Project Jessie

Project Jessie Shelter Challenge

2012-01-09T12:18:00.007-05:00

Thank you for voting!

The few challenges ago, because of YOU Project Jessie came in first place (for Canada) in this challenge and won $1000.

It's a bright new year, and a fresh chance for you to help! A new challenge has just started - Thanks for voting and please make this the week you help spread the word!

If you are going to vote from multiple sites, you do need to "setup" each page once.

Search under "Project Jessie", city "Caledon" "ON" just like you did the first time, but after that, it will take you back to "the shelter you last voted for".

If you keep this email, you can click from any of the links below every day. You can vote several times a day if you have the time - I REALLY appreciate it!

And feel free to pass this email along to friends and family.

Thank you SO MUCH for your help!!!
Shelly and crew =^..^=

These are all the places where you can go EVERY DAY to vote !!!

The Animal Rescue Site

The Hunger Site

The Child Health Site

The Rain forest Site

Vote for a Shelter 2

To Give

Vote for a rescue site

The feed hunger site

The Animal Rescue Site2

The Child Health Site

The Literacy site

The Breast Cancer Site

Child health site

The Hunger Site

Vote for a Shelter site again

Happy Almost Holidays!

2011-12-18T20:42:00.005-05:00

I would like to extend a warm wish for a safe and lovely holiday to everyone. This time of year is crazy busy, but it is always important to take time to slow down enough to thank everyone who makes this all possible.

Thank you to the volunteers who give up their weekends, change plans and generally rearrange their lives in order to help "make it work".

Thank you to the foster homes who give of themselves every single day.

Thank you to the supporters who believe in what we do and help to make the financial side of things a little less scary and make the special case "do-able".

Thank you to our amazing vets, who are always willing to look at something unusual, to help with the regular issues and who go above and beyond on a regular basis.

Thank you to the adopters who open their hearts and homes to these lovely souls - and make space for one more to come into the program.

You are all awesome and I love every single one of you. :o)
Have a great holiday however you decide to spend it.
And a huge, humble thank you to the animals - who teach us so many things every single day.

The picture above is for Kuranda beds.

They are having a donation challenge - until December 22nd, for every 10 beds donated they will add 2 free cat beds. These look very cool - if you would consider passing the word along that would be great.

It would be lovely to get a couple of dog or cat beds, or a cat tower donated to Project Jessie creatures - but if you go to kuranda.com/donate you can choose from a pull down menu of shelters all across Canada and the US, and maybe you would prefer to donate to a shelter or rescue closer to you?

Take care and best wishes to everyone!
Shelly and crew

What's Wrong With This Dog?

2011-10-18T13:33:00.003-04:00

The answer - thankfully, not as much as I thought there might be.

The last few weeks have been up and down - a few nice stories, a few nice adoptions, a few sad tales, a few disasters - you know, the usual. :o)

This fellow is Ernie. I just met him this morning. When he arrived from the pound he was so badly matted that we couldn't see his eyes (they were "glued" shut with infection). He weighs 5.1 kilos (about 11 pounds) and should be about double that. Since he is so emaciated, you would think that he should be ravenously hungry right? Wrong.

He will eat liver treats.
Only liver treats.
He won't take wet or dry food, even with liver powder sprinkled on top, with liver treat bits mixed in (he can eat around every single morsel of "other" food), or with liver treats carefully hidden at the bottom of the pile.
Nope.

We shall see - I am now armed with a veritable smorgasbord of smelly, hopefully tempting foods and I am sure that he will want to eat at least one of them. So what is wrong with him?
Give his extreme thinness and lack of appetite I suspected cancer, or maybe Cushing's - but no - the blood work all looks good. We haven't done a fecal test yet because he didn't pass anything at the vet.
Of course on our way home he managed to squirt bloody diarrhea all over the front seat carpet of my car, so I will take that back later this afternoon for testing. Good boy.

He does have a skin infection, including his eyes. The diarrhea could be stress, parasites or any number of other more benign issues.

If I can get him to eat that will be a good first step.

Wish me luck!
Shelly and crew

How adorable? Gentle vampire kittens!

2011-09-13T09:15:00.002-04:00

These two little girls are only 10 weeks old, and are looking for a home to call their own.

They are currently being fostered in the Toronto area, have had their first shots and been dewormed. If you are interested in adopting- please email shelly@animalalliance.ca

And if you aren't looking to adopt, you need to see this darling video anyway. :o)
awwww.....

Shelly and crew

Summer fun...

2011-08-21T14:24:00.006-04:00

Yup - what a HOT summer it's been here. I hope you are coping okay.
As usual, every shelter seems full of cats and kittens - dogs are faring a bit better though.

Momma dog Ruby was adopted, dear Quiz has been placed, Toby is being adopted by his foster mom and even a few of the longer term dogs have found homes.

One girl we have had for quite awhile and is still looking, is Belle. She is a little pomeranian x girl (about 9 pounds), only 3 years old and very sweet. Although she gets along with the dogs and cats in her foster home, she would really prefer to be with people instead of other creatures, and will sometimes growl if they come to close while she is getting all the pats.
She would be AWESOME for someone who is just looking for a good buddy and doesn't have lots of other animals at home.

We have also started partnering with Tails in Toronto. They are going to be fostering some of our small animals, and it will be lovely to have a nice venue to feature some of the little guys.

They have already helped us to place Pumble - the hedgehog from Sherbrooke and we may have a home for Rosie the guinea pig. Stay tuned!

Anyway, I hope your summer isn't too busy, or too hot!
TTYS, Shelly and crew

Toronto Animals Are In Serious Trouble

2011-07-31T13:38:00.001-04:00

Toronto City Council is very seriously considering scrapping Toronto Animal Services ('TAS') and privatizing the services. Why should you care? It's important we all understand the repercussions if this goes through.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES TAS DO?
* TAS is a city service responsible for enforcing animal-related bylaws in Toronto.
* Pick up injured animals and provide either veterinary care or humane euthanasia
* Pick up dead wild/domestic animals
* Accept surrendered or stray animals and shelter them; if a dog or cat is deemed available for adoption, they are spayed/neutered, microchipped, dewormed, treated for fleas, vaccinated and licensed
* Run four animal shelters that adopt out animals In 2010, just ONE of these shelters adopted out:
391 dogs
287 small animals
1029 cats
* Provide low-cost euthanasia to the public
* Reunite lost pets with owners
* Deal with animal-related complaints
* Work with local rescues to place certain animals in a more appropriate environment
* Operate a free spay/neuter clinic for cats
* Provide Dog Bite Prevention programs to elementary schools
* Respond to animal-related complaints such as dog bites

SO WHY SHOULDN'T TORONTO CONTRACT OUT ANIMAL SERVICES?
* There is no accountability when a private company runs animal services.

* A for-profit company has very different motivations than a city shelter or private rescue. It is ALWAYS cheaper to euthanize animals than to shelter them, provide vet care and adopt them out. It is also ALWAYS cheaper to euthanize them improperly, causing pain and fear. If a shelter provides proper care, veterinary services and community outreach, it cannot be a for-profit model.

* Contracting animal services out to a for-profit company has lead to disaster in Montreal. There, the city had an agreement with a private pound, Berger-Blanc, and recently footage of horrific abuse and neglect.
Read about the horrors at Berger-Blanc here (a CBC news report - graphic in nature):
http://www.facebook.com/l/RAQA3PwfWAQCd4k6pNQWa1ukhnV5TKHTGBeZdOJNT7W36Tw/www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/04/20/montreal-animal-pound-euthanasia.html

The Montreal SPCA's reaction:
http://www.facebook.com/l/_AQDa-MRkAQB9UBzOOzD-cXNXWF-VIIhj_CeLSCIHJsGjMQ/www.spcamontreal.com/media1.php?lg=en&%3Bid=83

You can see the documentary yourself here (very graphic - be prepared):
http://www.facebook.com/l/FAQCkVP7TAQCjVUrKhNq7iCoQYWsnAKEv9u97XTBzr-Btyg/www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5NmSTakew4

Note that at Berger Blanc:
- Euthanasia was done improperly, in the cheapest way possible.
- Very few adoptions occurred.
- Very few lost animals were reunited with owners.
- Veterinary care was not provided.
- Employees administered injections rather than veterinary technicians.

* Now many Montreal citizens want the city to take over animal control - but once it's been contracted out, the city won't have the resources or ability to take on that huge responsibility! That's why we have to keep TAS public while we still have the chance!

CAN YOU HELP TODAY?

* Write to your city councillor and let them know that TAS is important to you SEE HERE FOR YOUR CITY COUNCILLOR: http://www.facebook.com/l/aAQCxL1TGAQDubpXmTWUYOtb1PoHrjHl40pWUhTcEfEM6XA/app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp
* Spread the word to your friends, families and neighbours!
Below is the contact to get on the agenda for the September 19th meeting in Committee Room 1 Toronto City Hall. We need as many people as possible to attend but of the folks who speak, the only ones who will carry any weight will be city residents.

Specifically, we really need people who live in the Wards of the following Councillors. These guys sit on the Executive Committee and are closely allied with Mayor Ford and his brother Doug.

Paul Ainslie Ward 43 - Phone: 416-392-4008 Fax: 416-392-4006 councillor_ainslie@toronto.ca
Michelle Berardinetti Ward 35- Phone: 416-392-0213 Fax: 416-392-7394 councillor_berardinetti@toronto.ca
Mike Del Grande Ward 39 - Phone: 416-392-1374 Fax: 416-392-7431 councillor_delgrande@toronto.ca
Rob Ford (Mayor and Chair) - Phone: 416-397-FORD (3673)mayor_ford@toronto.ca
Doug Holyday Ward 3- Phone: 416-392-4002 Fax: 416-392-4004 councillor_holyday@toronto.ca
Norman Kelly Ward 40 - Phone: 416-392-4047 Fax: 416-696-4172 councillor_kelly@toronto.ca
Giorgio Mammoliti Ward 7 - Phone: 416-395-6401 Fax: 416-696-4218 councillor_mammoliti@toronto.ca
Peter Milczyn Ward 5- Phone: 416-392-4040 Fax: 416-392-4127 councillor_milczyn@toronto.ca
Denzil Minnan-Wong Ward 34 - Phone: 416-397-9256 Fax: 416-397-4100 councillor_minnan-wong@toronto.ca
Cesar Palacio Ward 17 - Phone: 416-392-7011 Fax: 416-392-0212 councillor_palacio@toronto.ca
Jaye Robinson Ward 25 - Phone: 416-395-6408 Fax: 416-395-6439 councillor_robinson@toronto.ca
David Shiner Ward 24 - Phone: 416-395-6413 Fax: 416-397-9290 councillor_shiner@toronto.ca
Michael Thompson Ward 37 - Phone: 416-397-9274 Fax: 416-397-9280 councillor_thompson@toronto.ca

To sign up to speak contact:
Secretariat Contact Frances Pritchard
10th floor, West Tower, City Hall
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2

email: exc@toronto.ca
phone: 416-392-6627
fax: 416-392-1879

What KPMG Recommended:

Even though the licensing of cats and dogs brought in $660,000 above the actual cost of the programme and despite the fact that at least 72% of the donations which totalled $253,000 in 2010 came in when licenses were renewed, KPMG is recommending that the current licensing be abandoned and the City consider a lift-time microchip programme. The lifetime micro-chip sounds like a good idea but what KPMG and Council fail to take into account is that in order for the programme to work, the City still needs to keep a data base and still update the database and that will cost money but less money will be coming in.

Consider reducing service level (response time) for Emergency Animal Rescue and Care by increasing service response time.
This would mean that injured animals would be left for up to 2 hours without pick up and animals left in hot cars would also not be attended to quickly. On this point I think the City is very vulnerable.

Consider requiring owners wishing to surrender animals to deliver them to the shelter. The City picks up animals from the elderly, poor and physically disadvantaged persons. This part of the programme is really small, and would not result in much cost savings.

Consider outsourcing some or all of animal care and enforcement delivery. This is really the crux of the discussion – to outsource TAS. The good thing is that there is really no-one to outsource TAS to. The THS appears at this point not to want the contract and I cannot imagine that the OSPCA would want it either (although I guess anything is possible). So in this case we need to fight on two fronts – opposing the contracting out of the service and cuts that would be so severe, TAS would essentially be crippled.

This url takes you to the motions from the Licensing Committee meeting on Monday:

http://www.facebook.com/l/MAQCtlfc0AQAubGzEV9dkSeaW-n4DqHULgyYgjQ_7w0M_WA/app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2011.LS6.1

Committee Decision
The Licensing and Standards Committee:

1. Recommends that the Executive Committee consider the opportunities contained in Appendix A, Part 2 of the KPMG Standing Committee Summary for the Licensing and Standards Committee.

Decision Advice and Other Information
The Licensing and Standards Committee:

1. Requested the City Manger to review the List of Opportunities in Appendix A, Part 2, to ensure service efficiencies are maximized to meet the 2012 budget targets and multi-year service and financial planning objectives and report directly to the Executive Committee on September 19, 2011.

2. Requested that the City Manager include the following in his report to the Executive Committee meeting on September 19, 2011:

a. Any opportunities for further integration of By-law Enforcement.

b. The possibility of expanding animal licensing in Toronto.

c. The possibility of updating the online licensing system.

d. The possibility of maximizing online donations to Toronto Animal Services.

e. The possibility of establishing an animal services sub-committee of the Licensing and Standards Committee.

f. The feasibility of requiring micro-chipping of dogs and cats as a requirement of licensing.
g. A review of pet licensing options, including the option of a lifetime licensing system to replace the current annual licensing fee, with micro-chipping dogs and cats as a requirement.

The most problematic motion (see below) from made by Frances Nunziata. The motion was defeated because Gloria Lindsay-Luby was not present and we one other Councillor voted to defeat the motion. However, if this motion is brought up to the Exec Committee on the 19th of September, it is very likely that it would pass.

1b - Motion to Amend Item (Additional) moved by Councillor Frances Nunziata (Lost)
That the City Manager include the following in his report to the Executive Committee meeting on September 19, 2011:

1. Reducing the role of Animal Services where other organizations provide shelter and adoption services. The OSPCA and affiliated Humane Society already take in all animals, even chickens. This would allow animal control officers to enforce the by-law and respond to calls. Any strays or animals picked up can be dropped off at the nearest OSPCA/Humane Society while the City would retain the licensing.

The best? time of year...

2011-07-15T12:43:00.002-04:00

Summer is in full swing - hot and sunny and gorgeous weather (I am really NOT a winter person!) but even glorious summer has it's downside.

The biggest? The fact that most of the world takes their holidays in the summer.

That's a tough thing to do if you are a foster home - creatures need to be shuffled temporarily - but it is doable.
The other aspect - people who have been thinking about "getting rid of" their animals now have a date - it is always easier for the humans to move the animals before they go off to enjoy themselves on vacation.

