The deputations and results in yesterdays Licensing and Standards review went well for Toronto Animals Services but that's not the end of the story. Next up, on Thursday, is a chance to speak in front of the Executive Committee. They're the ones who will have final say over cuts to Toronto services. More information, as well as the request to speak link, can be found here.
Even if you don't want to present a deputation, attending one of these is quite interesting. It gives you a lot of insight into how our elected city officials think, act and speak. And Rob Ford is going to be the chairperson at this one.
The final decisions on cuts won't be made until the fall which gives us some time to get the message out to the general populace and not just the us in the animal welfare community. There is the petition here which will be delivered to council and of course personal letters written and addressed to your councilor and those on the executive committee are even more helpful.
We need city-wide, broad based support on this matter and spreading the word is the best way to get it. People of all political stripes in Toronto love their pets and won't tolerate animal cruelty brought on by service cuts. Let's remind everyone of what Toronto Animal Services does and what the for-profit alternatives will mean for our animals in need.
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A request
The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.
The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.
Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.
So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.
Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.
So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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I will be presenting! I'm quite looking forward to it.
I'm glad to have another chance since I had to miss Monday. Apparently the list of presenters is huge, it might take a few days. Good! I'm glad Torontonians aren't taking this lying down.
Good for you Laura. I'm going to try to head over on my lunch break.
Poots. I can't make it Thursday. It's really unfortunate that these are scheduled during the day when most people work.