MICKEY SWALLOW SAMUELMAX )

8 SOME OF OUR ADOPTED PETS IN THEIR FUREVER HOMES! Page 8 SODA POP MAN MAN & BOY BOY BRODY (BOON) PEPPERMINT AMELIA & TITAN CHASE DAVEY BEAUTIFUL (LOKI) KOCHKA VEGAS (MIA) FREEDOM GAMMA, GUS & DAKOTA GIGI ARES KUBA VICKY (MIRNA) BENZ FRANCOIS & PIERRE MARKY JACK OZZIE ZUMBA (FELIX) BRIANNA (MOKA) RAVEN MINNIE, ALEXIA & MOO MOO SKYE MAYA JUVE

9 NEWS & EVENTS Page 9 PETS ROCK This popular fundraiser took place on Friday, November 18 from 7 pm- 12 am at the Port Credit Legion. There were LIVE BANDS, a SILENT AUCTION, and PIZZA & BEVERAGES. Everyone had a great time. Thanks to MARVIN RIVET for organising this, donors of the gifts for Silent Auction and our volunteers, and of course those who attended! Special thanks to the bands TAUNTED GIRLS & OAR-X who performed great music! PICTURE TAKING WITH SANTA Thanks to SHERIDAN NURSERIES for hosting this annual fundraising event for us again at their two locations on November 26, November 27 and December 3, Thanks to Santa Bob and Mrs Santa, Clare Pajot, Shawn Shamshuddin and the Cawthra Secondary School Visual Art students as photographers! Krystal presenting the cheque to Lily Chan GOFUNDME FUNDRAISERS When KRYSTAL DES VIGNES learned about our appeal for donations she took action right away. In November 2016 she set up a GOFUNDME PAGE for MHS, and also used social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram to help raise funds for our Society. She also took the time to do a video about MHS in order for the public to know more about our needs. As of December 23, a total of $1,879 was raised. Way to go KRYSTAL! The GOFUNDME page is still running: VICTORIA SLUSARCZYK is another DOER. She and her friends also set up a GOFUNDME PAGE during Christmas to raise funds for MHS. A total of $730 was raised in a short time. Thank you VICTORIA! DONATIONS OF PET FOOD Thanks to the following organisations that collected pet food donations for us during Christmas: DUNDAS EAST ANIMAL HOSPITAL (Pet Food Drive) LOCAL STEELWORKERS UNION MISSISSAUGA SCHOOL FUNDRAISING Lily Chan receiving pet food donations from Octavio Amaral, President of Steelworkers Union On Dec 1, 2016 the Vocal Class (a group of grade 9-12 students) of Lorne Park Secondary School hosted the "VOCAL NIGHT`. It was a concert with the purpose of raising money for a charity. They raised funds by charging an entry fee and collecting donations. This year the class picked Mississauga Humane Society as the charity to receive the donations. Jane Hollingsworth our volunteer attended the event and gave an introduction about our Society! Thank you Lorna Park Secondary School Vocal Class!

10 COMPASSIONATE LIVING VEGAN OMELETTE 6 ounces (1/2 package) soft tofu 1 tablespoon soymilk 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 1 tablespoon potato starch or cornstarch 1 teaspoon tahini (optional) 1/8 teaspoon onion powder 1/8 teaspoon turmeric 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste Pinch of black salt, (adds an eggy taste) THANK YOU to our Page 10 SPONSORS Omelette filling of choice (have filling warm or at room temperature) Instructions 1. Blend together all ingredients until smooth. 2. Spray or wipe a large non-stick skillet lightly with oil and heat on medium-high until very hot. Pour the batter into the center of the skillet in a circular pattern about 6-8 inches across, and use a spoon or spatula to smooth over the top. Place your filling ingredients over the batter, and reduce the heat to medium-low. 3. Cover and cook for about 3-5 minutes, checking often to see if it s done. When the edges have dried out and the middle is no longer liquidy, lift a small section with a spatula and check to see that the omelette is set. It will be golden in color and browned in spots. When it s ready, loosen the omelette by sliding the spatula under it from each direction, and then fold one side over the other. 4. Cook for about one more minute. Carefully lift or slide it onto a plate and serve hot.. HUMOUR TIME SMART FIREMAN One night while I was cat-sitting my daughter s indoor cat, it escaped outside. When it failed to return the following morning, I found the beast clinging to a branch about 30 feet up in a spindly tree. Unable to lure it down, I called the Fire Department. We don t do that anymore, the woman dispatcher said. When I persisted, she was polite but firm. The cat will come down when it gets hungry enough. How do you know that? I asked. Have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree? she said. Two hours later the cat was back, looking for breakfast. THANK YOU To all of those who contributed articles to this issue. A big vote of thanks to all of our volunteers, foster parents & donors.