Personally I think summer is a wonderful time to adopt. If you are home on vacation, it gives you and your new friend time to get used to each other and lets you bond before you are back to your normal work routines.

If you have kids, they are home now and can be fully part of the process before school comes and those routines start up again.

Adoptions are very slow this time of year, and the need is great. If you are thinking about adopting - please consider a summer romance that will last a lifetime. A new friend may be waiting patiently for you right now!

Have a great summer,
Shelly and crew

It must be Spring...

2011-06-27T06:23:00.005-04:00

The calls just keep coming...

"I am going on vacation and I don't want my cat anymore..."
"I am moving and can't (won't) take my dog...."
"I found a cat (that I have been feeding for 3 years) under my porch and she has 8 kittens now (again)..."
"My dog had puppies (again) and I can't find homes for them..."
"I am allergic to my cat/dog (that I have lived with for the last 10 years)..."

All the "Can you take them?" calls that make rescuers feel so tired and inadequate

Project Jessie was originally created to work with pounds and shelters - mostly the pounds and shelters that still send their animals to research. If we have space, we also work with pounds that we have good relationships with that just need a hand - with socializing young animals, with a creature that is sweet but isn't coping with the busy shelter environment, with a gentle, sweet but traumatized animal. We help with all ages, all conditions and all species. Rarely do we take in owner surrendered animals, but sometimes we can't help but be suckered by a particularly sad story.

We try and help the maximum number of animals that we possibly can at any particular time.

We have foster homes - we don't have a central shelter where we go to work and come home again at night. That means that every new animal taken in, every mom with kittens, every senior dog with medical needs that make them not very adoptable, every messy, active wonderful group of puppies - every single one of those animals is going into someones home (and heart) and making their life richer but busier.

It also means that sometimes we have to say no. We know which shelters are overflowing with cats and kittens and will be killing if we can't offer help. We know which shelters have dogs that really just need sometime in a quiet environment to let them blossom. We know which shelters have creatures that need some vet care to be healthy and ready to adopt.

We also know that sometimes, we don't have the space to take in even one more.
That makes me sad.

Each of us is only one person.
But if each of us did something to help, it all adds up to something huge.

This time of year, the biggest issue is cats and kittens. Most shelters are drowning in kittens right now, and that means that the awesome adult cats often get overlooked. Senior kitties don't stand a chance.
And every day we get the "Can you take this litter I found?" calls.

I usually say to people that we are really, really full, but if they are willing to foster that litter, send me pictures and I will post them to the website, Project Jessie will spay mom and get the kittens vaccinated and help to get them adopted from THEIR home.

Very few people ever take me up on the offer - Why?
"I don't have time for that..."
"I can't have them in the house because I already have one cat (or dog)...."
"It isn't MY cat/dog/bunny/fill in the blank..."

Want to really help?
- Offer to foster for your local shelter or rescue group- or for Project Jessie if you are in southern Ontario. It is a lot of work - but means the world of difference to every individual animal you help.

- Adopt your next friend from a shelter or rescue group. Do not buy animals from pet stores while others are being killed in shelters. No matter what species, breed or age you are looking for you can find them in rescue. Maybe not this very second - but given a little patience - your next best friend is waiting. http://www.petfinder.com is a great resource and is North America wide.

- Have your own animals spayed and neutered! And make sure your friends do too.

- If you truly do need to rehome your pet, take some responsibility, and have some compassion, and find them a home yourself. It will be easier on them (no bouncing from home, to foster home, to adoptive home), and leaves the foster homes to do what they do best - help animals that would be killed tomorrow if not for the space available today.

There is nothing magical about finding animals homes - it is just plain old hard work, networking, getting the story out there, and using every opportunity to talk about adoption and what great companions that shelter creatures make.

Ruby is a foster girl pictured above. She was abandoned with her mate, and a few days after being turned into the shelter, she gave birth to 9 puppies. The shelter is one of the good ones - but baby animals have a tendency to pick up whatever illnesses are going around, it is hard to adequately socialize that many puppies in a shelter environment, and the shelter is noisy and scary for most new moms. So - she came into foster care.

Her foster mom did a great job and most of the pups are in new homes now - but momma is still waiting.

Ruby is an awesome girl. She is quiet and gentle, she is good with other dogs (although she will guard her food from them), and she will play ball for ages.

She has been spayed and is looking for her new family.

If you are looking for a new companion and think Ruby might be a gem for you, please email or call. One more animal in her new home, means one more animal we can take in.

Thanks,
Shelly and crew

One week until the WalkAThon at Woofstock

2011-06-05T17:45:00.005-04:00

Yikes!
Only a week to go and then Project Jessie will be at the K9 Rescue Me Walkathon down at Woofstock (Toronto, ON) next Sunday June 12th.

Between juggling fosters cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, bunnies, birds and hedgehogs, looking after my own creatures and petsitting for two of my neighbours who have PJ adoptees, being at the Ontario Agility Regionals last week (it was awesome!), trying to do a couple of home visits, and helping a couple of sick pets - well, things have been a bit crazy and I am afraid I haven't been planning for the walkathon that well.

If you are interesting in walking, please download a pledge sheet at:

www.ProjectJessie.ca/events.html

and join us on June 12th!

For more information, visit www.rescuemewalk.com

If you can't join us in walking, but want to pledge, you can donate through my Canada Helps page and receive your tax receipt right away:

http://www.canadahelps.org/gp/12921

Thanks for your support - I hope we see you there!
Shelly

By the way, the momma and pups pictured above are looking for homes. Ruby is a sweet shep mix and her 9 babies are all named after gemstones. There are boys and girls in a range of black and tan shades. If you are looking to adopt a new friend, please email shelly@animalalliance.ca

Thanks!

What I Like Most About Fostering

2011-05-20T17:34:00.002-04:00

#1 - I love it when one of my fosters goes into a fabulous home. :o)

Most recent case like that - the lovely young couple who adopted Miss Boots and were so sweet - they even brought me a card to say thanks for letting them adopt. Awww!

#2 - I love the way that little kittens ears wiggle when they are nursing.

#3- I love knowing that we made a huge difference in a wonderful animals life. If Project Jessie hadn't taken him/her they would be in a bad place or even dead.

It isn't always easy fostering.

Sometimes your foster can be ill, scared, confused or even angry. Sometimes at first they don't seem to appreciate what you are doing for them. Sometimes they act out - chew the sofa, pee on the rug, cower or cry...

But when you hold that little one, and promise them that they are safe now,

or that you will do everything you can to help,

or that everything will be okay...

and when they finally seem to understand that things ARE going to be okay

It is a truly wonderful feeling.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Hug those creatures that you share your home with and please give them a little squeeze from me.

Shelly and crew

Busy, busy!

2011-05-09T11:55:00.004-04:00

Phhheeew - I have been very bad at keeping things up to date here - I will try and be better!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello at the All About Pets Show on Easter weekend.

It was very busy, and very successful - several small animals found new homes, we had good leads for a few larger animals and we talked to many people about the benefits of adoption.

All in all a great (but tiring) weekend!

Andrea and I were talking the other day about how busy things have seemed lately and we put our heads together and created a spreadsheet of what creatures had come into foster and/ or been adopted in the last 2 weeks or so. Including many birds (34 finches, 9 doves, 6 budgies - yikes!) Project Jessie has taken in 97 creatures in the last 2 weeks. This included cats/kittens, dogs/puppies, guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, hamsters, birds and a hedgehog.

No wonder we are all pooped!

Many have already gone into their foster or permanent homes, and a few have homes lined up but are not yet there. But that is a lot of little critters to worry about, transport, vet, care for and arrange for.

Busy! Busy!

(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

A Very Cool Day!

2011-03-02T11:13:00.002-05:00

Awww - yesterday was a lot of fun!

It is easy to get caught up in the sad stuff, the worrisome stuff and the just plain annoying, from time to time.:o)
That's why it is so nice to have just a nice, very cool animal day once in awhile.

So what happened? Well, Murray (above) wasn't working out in his new house - the resident cat hated him and was acting out, so they decided to let him come back to the program.

I spoke to a lovely local artist who had been interested in this dear boy. Was she still interested in meeting him? YES! She was very excited! So yesterday I picked him up from his new home and took him to his potential new, new home.

The resident cats seemed interested and easy going, the resident dogs were excited but friendly and his new "mom" loves him already. What a lovely place. I had coffee and a long talk and then got to meet the other residents. What a treat! Two big ponies with their shaggy winter fur, a charming mini donkey and then I got to meet the "ladies. I have never been given "alpaca kisses" before. They were so gentle, soft and those gorgeous big, dark eyes.

It was awesome.

I hope you had a great day with animals too.
************

Hi all,
You may know about the Pepsi Challenge - they are giving away a total of $200,000 every cycle (2months) to various groups and individuals in Canada
Project Jessie came in 4th last time (we needed to be top 3 to win $10,000) so we are trying one more time.

Please consider registering and voting for us. If you would like to be added to my daily email reminder list, email me at shelly@animalalliance.ca
***********
A new voting cycle has started in the Pepsi Challenge - Please Vote if you are able.

Thank you for voting! The first few days are critical!
If we can get into one of the top 3 positions in the next few days we have a really good chance of holding there and winning $10,000.

PLEASE be sure to vote everyday at least for the next few days.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been helping us!

You do have to register once.
If you registered last time around, the same password will still work.
After you sign in, (there is a button in the lower left hand corner) you get 10 votes per day (but can only vote for an idea once daily)

Remember you have to be signed in order to have your vote count. (Even though it lets you click the "Vote now" button when you first get on the site - those votes won't count). If you check your "vote counter" at the bottom of the page you can make sure your vote went through...

If you have trouble reading the "squiggly words", hitting "refresh" will give you new words. Keep refreshing until you get two you can easily read.

The shortcut to our idea is:
http://www.refresheverything.ca/projectjessie

Thanks everyone!
If you are voting and have extra votes to use, there are a lot of great ideas in the other prize categories!

Amazing adoption week or two!

2011-02-07T12:52:00.002-05:00

To start off, what an amazing couple of adoption weeks/weekends Project Jessie has been having!

In the last 2 weeks, the amazing Andrea placed Coco (her foster springer spaniel pup), a tabby kitten, 2 exotic kittens (balinese /tonkinese), a siameser and 4 "fancy mice".
Jane cat's adoption was finalized and Duffy (the deaf kitten we've had since May - recovered from a traumatic injury) also left Andrea for his forever home.
We both worked to place Toby (chi x pom).
Saturday I adopted out my foster dog Chester (shihtzu x), and Sunday I adopted Penny (our lovely orange senior cat) and Pepsi & Sprite (two tabby kittens that were born to a feral mom). I have a good lead for Murray (our white persian) and even a lead for Sweetpea (a dear senior tuxedo girl).

A flurry of activity and an interesting fact - all of these lovely creatures came to us via 6 different agencies all across Ontario!

20 animals (3 dogs/puppies, 11 cats/kittens, 4 mice, 1 hamster) moved from foster care to adoptive homes in under 2 weeks.
Wow!

*****
Please help us by voting in the Pepsi Challenge if you are able.

A lot of you have expressed frustration that we aren't moving - me too! Thank you for voting - We can do it!

One of our members pointed out that you have to be signed in order to have your vote count. (Even though it lets you click the "Vote now" button when you first get on the site - those votes won't count). If you check your "vote counter" at the bottom of the page you can make sure your vote went through...

If you have trouble reading the "squiggly words", hitting "refresh" will give you new words. Keep refreshing until you get two you can easily read.

Please vote for Project Jessie in the Pepsi "Refresh Everything" Challenge. Thanks to everyone who is voting! We are still in 4th place (and we need to be in the top 3 to win $10,000)

You do have to register once, and every day you get 10 votes (but can only vote for an idea once daily) Thanks everyone!

The shortcut to our idea is:
http://www.refresheverything.ca/projectjessie

2011-01-06T09:34:00.002-05:00

It's started!

Please vote for Project Jessie in the Pepsi "Refresh Everything" Challenge. We are competing in the $10,000 category and at the moment, are way back in 47th place...

You do have to register once, and every day you get 10 votes (but can only vote for an idea once daily)

The shortcut to our idea is:
http://www.refresheverything.ca/projectjessie

Thanks everyone!

********************************
This week is also the first week of the Bissell MVP (Most Valuable Pet) Photo Contest
Submit a photo from January 5 to January11 and voting will run January 12 to January 18
http://www.blogger.com/www.bissell.com/petcontest

In the first week, I have submitted a photo of my own dog Sugar. Please let me know if you have a photo accepted so that I can ask people to vote for you!
Thanks!

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3
On the Web:
www.ProjectJessie.ca
www.animalalliance.ca
email: shelly@animalalliance.ca

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not brethern, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

Happy New Year Everyone

2011-01-02T15:01:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a peaceful, safe and warm holiday.

They say you should start the new year as you hope to fill it. In some ways I hope that isn't true as it was a very mixed bag for me.

You see, I started off the new year sitting in the vet emerg clinic with a sick kitty blowing snot bubbles and mouth breathing, (Boo!) but had a very happy afternoon when I agreed to the adoption of a Mom cat AND her two kittens to the same home. (Yay!)

Driving home from the clinic, my "engine light" came on and stayed on. Harrumpphh!

I talked about taking in a sad 12year old kitty whose owner collapsed and was on the floor for more than 48 hours before someone found her. And talked to someone nice about adopting one of our foster dogs. I talked to another nice family about adopting a bunny. Then had two calls looking to surrender animals to us.

So as you can see - pretty typical emotional roller coaster day in rescue land!

Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful new year full of positive things.

I hope 2011 is a great year all around! Cheers!
(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

THANK YOU!!!

2010-12-16T14:46:00.005-05:00

Hurray! We did it!
We made the finals of the AVIVA community fund contest.
Thank you so much to everyone who voted - the support was awesome!
Now the finalist ideas go to the AVIVA group of judges, and winners will be announced January 25th... fingers crossed!

Today is also the last day to get your requests in for Project Jessie Christmas adoption packages. If you were planning on ordering one for that "hard to gift" person on your list, you can phone the office at 416-462-9541 or email Lia (lia@animalalliance.ca)

And while we don't recommend giving pets as gifts, if you are having a quiet holiday and were thinking of adopting a new friend for yourself, please remember that Project Jessie has many lovely animals looking for permanent homes right now. Perhaps you can find a perfect new friend to share the holidays with? Feel free to email me and I will be happy to chat with you about the creatures we have and whether there is a potential match.

Thanks everyone! And a safe and happy holiday to you and your families!
Shelly and crew

Please Help Project Jessie win $25,000

2010-12-06T11:21:00.002-05:00

Come on guys - I know we can do it!
We keep hovering between 10th and 11th place. It would be much better for my nerves if we could be hovering around 5th or 6th place... :o)

As you know, Project Jessie has submitted one of the Ideas in the AVIVA Community Fund competition.
Thanks to you - Project Jessie has made the finals!

