Special Needs Cat in Need of Special Home

Picasso is a well cared for socialized grey and white deaf cat with a back leg deformity. He was found in a stray cat colony in the winter and rescued by AAC Board Member, Marie Crawford, and a colleague. The twisted back leg led us to believe he was badly injured, but an x-ray proved that the defect was either there since birth or due to a bad injury that healed without medical assistance. He was checked for disease, neutered, given all shots and deworming aid. The vets' decided that amputation of the back leg would not help his mobility since he seems to use it to get around just fine. We decided to not place him back in the colony since it would seem he had a hard enough life as it was. The fact that he was also deaf made his little story that much more incredible. He survived for two years in the wild like this!

He was terribly fearful of people and it took a year for Marie to gain his trust. Now he is a changed cat and is a lovable companion. The only problem is that he is terribly lonely. Marie owns her own business and is gone for the most part of the day - every day. He cries constantly when he can't see her and she can hear his screams (boy - deaf cats sure have a pair of lungs!!) for a block down the street when she leaves the house. Marie would like to find him a home where he can enjoy the company of another cat and/or the presence of a person who is home a lot.

"A large part of me does not want to lose this lovely little guy, but I know he could have a much richer life elsewhere - since he is a special needs cat he needs a special home!! Would perhaps do well with lots of other cats. If anyone could recommend a home for him I would be grateful," Marie. mariecrawford@sympatico.ca

Our New Office Foster

With the municipal strike over, our fosters are slowing being returned to the shelter. The bunnies we were fostering at the office went back = ( Other bunnies found homes (yay!), some kitties are going back and others are staying in the Project Jessie programme until we find them a permanent, loving family. All in all, it has been a great group effort, which has saved over 50 lives.


Alice (Ali for short) is our new office foster kitty. And she's SO cute! Apparently her owners died and the family didn't want her, so she ended up at a city shelter. She wasn't doing well so shelter staff called us for help. She is SO sweet and SO friendly, in just a couple hours she was playing and following us around the office! Ali's an older girl (about 12) but doesn't look a day over 8. She will remain here at the office until she finds her forever home.

It's been a busy summer so far, but a good summer. And having Ali here is a nice way to end the week.

Enjoy the sun, everyone!

Municipal Strike affected City Shelters

There was a lot of talk during Toronto's municipal strike about garbage but not a whole lot about the city shelters. The last time the city was on strike, shelter staff was reduced, and as a result, many animals that needed special care either died or were euthanized.

This year, we were ready. The first day of the strike, Project Jessie Coordinator, Shelly Hawley-Yan, and long-time volunteer, Andrea, rescued dozens of "special needs" animals. In total, Shelly, Andrea, our main office and our wonderful volunteer foster homes have been caring for over 50 animals: rabbits, guinea pigs, orphaned kittens, kittens with moms, you name, we have it!

Some are going to start going back to the shelters, like the bunnies who will have a better chance at finding their forever homes. Some of the mama cats and their babies will be staying with us. All in all, it was a wonderful group effort - shelter staff were great, volunteers stepped up and offered their homes for these animals, and Shelly and Andrea provided amazing support, checking in to make sure everyone is okay and making themselves available around the clock to answer questions.

The little kitty in the pic above is Rosie, a little purring machine, who has been with me and her other foster brother and sisters for about six weeks.

Like I've said before, we're always looking for foster homes and forever homes for these sweet little snuggle bugs. If you, or someone you know, is thinking about opening their hearts and homes to a four-legged friend, please call / e-mail us today.

Main Office: 416-462-9541

Shelly: 519-940-4712

shelly@animalalliance.ca

contact@animalalliance.ca

www.projectjessie.ca

"Burned Alive" - Help save Farm Animals!

Hi everyone,

We just recently started working on the issue of Barn Fires. According to the National Farm Building Code, only farm buildings with high human occupancy (greater than one person per 40 square meters) are required to be fitted with sprinklers and smoke alarms.

A Winnipeg Free Press article on January 02, 2009 reported that last year seven barn fires in Manitoba killed more than 30 000 pigs - about eight times more than the previous year. In 2007 more than 3 500 pigs died in six fires.

Large scale intensive farm practices mean that more animals are housed in small spaces, therefore fire prevention and animal evacuation are paramount to ensuring the health and well-being of animals.

