The OHS Foster Program provides nuturing, temporary homes for animals requiring short-term convalescence outside the shelter environment. We rely on foster volunteers to open up their homes and help us give animals a second chance. While forming attachments to the animals is common, foster volunteers are not eligible to adopt their charges. The success of the foster program depends on the long-term support of experienced, dedicated foster homes. The program — and its benefit to the animals — would be compromised by regularly losing foster volunteers who want to adopt their animals and no longer have time to foster. The best way you can help us is to provide these vulnerable animals with the love and care they need to ready them for a  good start in a new home. And, if and when you’re ready to add a new permanent addition to your family, please talk to our Adoption staff — we’d love to help you.

Would you like to participate as a facilitator in the next Youth Connecting with Animals (YOUCAN) session in June 2009? This dog-training program for at-risk youth is designed to encourage empathy, respect and responsibility toward animals and humans. Four facilitators assist youth participants in providing basic obedience training and socialization to shelter dogs which make them more adoptable. Sessions operate in partnership with a social service agency. A dog trainer is present during the program. Facilitators must be comfortable with dogs and emotionally-troubled youth. The session runs for three weeks and involves 12 lessons (1.5 hours each), four times a week at partnership locations. If you’re interested, please let us know.

Thank you Mary MacDougall, Jeanne Andrews, Megan Samson and Susan Barleben for your involvement in the March session at the Roberts/Smart Centre. To hear a CBC radio story about this session, please click here.

There are still some openings for our National Volunteer Week information nights, which are listed below. Be sure to sign up now in order to secure your spot! Each session runs from 6-8 p.m. in the boardroom at the shelter.

● April 22 Investigations – Learn how animal abusers are brought to justice.
● April 23 Temperament assessments – Find out how we create an "adoption resume" for our adoptable dogs.
● April 24 Cat colours and breeds – Everything you ever wanted to know about our feline friends!

An example of community generosity occurred last month when our EAPS team needed some software to help them do their jobs of rescuing animals in distress. We contacted one of our volunteers who works at Adobe and asked for some help. Blair Powell and the staff at Adobe were more than willing to assist and Blair himself even chipped in and paid for the shipping costs for the new computer software.

Now our agents are spending more time on the road helping animals thanks to Adobe and Blair.

Did you know that 264 of 604 volunteers also made a financial gift to the OHS in the last two years?
On behalf of the 11,000 animals we help each year, thank you!