The final round of public voting started December 2nd and runs to Dec.15

We need to make it into the top 10 small ideas (out of 30 finalists)to get our chance at $25,000 Thank you SO MUCH for your help! We are facing some stiff competition.

You do need to register once, and create your own password for their site. Every email address that registers, even if it is a free account like Hotmail or Live, is allowed to vote once each day.
If you have more than one email account, please consider voting more than once.

The link below will take you straight to our idea - then click to vote.

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf7965

Please help us out, and please pass along to your email list of friends and family. If there is anyone that you know is voting but isn't on this list, let me know at shelly@animalalliance.ca and I would be happy to add them so that they get a daily reminder.

While you are on the idea page, please check out the new slideshow. You may recognize a PJ dog or cat - maybe one you adopted. :o)

It would mean a great deal to the animals if we won!
Thank you for voting!!!
Shelly

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3
On the Web:
www.ProjectJessie.ca
www.animalalliance.ca
email: shelly@animalalliance.ca

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not brethern, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

Please Help Project Jessie win $25,000

2010-11-15T14:38:00.004-05:00

Dear animal friend,
As you probably know, Project Jessie has submitted one of the Ideas in the AVIVA Community Fund competition.
If our idea is one that wins, we would get $25,000 to help Project Jessie.

Here we go!!!
The third (and last) semi final round starts TODAY - November 15th. People have emailed me to say that they forgot to vote some days - so I will be posting here, and sending one email reminder to people on the e-activists list every day just for the 10 days of voting.

If everyone who voted in the second round, voted every day in the third round - we should easily make it into the top 10 small ideas - and into the finals.

You do need to register once, and create your own password for their site. Everyone who registers, is allowed to vote once a day.
The link below will take you straight to our idea every time you vote.

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf7965

Please help us out, and please pass along to your email list of friends and family. If there is anyone that you know is voting but isn't on this list, let me know at shelly@animalalliance.ca and I would be happy to add them so that they get a daily reminder.

It would mean a great deal to the animals if we won!
Thank you, thank you!!!
Shelly

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3
On the Web:
www.ProjectJessie.ca
www.animalalliance.ca
email: shelly@animalalliance.ca

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not brethern, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

2010-11-10T11:26:00.004-05:00

Dear animal friend,

As you probably know, Project Jessie has submitted one of the Ideas in the AVIVA Community Fund competition.

The second round of voting has ended and the bad news is that we were not in the top 10 - which we needed to be to move into the finals.

The good news is - the third (and last) semi final round starts November 15th. People have emailed me to say that they forgot to vote some days - so I will be sending one email reminder every day just for the 10 days of voting.

If everyone who voted at least once in the second round, voted every day in the third round - we should easily make it into the top 10 small ideas - and into the finals.

If our idea is one that wins, we would get $25,000 to help Project Jessie.

You do need to register once, and create your own password for their site. Everyone who registers, is allowed to vote once a day. If you are registered before the 15th then you can jump right in to voting from the first day!

If you save this email, the link below will take you straight to our idea every time you click it to vote.

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf7965

Please help us out, and please pass along to your email list of friends and family.

It would mean a great deal to the animals!
Thanks,

Shelly

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3

On the Web:
http://www.projectjessie.ca/
http://www.animalalliance.ca/
email: shelly@animalalliance.ca

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not brethern, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

Project Jessie Shelter Challenge

2010-11-02T10:18:00.009-04:00

Shelter Challenge Update
Thank you for voting!

Thanks so much to everyone who has been voting!

Because of you Project Jessie has been cruising along in first place (for Canada) in this challenge and if we can maintain it - we will win $1000.

It has been brought to my attention, that you can vote multiple times a day, through other pages on the Greater Good website. I suspect this is intentional on the part of the contest holders because they want more people to visit the rest of their site.

(One of our near competitors is urging all of their members to vote often - that's how they are rapidly gaining on us!)

I did contact the site to find out more info, but have not heard back.
So, I have voted multiple times today .. I am asking you to also.

You do need to "setup" each page once - Search under "Project Jessie", city "Caledon" "ON"
just like you did the first time, but after that, it will take you back to "the shelter you last voted for".

If you keep this email, you can click on each of the links below every day, and go directly to another voting page.

Thank you SO MUCH for your help!!!

Shelly and crew =^..^=

These are all the places where you can go EVERY DAY to vote !!!

Vote for a Shelter @ The Animal Rescue Site

The Animal Rescue Site

Vote for a Shelter

Vote for a Shelter @ Rainforests

The Rain forest Site

Vote for a Shelter 2

To Give

Vote for a rescue site

The feed hunger site

The Animal Rescue Site2

The Child Health Site

Rainforest again

The Literacy site

The Breast Cancer Site

Child health site

The Hunger Site

Vote for a Shelter site again

Project Jessie - AVIVA Community Fund Voting

2010-10-26T22:55:00.001-04:00

Hi all,

Project Jessie has submitted one of the Ideas in the AVIVA Community Fund competition.
Voting started yesterday and ends on November 5th.
If our idea is one that wins, we would get $25,000 to helps Project Jessie.
Everyone who registers, is allowed to vote once a day

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf7965

Please help us out, and please pass along to your email list of friends and family.
It would mean a great deal to the animals!
Thanks,
Shelly

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3

On the Web:
www.ProjectJessie.ca
www.animalalliance.ca
www.cruelscience.ca

email: shelly@animalalliance.ca

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not brethern, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

Thank you!

2010-10-05T14:26:00.004-04:00

Woo hoo! We are currently in first place for Canada on the Animal Rescue Site Shelter Challenge...

Thank you to everyone who is voting! Don't forget - please vote everyday, and you can even sign up for a daily reminder (it's on the same page where you "click to donate food").

If you are like me, I need that daily reminder!

Please keep asking friends and family to vote too! Voting continues until December 19th so we can't let up the pressure. The animals thank you too!!!

Now, what I am really hoping is that we can turn this into more adoptions as well.

People have been emailing me, saying things like "I just found out about your rescue because of the shelter challenge". Besides winning some money for the animals (ALWAYS helpful!), I would be so happy if the exposure resulted in a few extra adoptions.

At the moment we have some really special dogs and cats, and we have many, many kittens. Unfortunately, most other rescues and shelters do too....

If you know anyone who is looking for a new fur friend, please talk to them about adoption. And if they are in Southern Ontario, please encourage them to check out the Project Jessie website as well as their closest local shelters. There are so many deserving creatures looking for new homes!

Pictured above is Jane. She was an orphan kitty, but is healthy, well socialized and now ready to go to a new home. Maybe with her foster brother Jasper. Wouldn't you like to bring her home?

ttys,

Shelly and crew =^..^=

2010-09-13T14:26:00.002-04:00

Help Project Jessie win a $10,000 grant!

Dear friends,

Vote for us at www.theanimalrescuesite.com and we could win $10,000 to help our Project Jessie animals in need.

Think how many animals we could help for $10,000!

Help us win! All you have to do is "click to help rescued animals", and then vote in The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge. Both of these actions are absolutely free! You can vote once a day, every day, from September 20th through December 19th, 2010. Every time you vote, or tell a friend to vote, you are making a huge difference for us.

Get your friends and family involved - and get ready to start voting!

Visit: www.theanimalrescuesite.com

The Animal Rescue Site is a "Click to Give" website. You can click on a button to help fund food and care for animals. It's free, and only takes a second of your time. Click every day!

Petfinder.com is an online, searchable database of animals that need homes, and a directory of approximately 13,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Since we first joined, Petfinder has helped us to find homes for many Project Jessie dogs and cats.

It's free to help and you won't get lots of new and annoying spam because of it.:o)

Please spread the word and help us get some votes - and sign up for daily reminders so you can vote everyday!
Thanks!!!

Shelly and crew =^..^=

DANGER! - potential cuteness overload....

2010-08-23T12:19:00.004-04:00

This adorable pair of kitties are Pomfrey (big white guy) and Lloyd (the little tabby and white fellow). Lloyd is developmentally delayed - he is about 4 months old now but acts maybe 5 or 6 weeks young. Pomfrey doesn't seem to care though - he thinks Lloyd is a lovely little guy and is happy to cuddle him and lick his head.

Thanks to the awesome staff at the Danforth vet clinic who have been fostering Lloyd for the past couple of months while we watched how he progressed.

Lloyd is a weird little guy - but totally adorable!

******************

Phheewww - summer is flying by and I am glad to be back to mostly "normal" again!

This summer I actually went away on vacation - the last time I did that was 10 years ago! It was excellent - we went to the east coast, saw whales, seals, puffins, bald eagles, visited with family - all good stuff!

Thanks so much to Jacqui who came and "critter sat", Andrea, Debra, the girls at Global Pet Foods, Willa, and everyone else who made it possible for me to leave critters here in good hands and not worry too much. Thank you!!!

Now that I am back, things are ramping up to busy again. With dogs, we have pups to seniors, in cats we have 2 nursing moms and their babies, kittens, cats to seniors.

The biggest happy news - dear Luki has a home!!! After waiting so long, he has gone to live with a really nice lady and her dog Olive (who looks just like Luki except with slightly longer fur). Luki was really comfortable with them and i am so happy.

The other big news is that the beagles and cats at the University of Guelph VStep program all have homes to go to. Thank you to everyone!

I hope your summer is going well - and please hug your companion critters today!

ttys, Shelly and crew

There are always nice kitties looking for homes...

2010-07-18T10:08:00.003-04:00

Here is one of the ways we try and stir up homes - Emma and Andrea on Animal Housecalls last week with Angelina and Shiloh (mom and baby foster cats)

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=ctvlocal/hub/hub.html&cf=ctvlocal/cp24.cfg&hub=CP24Animalhouse

Anyone looking to adopt a new friend or two?

Hope you are having a great summer!
Shelly and crew =^..^=

Recall of Pet Nutritional Supplements - Possible Salmonella contamination

2010-07-10T12:26:00.006-04:00

If you feed your pet nutritional supplements, please click here to read the entire list of United Pet Group products on the recall list.

The recalled products are sold nationally at various retailers under various names. The products include United Pet Group Pro-Pet and Excel branded products for dogs and cats, and certain other private label brands of the same products.

Be safe!

The pretty lady above is Angelina. She and her tuxedo baby Shiloh are ready to be adopted. Do you know anyone who is looking for a lovely new kitty or two?

Shelly and crew =^..^=

2010-06-07T12:37:00.002-04:00

Help Project Jessie win a $10,000 grant!

Dear friends,

Vote for us at www.theanimalrescuesite.com and we could win $10,000 to help our Project Jessie animals in need.

Think how many animals we could help for $10,000!

Help us win! All you have to do is "click to help rescued animals", and then vote in The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge. Both of these actions are absolutely free! You can vote once a day, every day, from May 17th through August 22nd, 2010. Every time you vote, or tell a friend to vote, you are making a huge difference for us.

Vote today!

Visit: www.theanimalrescuesite.com

The Animal Rescue Site is a "Click to Give" website. You can click on a button to help fund food and care for animals. It's free, and only takes a second of your time. Click every day!

Petfinder.com is an online, searchable database of animals that need homes, and a directory of approximately 13,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Since we first joined, Petfinder has helped us to find homes for many Project Jessie dogs and cats.

It's free to help and you won't get lots of new and annoying spam because of it.:o)

Please vote today - and sign up for daily reminders so you can vote everyday!
Thanks!!!

Shelly and crew =^..^=

Big events coming up - the Walk-A-Thon in June and the Petfinder Shelter Challenge

2010-05-27T13:39:00.002-04:00

DON'T FORGET!!!
The Animal Rescue Site, www.theanimalrescuesite.com is hosting a special challenge for rescue groups in Canada and the U.S.
The grand prize is a $10,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes - a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.

Just go to the Animal Rescue site, click on the side tab 'Shelter Challenge',
or go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&link=ctg_ars_shelterchallenge_from_contestwinners_sidetabs

Some people have been confused by the process, so here it is step-by-step. It sounds more complicated than it really is. :o)

There will be a purple box in the middle of the screen. that says "Search and Vote for a Shelter"
The shelter name is "Project Jessie" and the country is "CAN" on the drop down menu. After you change the country, it take s a second and the "STATE" menu will change to "Prov", choose "ON" , the city is "Caledon"
Click on "SEARCH". Wait a second...
You get a new section underneath but inside the purple box that says the shlter name and has a button marked "VOTE"
Click "VOTE"
You are taken to a new screen where they show you a picture of an animal. You have to type the name of the animal in to confirm your vote. (So that clever people can't set up computer programs to vote for them all day long...) :o)

If you don't confirm your vote it will not count - so please be sure you have named the animal and pressed "enter" before you leave the site!

Once you have voted once, the same shelter name will come up every time you visit the site .
You can also sign up for daily email reminders.

Please ask family and friends to vote too! I don't think we have a hope of winning the big prize, but I am sure that we still have a good chance at one of the Canadian ones. Pass this message along and lets get clicking!

Also, by clicking on the purple button at The Animal Rescue Site, www.theanimalrescuesite.com you give food to an animal living in a shelter or sanctuary--at no cost to you. This only takes a few seconds. Please, click every day. To make this a breeze, you can select to have daily click reminders (left column under 'Free Ways to Help).

For your help, MANY thanks!
Shelly and crew =^..^=

It makes no sense...

2010-05-16T09:50:00.005-04:00

Hi all,
I know that there are many, many of you who have been running like crazy this week.

Trying to get some answers, trying to offer help, trying to make a difference, or just trying to understand what the heck happened/ is happening/ will happen with the poor creatures at the OSPCA.

I have been doing the same.

Animal Alliance has been trying to work through the municipalities.
People have asked why Project Jessie hasn't been telling people what they should do.
That's because I don't know what to do.
The lack of information, changes of information and reversals of information have been mind boggling.

We have a number of foster homes and vets waiting and willing to take animals. I have contacted every person that I think might be able to make something happen - and still we wait.

If you live in Aurora, Richmond Hill or Markham, please continue to push your municipal council to find out what is going on with the animals from your community.

If you live elsewhere, please continue to support Frank Klees, MPP Newmarket-Aurora (416-509-8999) as he has been pushing really hard.

Please continue to ask that OMAFRA (the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) perform an inspection of the York Region Branch and provide an unbiased assessment of the current situation and how they arrived at the current state of affairs.

Since they oversee municipal pound inspections (and the york region branch has local pound contracts), they are the only independent body that is legally allowed to do so.

Please, please send a quick email to the Hon. Carol Mitchell, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (minister.omafra@ontario.ca) to demand that they look into this quickly.
The animals that are left and those still being sent to the shelter, really need your voice.
Thank you.

