If you had visited the OHS on Monday, you would have seen a lot of visitors here in our shelter. CTV was here, joined by four local radio stations: Majic 100, 580 CFRA, TSN 1200 and Pure Country 94. They were here for an event calledA Day of Giving.
The Ottawa Humane Society (OHS) is now placing cats not suited for a traditional home environment for behavior reasons into safe alternative environments through a program called the Working Whiskers Cat Program.
I have been reporting for the past while that in March, with just a few weeks’ notice, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) announced it would no longer be enforcing animal cruelty investigations in Ontario and set a hard deadline for the end of June. I further reported that the OSPCA refused the province’s request to extend the work until new legislation could be introduced early next year.
I’ve been lucky to visit parts of Europe a number of times. One of the things that always strikes me is the integration of dogs into everyday life. Whether it be in an English country pub, on a subway or at a bottega in Italy, dogs are simply there, walking with their owners, or curled up under a chair. It is a fantastic sight. It’s both normal and accepted. And I have never seen it be disruptive in the least.
Starting this May, the OHS will begin placing cats that are not suited for a traditional home environment for behavior or temperament reasons into safe alternative environments through a program called working whiskers. While the majority of cats can easily live as indoor house pets, some cats in the care of the OHS are unsuitable for homes but would flourish independently in other locations, keeping busy controlling rat and mice populations.
It can happen in a split second. The curious cat runs out the door while arriving home, juggling keys, kids and coats, or the dog hurls himself in pursuit of a squirrel with his leash separated from his owner’s hand. In just a couple of seconds, a beloved pet goes missing.
Watching our friends and neighbours struggle to save their homes from flooding has been heartbreaking. This is especially so because many of the same people were flooded just two years ago, and some of those in West Carleton were devastated by last fall’s tornado as well.
Half a decade ago, I announced that the OHS was finally in a position to hire a humane education coordinator to provide services in French. This was the fulfillment of a long-overdue promise to our Francophone community, and I was delighted.
Easter is a great time of year. In theory, at least, winter is over and the weather is finally warming up. Sometimes we start to see some green on the ground. And with all of this, people start to get into a better mood, me included. It’s a great time of year for me, but is it for animals?
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