Currently, Manitoba is considering making changes to provincial regulations on farm buildings. Please, for the sake of the animals, take a moment to read the documents below and mail in a sign-on letter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh3QoEYHFmo

Letter to the Standing Committee on Fire Protection.pdf

Loss of Lives by Fire.pdf

Appendix II - Data from Ontario.pdf

Sign-on Letter.pdf

http://www.firecomm.gov.mb.ca/docs/fbc_discussion_paper_final_may2009.pdf

Contact Info for the Manitoba Fire Commissioner:

Office of the Fire Commissioner
508-401 York Avenue
Winnipeg MB R3C 0P8
Telephone: (204) 945-3322
Fax: (204) 948-2089
Toll Free: 1-800-282-8069
Email: firecomm@gov.mb.ca

Piglets Pounded Against Concrete

Dear all,

Footage was released today from a fantastic animal advocacy organization in The Netherlands called Varkens in Nood (Pigs in Distress) showing a still-live but suffering piglet thrown into a garbage bin at a farrowing operation. See www.varkensinnood.nl .

Unfortunately, The Netherlands is not the only country where this horrific practice happens. Each year in Canada, millions of piglets are PACed (Pounded Against Concrete) and thrown into garbage bins. Please see our latest video shot in Manitoba and Quebec which shows the practice here in Canada. So many still-live piglets are disposed of in this way that one rendering company in Ontario has had to send letters to pig producers reminding them to please ensure all piglets are dead before being thrown away. This is an enormous welfare issue that we should all be concerned with.

Please forward and cross-post widely!

Thank you.

Twyla and the CETFA Team
www.cetfa.com
cell: 204-296-1375

Thank you all!!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick "THANK YOU!" for all you make possible. We've made some progress on a few campaigns, and we could not have accomplished this without your support for the animals. We've delayed the cormorant slaughter in Presqu'ile Provincial Park and saved thousands through our presence in Point Pelee National Park. We saved the Sifton Bog deer in the city of London from a fall hunt. We worked together in conjunction with other groups to have seal products banned in the European Union and to have a horse slaughterhouse in Saskatchewan closed down after being caught on video violating regulations, negative exposure from the media, and after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was pressured to investigate. And we continue to rescue orphaned dogs and cats through Project Jessie.

During these difficult times, we really cannot thank you enough for being a voice for the animals.

With gratitude,

Lia Laskaris

Donor Relations / Treasurer

5th Annual Project Jessie Doggy Fun Day!

Yikes!

The Project Jessie doggy fun day is this Saturday!!!

Are YOU going to be there? Please come!

This year's Project Jessie reunion is going to be held Saturday,May 23rd from 11am to 2pm at the Caledon Community Complex (directions below).

We are REALLY excited about our fifth Project Jessie reunion and doggie fun day - because the others were great!

We are inviting all Project Jessie adopters, drivers, fosters, volunteers and anyone else who even likes dogs, to a day of fun and joy! Well behaved doggies (on leash please!) are very welcome to attend, but you don't have to bring a dog in order to come!

We will have goody bags for the first 50 people to arrive, raffles and silent auctions, demonstrations and displays, and best of all - we hope that YOU will be there!

Please consider attending - we would dearly love to see you! The event is being held at the Caledon Community Complex - 6215 Old Church Road - in Caledon East, ON. It is about an hour north west of Toronto, an hour east of Guelph and an hour north of Mississauga.

To look up directions on Mapquest, you need to use "Get map of [6133-6167] Old Church Rd, Caledon East, ON" (The actual address is Caledon Community Centre, 6215 Old Church Road, Caledon East, ON but Mapquest doesn't seem to recognize that address for some reason!)

From east or west, take Hwy 401 to 427 north. Hwy 427 ends at Hwy 7 (QUEEN Street) in Brampton.
Turn left (west) onto Hwy 7. Turn right (north) onto AIRPORT Road.
You will travel north about 35 minutes. Once you are in the town of Caledon, you will come to a set of stop lights.
(There will be a liquor store on the west side of the street and a large log building on the south-east corner). This is OLD CHURCH ROAD).
Turn right (east) onto OLD CHURCH ROAD. You will pass a fire station on your right, then a police station. JUST past the police station, turn into the driveway. The Community Complex shares the driveway with the police station and is set behind it.

For more information, to volunteer to help at the event, or if you would like to donate something to the raffle or silent auction, please contact me directly - thank you!!!

It should be a great day and we really hope to see YOU there!

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3

email: shelly@animalalliance.ca
Phone: 519-940-4712 or
Phone: 416-462-9541