Shelly

Slightly sad - but really happy! (?!?What the heck is wrong with me!?!)

2010-05-10T13:17:00.006-04:00

Okay, so here is something that doesn't get talked about a lot - the emotional side of fostering.

The last few weeks have been brutal -several crises - 2 deaths - and for the past few weeks adoptions have been really, reallly, reeeeeaaalllly slow...

Especially for cats.

Over the past few weeks I have had one of my own long term foster kitties nearly die from an unknown, probably viral issue that I likely brought home on my clothes. You can probably guess that I am having severe guilt issues over that one even though it is the nature of this work...

We had a long term foster kitty in my bestest buddy Andrea's home die. Yes, he was a senior and yes it was kind of expected, but still...

My senior foster dog Ella went to a really fabulous home but I really do miss her.

And we had something happen that has never happened before in the history of Project Jessie - a relatively young dog that died of weird heart issues during a neuter surgery in one of our all time favorite vet clinics.

As I said - it has been a brutal few weeks.

So, this week, I have a momma cat (Izzy) and her daughter Claire being adopted together - yipee yipee hurray right?!? So why am I a wee bit sad about it?

And - Nelly and Bear (their pictures are above) - who have been in the program for nearly their entire lives (and over a year) - have a home to go to together on Thursday!!!! It is a fabulous home, they totally understand why they need to stay together and I am thrilled for these two kitties! So why am I really, really sad about it. Stupid aren't I?

But here is the secret - you need to care about animals in order to foster. And unfortunately, if you do care, it hurts when they go. And the longer you live with them, get to know them as individuals and love them, the more it hurts.

Yes it is good - no it is GREAT for the kitties involved. They get to have a home of their own where they can have the undivided attention of their new people. They don't have to share toys, or food bowls or litter boxes. And yes, their moving along opens up another space for a needy creature to come in. But still.

Every time feels like a little piece of my heart is moving along with them, and I worry. Are the people really as nice as they seem? Are they really going to love them as much as I do?

My head says - YES! - these are great adopters!!! But my heart is always the worrier - and I feel a bit of bittersweet sadness as I kiss them goodbye.

Oh I know - as I get updates I will feel more and more comfortable. And as the next needy creature comes along I will be nicely distracted and the ones that have moved along won't be so fresh in my mind. But still.

It is the nature of fostering and adoption that these guys come in, get what they need to be well, and move along to a permanent place.

I always send them along with a little piece of my heart - and a prayer/blessing/wish (whatever you want to call it and whatever you believe in) to the universe to keep them safe and happy.

I know that in the vast majority of cases I have made the best decision in letting them go. But sometimes - it still hurts for those of us left behind.

So if you are adopting a new friend from a rescue or shelter somewhere - that's awesome! - and Thank you!

But please spare a kind thought for the amazing foster person(s) who looked after your new baby. They may deserve (and need!) a little pat on the head too. :o)

Shelly and crew =^..^=

Horse Welfare Group calls for immediate closure of Canada's horse slaughter plants

2010-03-30T13:19:00.000-04:00

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2010/30/c6344.html

Chambers of Carnage - A Sweeping Undercover Investigation of Canada's Leading Equine Slaughterhouses

WESTBANK, BC, March 30 /CNW/ - In late February 2010, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) received hidden camera footage of horse slaughter practices at Quebec's Viande Richelieu and Alberta's Bouvry Exports - the latter known as North America's largest exporter of horsemeat. The CHDC has asked a panel of veterinarians, the BC SPCA and the World Society for the Protection of Animals to review the footage, which contains numerous instances of improper stunning and horses showing signs of returning consciousness.

Early audit results of the footage show automatic failures of both facilities.

The CHDC has compelling proof that puts into question the effectiveness of the assembly-line slaughter of horses. The evidence demonstrates that both the facilities in Alberta and Quebec fail to meet humane slaughter standards used by the CFIA to audit Canadian slaughterhouses.

The CHDC's June 2008 report on Natural Valley Farms - the now bankrupt horse slaughterhouse in Saskatchewan (http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/story/2009/10/01/national-horses-061008.html) documented the inadequate stunning of horses with the penetrating captive bolt gun.

At both plants in the February 2010 investigation, a .22 rifle was used, and again horses were shot incorrectly, with some regaining consciousness. As stated by Alberta veterinarian Dr. Debi Zimmermann: "I conclude that the wary and flighty nature of the horse, coupled with the poorly designed kill plant systems currently in place at Bouvry Exports and Viandes Richelieu, results in unacceptable levels of suffering endured by horses (both in number of horses and degree of suffering), and poses inherent dangers to plant personnel." Dr. Zimmermann adds: "The shooters are seldom able to adhere to the required protocols for euthanasia by firearm, due to a combination of horse and human factors."

As there are only two government-approved methods of stunning horses in Canada - captive bolt gun and rifle - and both methods have been shown to cause prolonged suffering in numerous horses, we conclude that these animals cannot be slaughtered humanely in today's slaughterhouse assembly lines.

The CHDC therefore calls for the immediate closure of Canada's horse slaughter plants.

To view footage, go to www.defendhorsescanada.org.

For further information: Twyla Francois, Central Region Director, T: (204) 296-1375; Sinikka Crosland, Executive Director, T: (250) 768-4803, Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, info@defendhorsescanada.org, www.defendhorsescanada.org

Help! (please???)

2010-03-06T22:40:00.004-05:00

Nelly and Bear are two VERY sweet cats that have been waiting for a forever home for almost a year now. Bear is the big buff guy and Nelly is his tabby sister.

Please!!! think about offering them a permanent place - chat them up to your co-workers, friends, family. There must be someone out there who is needing to be loved by these two?

Their foster mom writes:

" Hey Shelly, Things with us are well, they like their toys a lot! Especially plastic springs. Nelly likes to sit on a pillow on my lap. Bear is happy coming for cuddles when he wants, and as soon as he chirps Nelly runs for them too.

With the laser pen it is hilarious because when Bear 'catches' it with his paws he sits down, slowly looking under his paws. It is adorable. The two of them are much more active, but I still hear them running around during the night. Any news of interested people?"

Please help us to find these cats a loving, permanent place of their own. They are great kitties Thank you!

Shelly and crew

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2010-03-06T22:37:00.001-05:00

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Happy holiday?

2009-12-29T13:13:00.003-05:00

Hi all,
Midway through the holiday break, and - wow! where the heck did this month go!?!?!

I hope that your holidays were warm, safe and enjoyable - whatever your traditions or beliefs.

This Christmas was odd for me. I felt like I was running flat out and suddenly - there they were!

I usually travel to visit my family for two nights. The amount of planning and organizing that seems to take boggles even me. :o)

The dogs come along with us, but the cats and other creatures stay put and my wonderful neighbour looks in on them for me. This year it was slightly more complicated for her, with several creatures needing daily medications, but she managed just fine and I was grateful for her enabling me to get away for a couple of days.

Christmas itself was strange. My mother passed away this spring and this was our first Christmas without her. My sister has some scary medical stuff happening and my best friend and colleague is coping with yet another serious cancer in her immediate family.
It seems that everyone has something to worry about at the moment.:o(

I have been hoping for a "Christmas miracle" (or two!) I guess. Nothing really for me, although it sure would make me happy. Please consider thinking about this, and/or passing the information along. If we can make even one of these come through I will be more than pleased. Thanks!

So who are the creatures I am most worried about?

Luki is a young houndy boy and here is his story:
I knew that there was a dog in the kennel – but I could barely see his eyes waaayyyy back there. I was told he was a hound mix but with the small amount I could see of him, you could have told me he was anything and I would have had to believe you.

I sat very still, and tossed an endless stream of tiny treats through the little doorway – one treat at a time.

I could see him edge forward, grab the snack and twirl away back to the corner. We repeated this strange dance for quite awhile before he was confident enough to let me lay my hand on his shoulder.

I could feel him quiver and I knew just how scared he was.

“I don’t know what happened to you young fella”, I said softly,”but you are going to be alright – I promise.”

I picked him up to carry him out of the run and into my car. There was no way he was going to trust a leash – he had a long, long way to go before that would be an option.

We named this thin, leggy boy Luki. It became very obvious that he was sweet. Humans were scary, scary creatures to him, but he would never think about growling or lifting a lip. His strategy was just to duck and bob, weave and avoid. On the other hand – people had lots of those yummy treat things – so maybe they weren’t all bad???

Luki loves other dogs, and we decided that the best thing for his progress, would be to place him in a foster home with dogs of a similar size, who could set a good example for him. He needed confidence and to learn that people were good things.

Nancy kindly agreed to take him into her home. She is very experienced with dogs and has hosted some very tough Project Jessie fosters in the past. In fact – they were once foster dogs themselves. Her dogs are comfortable and confident with people – good role models for this scaredy boy!

Dear Luki was a mess the first few days. He had no idea what this new environment was all about – perhaps he had never been in a house before? He learned quickly though, and as his skinny body continued to grow – his mind was also growing to encompass some new ideas:

“Hey – people are okay!”
“Actually – this place is fun!”

At this point Luki has become a much more confident fellow. He is still timid in some new situations and with some new people – but he has made huge strides in a relatively short time and I think he will continue to progress given enough time and love.

The pound that he was in is one that does sell for research and Luki is a young, healthy, sweet tempered fellow. Whether he would have been used for research or killed because of his shyness I can’t say. Regardless, he would never have been adopted from there, and would never have been given the chance to know what life in a family is like, without the help of Project Jessie and the loving care of fosters like Nancy.

He is ready for a new home and a new life. Do you think he might in with YOUR family?

Adoptions this fall and winter have been super slow for kitties - even nice, beautiful cats like these.

Lindy and Frazier are siblings, and Princessa and Elliot joined in with them as friends. All 4 kitties have lived together for ages - now they are looking for homes to call their own.

If you are looking for a pair of kitties – any of these guys “mix and match” each other very well - they are ALL good friends with each other. All these kitties are just under a year old.

Gorgeous Elliot (The buff and white boy) was surrendered to a shelter when his people developed allergies.

Gentle Princessa was found wandering outdoors – lost and afraid and very pregnant. Barely out of kittenhood herself, she tried to be a good Mom – but her babies all passed away. Princessa has been sweet and lovely with everyone she has met. She likes nothing better than to be cuddled and fussed over. Doesn’t she have pretty colors?

Frazier (smokey black) and Lindy Lu (the wee tabby girl) are siblings whose Mom was an outdoor cat. Frazier came to me when he was about 8 weeks, and Lindy when she was about 12 weeks. Frazier has blossomed into a sweet, affectionate, handsome boy. Lindy Lu is still a bit shy and it takes her longer to warm up to new people. She is very happy to sit and cuddle with you once she knows you however.

All of these cats have been raised around children, other cats and are fine with gentle dogs. They have been spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. Their adoption fee is $100 each.

I would love for Lindy to be adopted with her brother (in which case the adoption fee will be $150 for the pair). She also gets along well with Princessa and she ADORES Elliot.

If you think that one or more of these sweeties might be the perfect new friend for you, please call Shelly at 519-940-4712 or email shelly@animalalliance.ca Thanks!

2009-11-27T10:54:00.003-05:00

Hi all,

Many of you may have heard about the recent issues at Toronto Humane Society.

While I am not offering any opinions on the matter, I am going to ask you to recognize the short-term ramifications.
　
Toronto Animal Services is already struggling under enormous pressures. Adoptions are slow, and numbers (especially cats and small animals) are up.

With things happening as they are at Toronto Humane, Animal Services is
expecting that even more animals will be appearing at their doors.
　
If you have been thinking about adopting a new friend - PLEASE!

This is the weekend to actually go out and DO it.
　
If you are in the GTA area, please consider going to one of the animal services branches and adopting a new friend.
Even one animal moving into a permanent home will be an enormous help!!!
　
To see the animals that they have available, check out their website at
　
http://www.toronto.ca/animal_services/pet_adoption.htm
　
And if you aren't in a postion to adopt, but have been thinking of
fostering please let me know that too...
　
Thank you!!!
Shelly
　
Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3
On the Web:
www.ProjectJessie.ca
www.animalalliance.ca
www.cruelscience.ca
email: shelly@animalalliance.ca
　
"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and
complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never
attained, living by voices we will never hear.　 They are not brethern,
they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves
in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and
travail of the earth."　　 ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

Coyote feet worth $20

2009-11-23T13:39:00.001-05:00

Dear reader,
Coyotes are under fire in Saskatchewan.
Below is an excerpt from a November 10, 2009 News Release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture.
***
BJORNERUD ANNOUNCES SASKATCHEWAN COYOTE CONTROL PROGRAM
Today, Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud announced the Saskatchewan Coyote Control Program.

The program is intended to help the many farmers and ranchers who are having trouble with coyotes killing their livestock. The provincial government will pay hunters a bounty of $20 per coyote killed - based on the hunters showing up with 4 coyote feet.

"Many Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers are struggling to protect their livestock from coyotes," Bjornerud said. "I hope this program helps address this serious issue and I appreciate SARM and its members working with us to deliver the program."

The Saskatchewan Coyote Control Program is a pilot program that will run until March 31, 2010, at which point the provincial government will consider extending it.

"In many areas of the province livestock producers have been experiencing losses due to the high coyote populations," SARM President David Marit said. "We appreciate the provincial government has recognized this problem and has introduced this new program."

"We are pleased Minister Bjornerud is keeping cattle producers' interests at the forefront," Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association Executive Member Ryan Thompson said. "The SCA applauds this step to assist producers in alleviating predation against livestock."

"It's good to see government taking action to try and solve this problem," Lipton area sheep producer and Saskatchewan Sheep Breeders Association Board member Martin Catto said.
***
Please contact the Minister of Agriculture Bob Bjornerud (pronounced "Benrod") by phone # 306-787-0338 or by e-mail minister.ag.@gov.sk.ca

The coyotes are depending on us all to speak out on their behalf. This type of action is regressive and must be stopped. Canadians must demand that governments begin to look for progressive and humane solutions to human / wildlife conflict issues.

With gratitude for your help,
Shelly and crew

Delilah the magnificent and things just keep rolling along...

2009-11-10T22:25:00.011-05:00

Wow - hard to believe that it has been almost 2 weeks since Miss Delilah had her surgery!
Some real angels stepped in to pay her bills and I can't say thank you enough!

Delilah is doing really well. Her leg is healing nicely and the surgery scar is slowly healing up and getting smaller. She *IS* a bit naughty though - last week she decided that she was bored and that pulling out her stitched by herself might be a bit of fun...
Thankfully the way that she was stitched, the bits underneath kept everything together and we didn't need to re suture. Naughty girl!!!

Delilah is an awesome girl and I adore her. She is very affectionate and as she feels better, she is getting even more demonstrative with head butting, purring and asking for attention. I am really attached to her and will be so sad when she finally goes to a permanent home.
But she isn't going yet! ;o)
Two more weeks of healing and we will re-xray her and probably spay her at that time.

