Friday, 150 people waited for the doors to open at 10 a.m. at the Queen Elizabeth Building to be let into the Adopt-a-thon. Saturday, over 200 people waited for the doors to open. By Saturday afternoon, all of the adoptable dogs from Toronto Animal Services were adopted. That was thirty dogs. The Toronto Humane Society had done dozens more adoptions (someone told me around seventy dogs) and they only had a few dogs left.
Cats were doing really well also. Over two hundred adopted so far in total at the event.
A lot of people went home very happy with new bundles of joy. Some went home empty-handed and not so happy (there are always more at the shelters and rescues). I suspect next year, now that the organizers know what to expect, there will be a lot more dogs and people on hand to assist.
Maddie from TAS North being admired by fans
Lots of hands. The dogs were very well behaved considering all the hands and fingers reaching out for them
Kona, waiting for her new owner to finish with the adoption interview
Wolf, a ten year old retired sled dog, with his new family
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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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Search this blog
Toronto area animal shelters
TAS South on facebook
My other blogs
Animal rescue blogs
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What's That?5 years ago
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Late Night Musings: Clearing the Shelters5 years ago
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Simon Loves the Snow!7 years ago
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I volunteer at the north shelter so I went to volunteer at the event. I was so happy to see Kona and she too was happy to see me. I stayed with her throughout the day until her new owner was done with his interview, and adoption papers. That's me with Kona the pretty boxer mix looking right into the camera. It was a great and successful day for all the animals. May all the animals be happy and blessed with their new family.
So happy to see that Wolf was adopted! He is the one my husband and I went down there to see :) Congrats to his new family and please give him an infinite amount of love! He's beautiful :)
What a great event all the animals found their forever homes. I'm hoping the event happens again. I had a wonderful time so many nice people, and so many beautiful animals that I've met. Awesome event and I had an awesome time plus the weather was great. I'll give it a "two thumbs up".