She is a lovely girl - and I am so grateful for the support of Project Jessie people. Without the financial side of it we really, really couldn't do this type of work.

Thank you to everyone who stepped up and helped her - you are angels every one!!!

The past week has been brutal for the program.

Besides dear Delilah, we took in a tiny, senior dog named Peggy Sue who has mammary cancer. She was sitting all hunched up, shaking and wet at the side of the road and was found by a caring young lady. We aren't sure yet if the tumour is best left alone, or if it would be better to remove it. Peggy is about 10 years old - not ancient for a little dog, but not super young either. Depending on the type of tumour we will have to decided the best course of action. She is a sweet, active and lovely girl though and she ADORES her foster mom - Lia. We will give her the best help we can.

Then there are the 7 bunnies that came in, and the kittens that need some extra diagnostics to find out why they aren't doing well, and the dog with the broken leg that might need amputation, and Kizmet whom the vet is recommending would benefit from a neurological assessment with a specialist...

Things are busy - but Project Jessie is doing some wonderful stuff.
Thank YOU for making that possible!

ttys,
Shelly and crew

Miss Delilah

2009-10-31T13:52:00.002-04:00

What a whirlwind week!

So there was a lot of back and forth consultations about this kitty, realignment and cage rest vs. surgery, to pin or to plate, what to do - yikes!

In the end, we did decide to do the surgery and I am very glad we did. Wednesday was her surgery and once the vet was inside, it was obvious that the leg was much more damaged than we had predicted from the xrays. The bones were splintered from top to bottom and there was little holding it together.

The vet inserted pin into the bone, bound it up with wire, and then added a plate to the outside to support the whole thing and keep it solid.What a surgery! (The picture at the bottom is her xray after all the "leg jewellery" was put in). She will not be able to go through airport security without setting off alarms, that's for sure!

Although I must say that the vet did an amazing job putting all the bits back into place - it looked so tidy and well aligned when she was done.

I will keep you updated. We need her to stay on cage rest for a few weeks while she heals - both the leg and the fractures in her pelvis. She seems to be tolerating the cage rest quite well (although she much prefers the door to be open and for you to be petting her!)

Delilah is a really sweet young girl - and I am very grateful that we were able to give her a chance...

We have had quite a few expensive animals in the program lately. If you are able to make a special donation to help I would appreciate it so much.

We have had some real angels step in to help with Delilah's bills - and I can't thank you enough!!!

Donations can be made through the secure server on the website (http://www.projectjessie.ca/)

or by calling the main office 416-462-9541

or by mail Animal Alliance, 221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101, Toronto, ON M4M 2G3

or by Paypal info@animalalliance.ca Thank you!!!

Project Jessie people are the very best!
Shelly and crew

Things are looking up I think!?!

2009-10-24T08:30:00.002-04:00

Wow - send vibes to the universe and sometimes - just sometimes - things start going your way!

I probably shouldn't say that out loud - I might jinx myself...

Anyway, some really nice things happened this week (and a couple of not so nice things too).

First the best stuff.

I *think* that beautiful Miss Alice has a really nice home to go to - hurray! If all goes well, she should be moving in with her new people early next week. Awww - I am so happy for her! She is such a gentle, ladylike girl and she is joining an older couple to be their spoiled only cat. I think it will be a lovely place for her. :o)

Dear Tomten finally found the perfect place as well. A lovely couple drove 3 hours to come and see him. He will be sharing his home with Trixie - another senior chihuahua and they seemed to get along right from the start. It was so cute seeing them bump heads and sniff - both with their little tongues hanging out to the side (neither has any teeth!).

Of course I was a bit sad too. He has been with me for 6 months and to see him change from a terrified, snapping ball of insecurities into a lovely gentleman has been lovely. The ones that have to come the farthest are hard to let go however. Ah - the hard part of fostering!

And the nice lady who came to see MollyW and Ginny did come back to adopt them. I am so happy!

Mr.P fit in super well with his new kitty friend and has been renamed "Buster". Much better!

Felix has totally endeared himself to his new family and Elliot has totally forgotten that he was a scaredy boy - now he asked for affection and stands with his head upside down in your hand. (shhh - don't tell him his going to be neutered next week!)

And big OJ (who came out of the shelter the same time as Felix and Mr.P) has gone into a home too. He has been renamed Jasper - which I think is just perfect for this big buff fellow.

Okay - with all the good news - you know there had to be some bad stuff...

The little lady above is Delilah. I got a phone call yesterday that went something like this:

"Hello - is this Project Jessie? I got your number from someone who said that you take injured stray animals?"

"Ummm - that's not really what we do - but what is the story?"

" Well, I found this cat...

She has been hanging around for a few days but this morning I see that she is dragging her leg so I went out and got her, but I can't find anyone who will help her and we can't keep her because we are really allergic to cats. But she is really sweet and I wouldn't want to see her suffer...."

Long story short, I asked this good Samaritan if he would drive the cat to one of our vets (almost an hour away from him) and we would see what was happening.

The vet's named her Delilah because she is "de lilac" pointed siamese you see above. It turns out she has a broken leg - the break is just below her knee so kind of a tricky place to fix and we will need an orthopedic expert. She was covered in fleas, is very thin and was ravenously hungry. I would assume she was dumped by someone and not really able to fend for herself. Poor girl!

Why is her leg broken? Well, there are puncture wounds on her leg - probably she was bitten by something (coyote? dog?) and it bit hard enough to break those skinny leg bones but she managed to get away somehow.

She has the sweetest disposition. Even with her leg broken (which must be horribly painful!) she was never crabby with the vets or anyone who helped her. She was kneading her blankets and purring even as she was being examined. What a lovely girl!
Stay tuned! It seems we are looking at an expensive surgery to fix that leg but she is young and sweet and should be able to recover very well from it.

Well - we can't have ALL good news can we!?!
(Although I would like to try that for awhile!)

Thanks for listening!
Shelly and crew

Fall?!?!? Yikes!

2009-10-14T09:56:00.002-04:00

Okay - where did the summer go!?!

It was a whirlwind - but most of the small animals are in homes - hurray!

We still have a few rats, one pair of guinea pigs and a couple of bunnies looking for homes, but most of our foster creatures are cats and dogs at the moment.

The lovely "helpful" girl pictured here is the amazing Alice. She is currently fostering at the main office where she is really good at filing, and arranging the items on your desk.

Alice is a tiny, soft and gorgeous girl with a very, very little voice. She is a young senior, and if you are looking for a really sweet and gentle companion she might just be the girl for you.

I still have dear Tomten - now a nice, outgoing fellow and ready to make the move into a home of his own. We also have Kismet and PDawg - two blind shihtzus that came to us from opposite ends of the province the very same week.

Jesse the big old shepherd is in a lovely home. Awww- perfect!

Luki is making progress - from a scrawny little hound dawg afraid of his own shadow - he is becoming much more confident, and he loves his foster family.

We are still awash in beautiful, friendly, healthy cats. Like every shelter that I have spoken to, there is a huge population of wonderful kitties looking for homes. If you are considering a cat, PLEASE adopt!

If you are anywhere close to a Project Jessie foster homes we will try and arrange for a "meet and greet" if there is someone you are interested in.

If you are not close to us, please visit your local shelter. Every shelter in the province has lovely cats just dreaming of a warm place of their own.

This long weekend two of my foster kitties (Tia and Talia) went to a new home together - nice!
Their brother Tegan is still dreaming however...

A nice lady came to visit MollyW and Ginny but hasn't said if she is interested after all...
Molly LOVES her kits and it would thrill me if she could be adopted with her daughter. I will keep on trying I guess.

Yesterday was very mixed day. Dear old Coco had a recurrence of cancer. This time it was a fast growing oral tumour that was growing into her mouth and throat. Poor girl - heaven is richer for your presence.
However, we were able to move 3 kitties from one shelter.

Mr.P was an older boy who looked like he had had a bit of a rough life so far. He went straight from the shelter to a new home and it turned out he looks very similar to the cat she recently lost to old age. Awww - nice!

Felix was a skinny but gorgeous little sealpoint siamese. He waltzed right into his new place as if he had always been there. He climbed up on his new Mom's shoulder wrapped around her neck and tucked up under her chin upside down looking for some loving. I think he is going to fit in just fine!

Elliot is a scaredy boy. Only 9 months old, he was paralyzed with fear at the shelter. Already I see change and last night he was in my lap, with his head upside down in my hand purring. I think that with a little time he is going to be okay... :o)

I hope you had a nice long weekend.

(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

Behinder and behinder!

2009-07-31T17:03:00.005-04:00

WOW- things have been SUPER busy this summer!

Okay, you may have heard about the Toronto workers strike?
If you did you probably heard about garbage pick up - that's all that most people heard.

Well, the shelters were affected also, and Project Jessie volunteers really picked up the pace.

Thanks everyone!!!

Between the extra animals from the strike, a request for help from Georgian Bay because of a Children's Aid case and a request for help from Montreal, in the past one month we took in an additional 94 animals.

Pheeewwww!

Lots of extra phones calls, driving and vetting...

Juggling creatures is enough to make my head spin!

Many of the animals we took were small creatures - bunnies, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, a degu, a ferret, a cockateil, a budgie - and we also took on 27 kittens and 4 momma cats.

THANK YOU!!!! to everyone who offered to foster during this recent crisis.

It sounds trite but is totally true - We REALLY couldn't do it without you...

And HUGE thanks to my dear friend and colleague Andrea - without whom I would be fully insane and tearing out my hair. ;o)

If you know of anyone in Southern Ontario who is looking to adopt a small creature please send them to the website (http://www.projectjessie.ca/) or have them email me.

The good news is that several of these newest guys and gals have already been adopted into permanent homes. A few of the "pre-crisis" animals have found homes too - dear Bo who was blogged about last time has a great new family, Frankie & Lilly were adopted together, big, buff Charlie the polydactyl "tuxedo" cat has a new person who loves him and a couple of huge new doggy friends...

the list goes on.

Thanks to everyone who makes this all possible!

ttys,
Shelly and crew

shelly@animalalliance.ca

Back from Woofstock!

2009-06-16T11:03:00.003-04:00

Thanks to everyone who supported the Walk_A-Thon this weekend!
Money is still trickling in and I would estimate that Project Jessie will probably have raised about $3000 by the time we are through.

Thank you!!!
That will provide vetting for quite a few animals! :o)

The Woofstock event is billed as the largest outdoor dog festival in North America - and it was certainly big!
There were hundreds of dogs and their people enjoying the warmth and the atmosphere. It was quite the sight!

The kids came with me to help with walk-a-thon registration, and we brought one of our own dogs along as well. Kaidee is about 2 and is very opinionated about certain types of dogs. She did very well though - big dogs, small dogs, she liked everyone who came up for a sniff. That was until the schnauzer that barked in her face - then we had a loud dog argument. ("Honestly though Mom - that dog started it!")

Other than that - she did great, we had fun and the program brought in some much needed money.

If you find yourself in the Toronto area with nothing to do next year around this time, I do recommend checking out the festival. It was a really nice day with lots of gorgeous furry faces around. What a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Do you love the handsome face pictured above? That would be Bo - and what a gorgeous guy he is! Bo is currently in foster care and looking for his forever home. He is only about 4 years young and is a real sweetie.
If you are thinking about adding a new friend to your household - please consider this big fella!

ttys, Shelly and crew =^..^=

Project Jessie News - YOU can help!

2009-06-03T10:13:00.005-04:00

Hi all!
Please excuse the length of this newsletter - there are a lot of things happening right now and I wanted to get them all in one place!

First of all, you may have noticed that it is finally spring - hurray!
Unfortunately with the warm weather comes greater need for foster homes.
If you are in southern Ontario and could open your home to a litter of kittens, a bunny or even one dog at a time, I would be ever so grateful.

Or if you know of someone who is looking to adopt a new friend of any species - maybe the gorgeous kitties Frankie and Lilly pictured here - that would be helpful too.
Please email or phone and we can chat...
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Thank you to all that attended the Project Jessie Dog Fun day last week. Although there were not as many people and dogs as last time, we still managed to have a nice party - and we raised about $800. Thank you!!!
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
We have two potentially large fundraising opportunities coming up - one won't cost you a penny ( just a teeny bit of time each day) and the other I hope you might consider attending or sponsoring.

In less than 2 weeks Project Jessie is participating in the K9 rescue Me WalkAThon at Woofstock in Toronto.

You do NOT have to bring a dog in order to walk, and you do not personally have to walk in order to collect pledges and help us to raise some much needed funds.

If YOU are interested in walking please visit http://www.projectjessie.ca/ and download your pledge sheet under "Events".
Even if you don't end up walking, you could ask your friends, neighbours and collegues to sponsor you (or another Project Jessie walker), email the list of pledges to me and send in a cheque for the cash amount.

If you aren't going to walk, and don't want to ask for pledges, how about sponsoring a walker?
Even $10 would really help in reaching our goals!!!

You can pledge online through the secure link at:

http://k9rescueme.com/register/show-participant.php?id=40

My personal goal is to raise $2000 and I have a long way to go in just a short time. Please help!
I will probably be taking a Project Jessie foster dog or two with me as well. It is a great, dog-friendly environment to talk about rescue and to help with some financial aspects as well. THANKS!!!
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
DON'T FORGET!!!
The Animal Rescue Site, http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ is hosting a special challenge for rescue groups in Canada and the U.S.
The grand prize is a $20,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes - a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.

The contest started April 13 and runs through July 26, 2009. Just go to the Animal Rescue site, click on the side tab 'Shelter Challenge',
or go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&link=ctg_ars_shelterchallenge_from_contestwinners_sidetabs

Some people have been confused by the process, so here it is step-by-step. It sounds more complicated than it really is. :o)

There will be a purple box in the middle of the screen. that says "Search and Vote for a Shelter"
The shelter name is "Project Jessie" and the country is "CAN" on the drop down menu.

After you change the country, it takes a second and the "STATE" menu will change to "Prov", choose "ON" and click on "SEARCH". Wait a second...

You get a new section underneath but inside the purple box that says the shlter name and has a button marked "VOTE". Click "VOTE"

You are taken to a new screen where they show you a picture of an animal. You have to type the name of the animal in to confirm your vote.
(So that clever people can't set up computer programs to vote for them all day long...) :o)

But I have actually noticed that if you close your browser and come back, it will let you vote more than once...

If you don't confirm your vote it will not count - so please be sure you have named an animal before you leave the site!

Please ask family and friends to vote too! I don't think we have a hope of winning the big prize, but I am sure that we still have a good chance at one of the Canadian ones. Pass this message along and lets get clicking!

Also, by clicking on the purple button at The Animal Rescue Site, http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ you give food to an animal living in a shelter or sanctuary--at no cost to you. This only takes a few seconds. Please, click every day. To make this a breeze, you can select to have daily click reminders (left column under 'Free Ways to Help).

For your help, MANY thanks!
Shelly and crew =^..^=

Shelly Hawley-Yan
Director, Project Jessie Coordinator
Animal Alliance of Canada
221 Broadview Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto, ON M4M 2G3

On the Web:
www.ProjectJessie.ca
www.animalalliance.ca
www.cruelscience.ca

email: shelly@animalalliance.ca

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we will never hear. They are not brethern, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." ***Henry Beston (1888-1968)

The Project Jessie doggy fun day is THIS weekend!

2009-05-20T10:54:00.002-04:00

We are down to the crunch!
Auction items are sorted, food is organized, goody bags are ready...

We are almost there - just a few more sleeps!
The Project Jessie doggy fun day is THIS weekend!

Bauer is going to be there - Are YOU? Please come!

This year's Project Jessie reunion is this Saturday,May23rd from 11am to 2pm.

Anyone who likes dogs and wants a nice drive in the country is invited. 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 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

My new foster dog...

2009-04-16T15:33:00.002-04:00

Okay, so things are crazy busy here...
Quick update:
Last weekend was the long but wonderful All About Pets Show at the International centre in Mississauga. Busy, busy but lots of educational stuff (opening people's minds to the concept of adoption versus buying their animals) and quite a few animals found homes through leads at the show. This included 8 hamsters that found homes from the show - and didn't need to come home with me - pheeewwww! ;o)

My darling three legged boy Dexy found his forever home as well. I was super sad but very happy for him. The family is lovely and he apparently waltzed into the house, greeted the resident cat, and they wandered off like they had known each other forever. Nice!

This week has been the normal rounds of vet visits, phone calls to answer and emails, but i really, really have to tell you about the new guy.

I am not sure about his name yet, although I am leaning towards "Tomten".

According to my research..."Tomten are a race of spirit beings well-known to the north Europeans. Generally, they are considered to be spirits of place who become familiars of a household - similar to gnomes. The tomte is a short elderly man of unpredictable disposition. They can be impulsive and cranky. Spying on tomtes is not recommended."

The reason I think this might suit him? He is a teeny little old man chihuahua, who thinks he is super fierce (but had all of his teeth removed). He actually hides under his blankets (in a small kitty bed!)and growls at you from under the pile.

If you uncover him (to spy on him) he gets all huffy and complains until you cover him up again. He really isn't that fierce though - if you manage to gently pick him up he shivers and shakes but doesn't try anything. He is going to be fine - a little time and treats will show him that it is nicer to purr at people than growl...

Pictures will be posted once I can get him out from under his blankets for more than a few seconds...

I hope all is well in your part of the world today!

take care, and hug your critters today!
shelly and crew =^..^=
The reason

The Animal Rescue Site CONTEST

2009-04-15T06:47:00.002-04:00

Okay guys - after day one, we are ranked 13th in Canada and 323rd overall...
PLEASE!!!
Remember that you can vote every day, and please pass the message along to your friends and colleagues. (Actually, the site allows multiple votes from some computers apparently. Hmmmm?!?!?)

There are a lot of people who support Project Jessie and what we do.
This is free, only takes a minute and I am sure we can at least win one of the weekly prizes.
Thank you SO MUCH for your help!!!

The Animal Rescue Site, www.theanimalrescuesite.com is hosting a special challenge for rescue groups in Canada and the U.S.
The grand prize is a $20,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes - a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.The contest starts April 13 and runs through July 26, 2009. Just go to the Animal Rescue site, click on the side tab 'Shelter Challenge', or go to

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&link=ctg_ars_shelterchallenge_from_contestwinners_sidetabs

and vote for your favourite rescue group. (I am hoping that it is Project Jessie!) ;o)

This action is absolutely free! Also, by clicking on the purple button at The Animal Rescue Site, www.theanimalrescuesite.com you give food to an animal living in a shelter or sanctuary--at no cost to you. This only takes a few seconds. Please, click every day. To make this a breeze, you can select to have daily click reminders (left column under 'Free Ways to Help).For your help, many thanks!

Shelly and crew =^..^=

The Animal Rescue Site - contest!

2009-04-14T12:38:00.002-04:00

The Animal Rescue Site, http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ is hosting a special challenge for rescue groups in Canada and the U.S.

The grand prize is a $20,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes - a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.

The contest starts April 13 and runs through July 26, 2009. Just go to the Animal Rescue site, click on the side tab 'Shelter Challenge', or go to

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&link=ctg_ars_shelterchallenge_from_contestwinners_sidetabs

and vote for your favourite rescue group. (I am hoping that it is Project Jessie!) ;o)
This action is absolutely free!

Also, by clicking on the purple button at The Animal Rescue Site, http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

you give food to an animal living in a shelter or sanctuary--at no cost to you. This only takes a few seconds. Please, click every day. To make this a breeze, you can select to have daily click reminders (left column under 'Free Ways to Help).

For your help, many thanks!
Shelly and crew =^..^=

Yikes - It's spring! Isn't it???

2009-04-08T12:44:00.002-04:00

Okay - here we are April and it is STILL snowing!
Spring means kitten season and that has already begun.
I have one Momma with babies so far with more to come I am sure...

I am also fostering two kittens - Frazier and Lindy Lu who were born outside to a feral mom. The lady who saw them, managed to catch them when they were old enough to leave mom. I told her that we needed to catch mom - even it meant trapping her, but as often happens to outdoor cats, I have since learned that Momma was killed.

Frazier is totally coming out of his shell but Lindy Lu is still a fraidy cat. I will keep working with her and hopefully she will come to learn that some humans are okay.

Charlie is a huge brick of a cat - rock solid and super buff, and has the bestest feet! He is a polydactyl and has 7 toes on each of his front feet. They look like big fat furry mittens - so cute! Although he adores people - he doesn't like other cats. Know anyone looking for just one new cat to adopt? He is gorgeous!

This weekend is the All About Pets Show in Mississauga. Look for us in the adoption area - and if you stop by please introduce yourself! It is always nice to meet fellow animal lovers.

We will have information available and a few of our foster guys will be featured throughout the weekend.

ttys,
Shelly and crew =^..^=

CBC "How Not To Buy A Puppy" and a contest we could use help with...

2009-03-05T11:34:00.003-05:00

Hi all,
Most of us know about the dangers of buying from a pet store and the fact that most of those wee souls are the products of puppy mills.

Some people still don't though...

Something you may want to watch:
"How Not To Buy A Pupppy"
Friday, March 6 @ 8:30PM on CBC,
Marketplace - Canada's Investigative Consumer Show

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/ Some store-bought puppies may have a sick and secret history. Wendy Mesley investigates."How much do you know about that puppy in the window? As Wendy Mesley reports, some store-bought puppies may have a sick and secret history.

Note: For those who cannot get this TV channel, you may be able to view the episode on line at http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/

Please vote for Sugar(ProjectJessie) And help us win a possible $10,000

Click on the photo above and it should take you straight to the voting page.

You can only vote one a week from each email address but every vote helps!
Runner-ups get $1000 for the rescue of their choice and the grand prize winner gets $10,000 for their rescue.

Thank you for your help and feel free to pass this message along to your friends!
Shelly

Cold! And good news for Caramel!

2009-02-23T09:39:00.003-05:00

Cold, cold, cold! Is winter ever going to end!?!

Okay - confession time. I hate winter. It's true.

Although I love living in Canada and I think we have a great many good things going for us - I really, really hate being cold!

This winter has seemed particularly long and cold - but maybe that's just me.

Because I am so bothered by the cold, I absolutely hate seeing animals outside. I have a cat that visits my property. I think he was a former pet who was dumped because he is wearing a collar. He seems too thin to be an indoor cat who is just having a daily wander. Plus, I have seen him at various times of day. I have been feeding him, and trying to catch him all winter but he is shy and wants nothing to do with me. Yet!

This week we took in a small beagle mix, whose family was leaving him tied up outside for long hours on end. Poor Caramel has very little coat. Certainly not the type of dog who could cope with being left outside! I asked a friend who lives much closer to his former home, if she would be willing on standby to take him quickly if his people finally agreed to let him go. Often in cases like this people will waffle about giving the dog up. Someone close who can react quickly is a definite asset!

Anyway, they finally said he could go - so she was there right away to take him in and foster.

Caramel had been tied up outside or living in a tiny wire crate when he was in the house. He is just a young fellow - only 9 months - but has had 3 owners already in his short life.

I am sure that there will be issues, but so far he is doing well. He adores her other silly beagle and the two love to romp in the snow together. This is good!

Tired puppies = good puppies in my book! ;o)

I got the most fabulous news later in the week - she has decided to keep Caramel.

Lucky, lucky boy! Although it means (probably) one less foster place for me to use, what a great place for him to be. He will be warm and safe, have people and dogs to play with and love and to teach him the proper social skills.

Way to go Caramel! (And thank you Andrea!)

Stay warm!
Shelly and crew =^..^=

Sometimes it hurts to care...

2009-02-09T09:18:00.002-05:00

What a week!
Although things started off well, we had tragedy by the weekend.

Because kitty adoptions have been going well, I took in a few new friends this week.

Bunka has a new buddy named Bruno - who looks just like her but a bit bigger. He is about 5 months old and the two of them LOVE to wrestle and play. It is totally adorable!

Bruno came with his buddy Dexy - a gorgeous, gentle all black fellow about 7 months young. Sadly, he had to have a front leg amputated due to an injury that happened while he was a stray. Poor bub!

It doesn't seem to slow him down though, and he even balances and uses his remaining front foot to scoop litter over when he is finished his "business". He is such a cuddler - he has won me over already! ;o)

I will have to get pictures of these new guys up on the website soon. They are lovely!

I also took in a kitten that had been born to a feral mom. The lady who saw them had already caught one baby that was left behind by mom as she was moving her kittens around. That little guy went to the vet and was eventually adopted. This one she caught a couple of weeks ago and has had indoors. (We are thinking of naming him "Frazier) He is gorgeous - soft, soft long fur and all black except for a bit of white on his chest. He is gorgeous, but needs a worming, antibiotics and to be fattened up before he can be vaccinated. He is learning to trust, so he will be a bit of a project for awhile I suspect.

On Friday, I had a call from a friend of mine who is a teacher in Toronto. One of her students had mentioned that they were getting a puppy and would therefore be throwing their kitten out into the street. Yikes! Of course I agreed to take him, and Smokey arrived on Saturday morning.

On Friday, Cameo went to the vet for her spay. She was an 18 month shepherd mix (maybe crossed with corgi?) who looked like a shepherd pup with very short legs. Adorable! And she had a sweet disposition to match. Although we have done hundreds of spay/neuters over the years and they almost always go according to the book, this was to be an exception.

Cameo stopped breathing on the table. The vet was shocked and surprised and couldn't really tell what on earth was happening. A quick xray revealed something really bizarre - Cameo's diaphragm was torn and most of her abdominal organs were sitting up in her chest.

There were adhesions - her liver was wrapped around and actually attached to her heart! It seems like Cameo had suffered some major trauma a few months ago - perhaps being hit by a car? Although there were no outward signs, internally she was very strangely organized and she had healed in a very odd way.

This was emergency surgery now and a second, specialist was called in. After 4 hours of surgery things seemed to be all back in place and Cameo was allowed to wake up. Although she seemed to be recovering fine, she took a bad turn on Saturday, and despite the best efforts of her vets, she passed away near midnight on Saturday night.

Rest in peace gentle girl.

Please give your furry friends an extra hug today.

You never know what life will bring from one minute to the next.

Shelly and crew

=^..^=

Baby it's COLD outside!

2009-01-28T10:02:00.005-05:00

Yet another day of snow and cold - blecchhh!

We are currently trying to help a dog and a cat with kittens who are living outside. How people can leave their animals out (and why it isn't enough to allow the Humane Society to seize them) is beyond me. =o(

On the good news side, Overo and Tobiano were adopted together - hurray!

I also have a family that will be adopting Bootsie tomorrow, and Larry the older hound is going to a home too. Good stuff!

Bunka - the wee girl on the left (isn't she beautiful!), seems to be tolerating her vaccinations very well. She is the little orphan girl that was mistakenly vaccinated at the shelter when she was only 3 1/2 weeks old. We were a bit worried about doing the shots now (when she needs them) but she had no adverse reaction at all...

So, most of it seems postive at the moment! We are still looking for home for a few other creatures; Cajun & Spice, Bunka, Shanna, Beau, Shellycat, and more.

Please visit the website if you are thinking of adopting. We are also on Petfinder.com now

Stay safe and warm and please hug your furry friends today!

TTYS,

Shelly and crew

=^..^=

Awww - Looking for a new "dear old friend"?

2009-01-14T13:06:00.004-05:00

This handsome gentleman is Aldwin - isn't he adorable?

Aldwin (old English for wise, or old friend) fits his name to a "T".

He came to us just before Christmas, and this picture was taken during his first few days in foster care. After a bath and a haircut, a warm bed and some good food - already his coat is starting to shine and he is starting to blossom.

He is a dear little fellow who loves to follow people he knows and trusts.He bounces in the snow and chases his tail and is just a fun loving soul.

He is a mature adult (maybe 8 to 10 years - barely middle aged in little dog terms!). He had a number of fatty lumps and bumps removed when we neutered him and we also did a dentistry.

He suffers from a bit of dry eye which is remedied with eye drops (which he likes getting) twice a day. Aldwin walks nicely on a leash, is learning to be house trained, and is good with cats and dogs.

We suspect he may not have spent much time in a normal house before he came to us as he was afraid of tv, brooms, and people walking by but he is quickly adapting to the life he so well deserves.

If youthink that you have room in in your heart and home for a new "dear old friend" then please call!

On another topic, it is ferociously cold out there in most parts of Canada today - stay warm! And make sure your animals are safe and warm inside too!

(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

New Year, same old stuff or something better?...

2009-01-07T14:22:00.003-05:00

I hope that all of you (and your fur friends too!) had a nice and hopefully relaxing holiday.

Mine was pretty good - not super busy with animal related happenings, but when you care for so many creatures there is never really a "day off".

All of the critters here enjoyed the holiday I think. There were new toys and treats, and the kitties got a new climbing centre to explore. (Thank you very much to the kind donor who thought of them!) A couple of lovely people donated food and litter as well. Thank you so much!

Now that most people are getting back into the "normal" swing of things though, things are getting "back to normal" in rescue too. Unfortunately it never ends...

Overo and Tobiano are now being featured at the Global Pet Foods store in Alliston. They love the quarters there and have a great time racing around. Hopefully they will find their forever home soon.

Bunka (the wee orphan girl) is missing her big foster brother (Tobiano) but she is in the process of getting her vaccinations. Once she is ready, perhaps she can go up and join them there.

In the meantime, I have taken in Bootsie (she looks just like Puss-In-Boots girlfriend from Shrek3). She was surrendered by her owners because she was interested in the new baby . People can be so ridiculous!

I also have two new kittens (as yet unnamed) about 8 weeks old, who were born outside under a neighbours deck, to a feral mom. They haven't managed to catch mom yet, but I couldn't stand to hear about the two babies sitting outside in this freezing weather.

We also have a new girl - border collie x pointer perhaps? named Shanna looking for a home.

Then there is Larry - a sweet older boy with a gentle soul. That is his picture up above - doesn't he have the sweetest eyes? If you are looking for a lovely, young-at-heart guy to snooze beside you please consider this dear boy!

This new year, instead of making resolutions you know you won't keep, how about a few that might make a difference?

If you are considering adding a new creature to your family, please, please consider adoption.

No matter where you live there are shelters and rescues nearby. One great resource is http://www.petfinder.com/ and they have animals listed from all across North America. You would make the whole world of difference to a shelter animal by offering them a good home.

Maybe you have been thinking about opening your heart and home and fostering - now is the time to do that.

If you aren't in a position to adopt or foster, please consider making a compassionate donation to a local shelter or rescue. Whether you are in a position to donate money for vet bills, or can donate your time - every bit is appreciated. How about donating old towels and blankets? We have had kids ask their friends to bring dog and cats toys instead of birthday presents to their parties, which they have then donated to the animals.

There are many ways to help. How about making this the year to make a difference?

(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

Hope you and your furry ones are having a lovely holiday!

2008-12-26T14:07:00.004-05:00

Okay,
Things have been super busy, and although there have been some good things too, there have been too many sad things for me to be in the frame of mind to write much here very often - BUT - I am sure that I wrote at Halloween and at least once since then...

Hmmmm?!?!?!?!

I wonder if a couple of entries have just disappeared into the ether?
I will have to pay more attention! And I promise to try and do better at keeping things updated.

The last month has been busy - good news being the placement of Chelsea and Angel the shihtzu sister together in a fabulous home (and they are coming back to stay with me in January while their new family are on pre-booked vacation - yay! It will be lovely having them back for awhile!). Dear Tiffany the shih who had the c-section is in a home, as is Fitz (our previously naughty but now nice guy). Michelle, the lovely grand lady cat whose owner died and the landlord saw fit to toss her outside (grrr!) is in a home where she now rules the roost, and Nemo and Emory (not siblings but good foster friends) went to a home together as did the office kittens Cleo and Coco. But Cajun & Spice (the mother/daughter duo pictured above) are still looking....

Phheewww! Lots of lovely creatures finding their forever homes lately!

Of course, there are always new friends to take their place. Aldwin is a sad, older boy with a list of ailments that will need work. At least he is in a warm, caring foster home while we work on "polishing" him. ;o)

I hope that you and your furry friends are happy and safe this holiday season.
Have a wonderful time!
(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

Reminders to Keep Your Companion Animals Safe (and Happy) This Holiday Season

* Try and be aware of when guests are expected and confine your animals away from doors if possible. Busy comings and goings with people who may not have creatures at home, could result in someone slipping out through an open door and getting lost.

* If you are having a party consider setting a room aside for your pets if they aren't likely to enjoy the excitement.

* Reduce your animal's stress by maintaining regular feeding and exercise routines - even if you are super busy!

* Remember that food is the number one holiday hazard for pets. Don't overfeed your pet or feed them too much Christmas leftovers, better yet, no human food period. Many fatty trimmings, rich gravies and buttery sauces can cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, or even worse, a life threatening inflammation of the pancreas. You wouldn't want to spend your holidays at the emergency animal clinic.

* Keep alcohol away from your animals. Just an ounce of an alcoholic beverage can put a small animal into a coma. Remember that the sweet smell of some drinks can be intriguing to some animals and an unguarded glass is a recipe for disaster.

* Hide chocolate, candy or baking ingredients out of reach. Chocolate is the most common toxicity treat during the holidays. Small amounts (especially of dark chocolate) cause vomiting and diarrhea. Larger amounts can cause above normal heart rhythms, nervous system malfunctions, and even death.

* Keep your garbage in bins with very tight lids. Animals can chew up holiday throwaway's which can result in intestinal perforation and/or obstruction.

* Buy only decorating products that are labeled as being non-toxic. Do not use any aerosol decorating product (such as artificial snow or glitter) if you have pet birds.

* If you have a tree, secure it to the wall to prevent tipping if your pet should decide to climb it.

* Leave tinsel, string and other such objects off the tree! Dangly bits are incredibly appealing to cats and to some dogs, but it can bind up in their intestines or cut them internally as it passes through and must be surgically removed. It has also killed animals.

* Fasten all your tree decorations securely. Dogs who chew these can suffer hurtful cuts in their mouth and cats will love to play with and break them. Use only ornaments that will not easily break, and do NOT hang them with hooks

* Place holiday plants out of reach and vacuum often. Poinsettia can cause drooling, oral pain, and vomiting. Mistletoe causes vomiting, labored breathing, shock, and death from cardiovascular collapse. When animals eat the needles from real or fake trees, they can also get intestinal blockage.

* Display candles on high shelves to avoid painful burns and singed whiskers, and NEVER leave candles unattended.

* Make sure that cords are tucked out of reach. Better yet, keep all electric cords covered by a chew-proof guards. Puppies and kittens will chew on anything and electric shock can occur.

* Include your pets in any fire/disaster safety program you have in place for your home.

* If you are going away, make sure your petsitter has your veterinary information as well as where you will be. Also make sure he/she knows where your carriers, and animal first-aid kit are kept.

* Have a wonderful holiday - but don't forget to think about it from your animals perspective so that they can have a safe and happy time too!

2008-09-29T13:01:00.004-04:00

Did you have a nice relaxing weekend? Good for you - I am SO jealous!

On Friday night I got back from the vet - supposed to be vaccinations for Tobiano - but he still had enlarged lymph nodes, so no needles for him!

I checked my messages and Nemo was apparently droopy and not eating.
Off to Alliston to pick him up. By now it was 9:00pm.

Saturday morning bright and early, my dear vet Natalie agreed to see us. Poor Nemo was running a significant fever - so he got to stay at the clinic.

Here we are Monday morning - and he is still there. He has a fever which responds to meds but returns as soon as they wear off, no significant blood issues, no problems eating or pooping. Very, very weird!

Anyway, we shall see how he does...

I went to pick up a new foster dog today. He is a small shepherd size and all gold coloured- very sweet, good with kids and seems fine with other dogs.

When I got back there was a message from a foster home - their momma cat has diarrhea. I have made an appointment for her later today to figure out what that is about.

No more crises for awhile please!!!

Shelly and crew

WooHoo!!!

2008-09-17T13:24:00.002-04:00

Finally some good news!

Chelsea's lump was just a fatty thing - not cancer at all.

I am doing the happy dance as I type!

The girls are home with me today, and seem happy and glad to be back. They are so bonded however that they have to be placed together - it would totally break my heart (and theirs!) to see them separated. It won't be easy to find a home looking for two sweet little dogs - but I will try!

Anyway, just had to share the good news - yipee!

Shelly and crew

Think Good Thoughts!

2008-09-16T10:55:00.002-04:00

Oh the last couple of weeks have been brutal!

I am sure that I am not going to hit all of the critical highlights, but just to give you a taste...

On the Friday before the long weekend we got a call that Molly (Winston's sister) , was at the vet. She hadn't been eating and was dehydrated. Although she had been in her new home for the past 2 months, they decided that she wasn't happy with them and were giving her back to us.

I spent the weekend force feeding her and keeping her hydrated with subcutaneous fluids.

On the Tuesday she went back to the vet. Her bloodwork was even worse and we decided to viral test her. It turns out she was positive for FIV and since she had tested negative in May, she most likely contracted it while in her adoptive home.:o(

The same weekend, our dear Justice passed away. She was 18 years old, and had congestive heart failure so it wasn't a huge surprise, but she had been fostering at the office and her passing left an awful lot of sadness behind. Rest in peace dear girl!

One of our little kittens had a freak accident and broke his toe, on the same night that one of the birds caught a toe in an odd place too.

In just the last week I was asked to take a 4 month old, blind pug pup, 2 senior collies, a basenji x, a biting chihuahua mix, two 15 year old cats, 5 senior cats from one home, several litters of kittens from various places with friendly and/or feral moms... It just never ends.:o(

I did take two kittens that had been abandoned at a school. Perhaps they thought someone there would take them home. Nemo is gorgeous - a 5 or 6 month old silver tabby. He is a buff and handsome boy! He has been neutered, wormed, vaccinated, microchipped and is looking for a home. The other boy is Emory - a 10 weeks old all grey boy and a real purr machine! He was SO skinny when he came it was just awful but he is plumping out nicely and he has wonderfully soft fur.

Today's worry is for Chelsea and Angel. They are sisters - 6 & 5 years old who came to me after their owner died. Both girls are being spayed today, and Chelsea has a largish lump on the back of one leg that is pretty worrisome.

I am SO hoping it is not cancer....

If you can spare any good thoughts for her, I would really appreciate it!

These girls were so neglected when they came it took me about 4 hours on each of them to cut through the matts and take some of their smelly coats off so that I could bathe them. They are so full of life though - playful and silly and LOVE to lick you. What darlings!

Anyway, I hope that things are better where you are. Please remember to check your local shelter if you are looking to adopt.

There are so many lovely creatures out there looking for homes...

(((hugs)))
Shelly and crew

Busy, busy weekend - yipee!

2008-08-24T13:19:00.003-04:00

Sometimes it seems to take forever to find good adoptive homes and other times there is a great flow...

This weekend has been very busy!

On Friday I took a litter of kittens to the vet for their 9 week shots. Well, the new receptionist fell in love with the fluffy black and white girl, and not wanting to split up a family she decided that she would adopt both black and white kids. :o)

I also think that usually kittens do better if there is someone near their own age to play with. She is well recommended by the vet, and unless she has second thoughts, they will be going to her home on Monday. Awwww - nice!!!

On Saturday, a woman and her nice young daughter came to visit and fell promptly in love with Misty - the little silver tabby orphan. Misty still has a bit of a weepy eye, so I will keep her until her cold is totally over - but she has a little girl waiting for her. Yesh!

Misty will love having a girl of her own - she is a really cuddly, play-with-your-hair, lounge on your lap type of kitty. Another nice match!

Today, I met up with a nice woman who had inquired last week about Foxy, the orange maine coon cat. After vigorous examination, I decided that she was a great match, and so Foxy went to his new home today - with a new kitty friend named Slim and a dog of his own.

Pheeww - I am tired!

Now, I am waiting for the nice couple coming from Guelph to meet Mallow. I hope it works!
They loved the stories about her, and she has been such a wonderfully "mothering" cat that she deserves a great place of her own. These people have someone home all day and I think that Mallow will really like it. Fingers crossed that they all like each other!

So a lot of kitties moving along into good homes - always nice - and next week will be very doggy oriented.

On Monday I pick up Chelsey and Angel the two shihtsu sisters whose owner died, and take them to the vet. Chelsey has a big lump on her haunch and I am really, really hoping it is a fatty lump and not anything awful...

On Tuesday I will be taking a little shihtsu in to see if she is pregnant. We were told she was spayed but she seems to have milk coming in...

Stay tuned!

Tuesday evening we will be appearing on Animal Housecalls (TV channel CP24). I am not sure exactly who we will take on the show, but I am betting that with the number we have - there will be at least one or two shihtsus in the mix!

Anyway, I should run - need to scoop a few litter boxes and walk some dogs!

Shelly and crew

Sad, sad news....

2008-08-16T20:43:00.002-04:00

It has taken me all day just to be able to actually compose this letter.

It is with great shock, and overwhelming sadness that I am writing to let you know that Bijoux has passed away.
The amazing little white cat that came into my life just over a year ago, is no longer here.

Bijoux was the little cat with the squeaky voice that was rescued May/07 by Liz and Georges from a pound in Montreal - where she was to have been killed within the hour.

In the past year since she underwent her surgery, she blossomed into an amazing, joyful and beautiful cat.

We fell into a comfortable routine for managing her condition, and the two of us really have shared a very special bond. She has had a very good few months - playing with the other cats, (pushing Fluffy off the top of the cat tower was her favorite game!), cuddling with Murphy, acting the royal diva and hoarding all the crinkle balls. She had an incredible spirit and a feisty, mischievous approach to life.

In the past month or so though, she started losing a bit of weight. In the past week, the weight loss really accelerated, and in the last few days she seemed tired, and so I had booked her to see the vet on Friday to redo some blood work, and see if perhaps there was something else going on.
I was thinking perhaps a thyroid issue? diabetes? or???
In fact after doing bloodwork and an xray, we could see that there WAS something going on.

Bijoux had FIP. Her liver was nearly nonfunctional, she had fluid in her abdomen and a very large granuloma in her lung. She was dying and FIP is totally non treatable.
For those who don't know, FIP is a weird virus - cats can live with it for years and it might never be an issue. Or it can turn deadly.

Actually if Bijoux's mom was a FIP kitty, that might actually explain why she had the congenital issues that led to her megaesophagous. Regardless of why, the reality was that she was dying. The vet recommended euthanasia but I couldn't get my mind around it.

Besides - how many times had she bounced back from things that should have killed her already?
Maybe she could lick this too...., so we gave her a mild painkiller and I took her home.

We spent the day offering her all of the foods that she had craved and had been denied for so long because of her megaesophagus, but she was uninterested. That in itself told me something, since she has been a fierce little kitty about food. Always trying to steal stuff she knew she shouldn't have - but determined to get it anyway.
She had a great zest for living in the moment!

Anyway, I had a feeling that she did not have long, and since she didn't seem to be stressed or painful I decided to keep her here.
My darling kitty passed peacefully and gently in her sleep last night, laying in my arms.

This whole thing was so "out of left field" that I am having a really hard time believing it.
Bijoux has cheated death so many times that I keep expecting her to come peeking around a corner to tell me that she has done it again.

I guess this time it really is for keeps.

So many people who met her, felt the special spark that she carried inside of her.

So many of you were touched by her story last year, and had written to ask about her.

Thank you for caring.

She was greatly loved and is greatly missed.

Rest in peace darling girl...

Shelly

What DO I do all day???

2008-08-03T07:43:00.003-04:00

I am so sorry - I have been a very bad blogger!!!
I can't believe that it has been over a month since I posted - but there it is - the proof (date stamp) in black and white. Sorry!!!

Okay, so I haven't actually been just a lazy girl - LOTS has happened!

Sebastian (who was pictured in the last entry) has been adopted Yay!!!

Also, all of Mallow's kittens have found homes, including the amazing Periwinkle that I talked about. She is the kitten that would help her Mom take care of the little orphans. What a sweet, sweet kitty!

Speaking of my orphans, they are actually old enough to be adopted, even though they are physically very small cats. They are pictured above. We named them Spartacus and Theopompous as they were such fighters. Fighting to stay alive that is - they are really very sweet and cuddly with humans and other cats!

Sparta and Theo absolutely adore Tony. He is the last of his litter to be adopted (even his Mom - Annabelle has found a home) and the three tabby dudes just love to sleep in one big furry heap. I have tried to get a decent picture of that but at least one guy seems to hear me and wake up everytime I try. :o)

I have had two more orphans (non-related) come by since them. A really friendly girl named Misty (grey tabby) and Pashmina (long haired white with one gold and one blue eye). They are currently bunking in together as they both have colds (and no one else does - touch wood!)

Puff still has his ear thing but we think we may have a new strategy we are working through (fingers crossed). My dearest hope is that he can be ruled infection free and I can get him integrated with other kitties and out of isolation asap. Amazing that he is still as sweet and lovabel as he is with all the cleaning and poking he has been through.

So that is 11 foster kitties at the moment. I still have 2 foster dogs as well. Plus my own crew - well no wonder I am tired of cleaning!

Remember Bijoux? Well I had quite the scare with her last week and I really thought that I might lose her. She was having the worst time - regurging many, many time per day and because it was so hot she was in real danger of dehydrating. I was syringing her with food/water and catnip tea. Did you know that catnip tea promotes appetite in cats? Finally we started her on a new medication that is supposed to help with nausea and vomiting.

Why would the powers that be develop and anti-vomitign drug that you have to give by mouth? Why not injectable? This drug is only given once every 3 days. So of course, very soon after giving it to Bijoux she promptly barfed. I had no idea whwther she got all/some/none of the med but of course couldn't give her any more for 2 days. Welcome to my world!

Whatever the cause - meds/tea/just worked "it" through... after a day or two she was back to her version of normal. She is eating pretty well and keeping most of it down so I am slowly relaxing and worrying a bit less.

That Bijoux! She is such a wonderful girl and I just hope she can have as normal and nice a life as we can create for her.

Anyway, that's the first bit of update. I promise to try and pay more attention and keep up a bit better!

Hope you are all having a lovely summer!

ttys,

Shelly and crew

News On The Critter Front....

2008-06-17T13:53:00.005-04:00

SO the good news is that Diamond has gone to a new home - yippee!

He now has two gentle and very sweet little girls to play with, and there was lots of giggling and big decisions to be made as they picked out new toys for him.

Diamond is one of those cats that loves to play fetch with a little foam ball, and to chase "Feathery-things-on-a-stick" type toys. Of course the girls were trying to figure out what his favorite colours might be.:o)

The wonderful people at Global Pet Foods in Alliston are now hosting Sebastian (pictured above). Isn't he a gorgeous smoky coloured boy?!? If you know anyone who is looking for a very sweet, very handsome new dude in their life - he might be just the ticket!

Poor Puff STILL has an infected ear! grrrrr! The poor guy has been coping with this for months now and with the most recent analysis, it looks like we may have to go with an antibiotic that has huge potential side effects....

One of our wonderful vets is trying to research the issue though. If there is a gentler but still effective way of doing things she will be sure to find it for us...

The remaining orphan kitties are holding their own but the littlest isn't gaining weight as well as I would like. We will have to wait and see...:o(

Momma Mallow is being a good mom and feeding them, plus they are big enough now that they are starting to eat wet food on their own, plus they are being supplemented. So it isn't from lack of trying. They do run and play with the "big" kittens and seem to be bright and cheerful. Time will tell.

The cutest thing, is that one of Mallow's kittens is such a good "Mommy's Helper". She pats the orphans while they are nursing, then rolls them over and puts them in a head lock so she can clean their faces. She is really tiny herself, but because she is so much bigger than them she manages to do it.

It is so sweet!!!

On the doggy side of things I may have someone interested in adopting Piper. She is a very nice lady who used to volunteer for us and is allowed to take her dog to work. Wouldn't that be nice!

On the other hand I have committed to taking in an antique chihuahua...

It really never ends!

Stay tuned...

Shelly&Crew

Ups and Downs...

2008-05-30T19:33:00.002-04:00

So here was my day :

Wake up.

Take dogs out to pee.

Answer some emails.

Get the kiddos off to school.

Feed and medicate everyone here.

Organize adoption paperwork then load up creatures in the car.

Stop at the foster home to drop off the hound x setter that was here overnight after his neuter yesterday.

Drive to see the very nice man who was interested in meeting Earl Gray.

Well the good news for today is that Earl Gray finally found a home! Poor bug has been in foster care since last October - 8 months now - and he has finally found his place to be. Yipee!

Drive up to the Global store to pick up donations of food, scritch and play with Diamond for a bit. Diamond is one of our program cats and he is being featured in the store while he waits for a home. Diamond is AMAZING - so sweet and loving and absolutely gorgeous! (Anybody need to adopt a nice young cat??!?!) :o)

Drive home.

Take dogs out to pee and a quick walk.

Feed and medicate everyone who needs it.

On the very sad side of things, the tiniest of the orphan kittens had died. They all seemed to be doing okay for the last few days, so that was a very sad and awful thing to discover...

Clean litter boxes.

Feed and medicate.

Answer phone calls and emails.

Feed human family.

Take dogs to pee and romp.

Tuck various creatures into bed and get ready to do something very similar again tomorrow...

So how was your day?
Shelly and crew

So far so good!

2008-05-23T06:19:00.000-04:00

Well - I am please to report that everyone is still alive this morning - yay!I did drive to the emergency clinic last night to get some mammalac to supplement them, because skinny little mom is going to have a hard time dealing with eight babies I imagine.

The littlest new guy looked close to dead last night but seems to be perkier this morning so I am hoping they will pull through.

All I hope is that they are healthy or I will have doomed both groups. That is the big risk of putting them in.

Also, many cats DO take other babies readily enough, but on occasion the mom will kill the newcomers right off the bat or just ignore them completely until they perish.
Thankfully she seems to like them.

Pheeww!
Shelly and crew

Surprise!

2008-05-22T23:55:00.002-04:00

So, things have been lurching along nicely - the odd crisis - nothing completely shattering...

And I am starting to think things are under control. Hah!

On the positive side, I heard from the people who adopted Benny today (my former foster chihuahua with attitude!) and he is working in really well - yipee!

I have a really nice couple coming by on Sunday to see Kes, the slightly older but bouncy and playful cocker spaniel that is here - also yipee (with fingers crossed).

The new office fosters (Molly and Winston) are doing well, and we are continuing to work on Annabelle and her kittens.

The recovering parvo pup Fitz is doing well and his foster momma is not going to put up with any of his spoiled shihtzu habits!

Sooo - guess what I found waiting for me tonight?
I was on kid duties - flute lesson, vocal lesson, then haircuts and grocery shopping...
We arrived home and hubby said "Thank goodness you're here - there are REALLY little kittens in the garage!"
Well - there are 4 orphans - maybe 2 weeks old in a ratty box with an old tshirt and an open can of wet food that they can't even hope to eat.:o(
Stoopidly - I don't have any feline mammalac in the house and it is too late to get any from the vet, or pet store and the closest would be the emergency clinic which is about 45 minutes away. Doh!
So I did exactly what you should never do. I couldn't see any fleas or mites, they seemed to have clean butts and noses... So I rubbed them on the other 4 kittens and gave them to my nursing momma. Thankfully she took to them and has nursed them. They don't seem too dehydrated or cold so they might be okay. I just hope they don't have something horrible that I have now passed along to the other healthy kittens. (Which is why it is generally a bad idea)

They are about half the size of the mommas real kittens and amazing, but one of the kittens (4 weeks old) was actually grooming the new guys while they were trying to nurse. It was so cute!
They are all sleeping in one big furry pile now.

Anyway, I hope they are all still going in the morning...
Man, I am getting too old for this type of excitement!

I hope your day is a bit more boring. :o)
ttys, Shelly and crew

Looking for a good adopter (or two) - maybe YOU?

2008-04-09T14:43:00.003-04:00

Well spring has finally sprung in my neck of the woods - yipee!
What this means is rain and muddy paws, but I am not complaining - It is certainly preferable to all the endless snow!!!!

Spring also means kitten season and overflowing shelters... You know - from those irresponsible guardians that think cats need to be outdoors and couldn't possibly get THEIR girl spayed. And so, if they are lucky enough to avoid cars and predators, they might end up - scared and pregnant at the local shelter.

Annabelle was one of the lucky ones. She ended up at a shelter that works with Project Jessie and she has been fostered with her babies at the Animal Alliance offices.

Her babies are 6 weeks old now - so another couple of weeks and they will be vaccinated and ready for homes of their own.
Aren't they adorable?

Annabelle is barely out of kittenhood herself. She is a very good mom and we would love to have her adopted with one of her kids. She is a super friendly girl who loves to play fetch.

If you are looking for a new feline friend, please email me shelly@animalalliance.ca and we can chat!

Thanks!
Shelly and the crew

New Slaughter Proposed

2008-03-17T14:11:00.001-04:00

Middle Island, part of Point Pelee National Park, is a small island in the western Lake Erie basin that is home to a wide variety of wildlife. But the ecological integrity of Middle Island is now being challenged by Parks Canada, the very agency charged with its protection. A proposal to micro-manage, impair and possibly damage Middle Island’s natural processes, in ways that may include the slaughter and disturbance of wildlife, is now being considered. Insidiously proposed as a conservation strategy, the proposal will negatively impact on the natural evolution of Middle Island in an effort to maintain and control it in a static and artificial state.

The Parks Canada proposal specifically singles out Double-crested cormorants, a native colonial water bird, by claiming that their numbers are threatening the island and that thousands of them need to be slaughtered. Double-crested cormorants are a native Ontario water bird and a part of the natural ecology of Middle Island. The Parks Canada proposal to manage them is ill-conceived, short sighted, a waste of resources and enormously cruel.

Help Ontario's Cormorants Today!

Raise this issue today with Environment Canada Minister John Baird.
Let him know that the proposal to slaughter cormorants on Middle Island, part of Point Pelee National Park, must be stopped. Tell him cormorants are a part of the natural ecology of Middle Island and that it should be allowed to evolve in a natural way. Remind him that their is no way to humanely kill large numbers of birds in the field and that doing so is an archaic, destructive and cruel method of wildlife management that has no scientific or ecological justification.

John Baird, Minister of the Environment
Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere
10 Wellington Street, 28th Floor
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3
Tel.: 819-997-1441
Fax: (819) 953-0279
Email: John.Baird@ec.gc.ca

Raise this issue today with Premier Dalton McGuinty and David Ramsay, Minister of Natural Resources!
Let them know that the killing of cormorants is an archaic, destructive and cruel method of wildlife management that has no scientific or ecological justification.

Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Tel.: 416-325-1941
Fax: (416) 325-3745
Email: www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/feedback.asp

Hon. David Ramsay
Queen's Park, Rm 343, Main Legislative Building
Toronto ON M7A 1A4
Tel .: 416-325-7137
Fax : 416-325-9007
Email: dramsay.mpp@liberal.ola.org

For more information, call Animal Alliance of Canada at 416-462-9541, or visit www.zoocheck.com/cormorant.

On behalf of the cormorants, thank you for speaking out.

For the animals,
Animal Alliance of Canada

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T13:16:00.008-05:00

Hey - here is an idea!

Forget about chocolates - want to do something different and compassionate this Valentine's Day?

February is Spay and Neuter Month
What better way to show how much you love animals, than with a spay or neuter! Approximately 1 million animals are euthanized every year in shelters across Canada. The only way to stop these needless deaths is to stop overpopulation and the only way to stop overpopulation is through spay/neuter. Please consider sponsoring a spay/neuter for one of our Project Jessie rescues this month. Although it costs us around $100 per procedure, you can also help through purchase of a rescue package.You can access our secure online server at Project Jessie or phone us at 416-462-9541.

Thank you!!!

Happy Valentine's Day and thank you for caring!

Shelly and the Project Jessie crew

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-27T14:13:00.001-05:00

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you celebrate, that you are having a lovely holiday!

The last few days were a blur - the week before Christmas I screened a dozen or so families and finally placed the last two puppies from Luna's litter. I think that they are in fabulous homes!

I also drove to arrange a meeting between dear Maple (pictured above) and a potential adopter. Unfortunately, after a few minutes together we discovered something totally unforeseen - the adopter was REALLY allergic to her! (Running eyes, broke out in hives and welts - yikes!!!)

Obviously that wasn't going to work...

Anyway, as the holiday approached, I tried to get things organized. Every year we go to visit my family, and my hubby's family about 4 hours away for just a couple of days. The dogs come with us, but the cats stay here and have a sitter look in on them. After her latest "incident" I wasn't about to leave Bijoux with a sitter, so she was bundled into a crate and came along on the holiday travels.

She did really well and seems to have totally recovered from her latest troubles. I swear that girl has used up all 9 of her lives and is now borrowing from the other cats! :o)

She seems to like the new pink sweater that she got for Christmas, and all of the kitties got a new climbing post. They seem to like it - they are taking turns being on the top perch and playing "King of the Castle" - pushing each other off!!!

The dogs were very happy with the peanut butter biscuits that their friend Debra sent, a new toy from Andrea and warm winter coats.

Anyway, please give the furry members of your family and extra hug from me today!
Here's hoping that the new year is full of health, compassion and lots of whatever you need!

Shelly and crew

Oh that Bijoux!!!

2007-12-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

She must insist on doing everything her own way...

So - yesterday she was back to the specialist for a re-check, scoping and to (hopefully) have her feeding tube removed. Supposed to be in by 9 and out by early afternoon. (At least that was the plan....)

Everything seemed to go well in the morning - everything looked well healed, her esophagus was relatively clean and the tube was removed without incident. Pheeeww!

I hung around for awhile to make sure she was fully recovered from the anesthetic before taking her home...

They asked if I could wait another hour or so because she wasn't coming around as well as she might...

So I waited...

After two hours they said that she was breathing a bit oddly and could I possibly leave her overnight for observation. There was no sense of urgency, the vet just felt that she was a bit "off" and being Bijoux perhaps she should stay.

Thankfully I did leave her - about an hour after I left she stopped breathing. They revived her, gave her some sedative and put her on oxygen. Apparently it isn't uncommon for cats to have laryngeal spasm when they have surgery- but normally it would happen within minutes of having the breathing tube removed.

Not 6 hours later!!!!

Sooooo - here I am waiting to hear if she can come home today. The good thing is that the staff seem to love her at this clinic and were perfectly happy to keep her overnight.

She does keep everyone hopping though!!!

Please cross your fingers that she is okay later today and can come home...

The Holidays Are Coming - Make A Difference In Their Life and Yours!

2007-12-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

I hope that all is well on your part of the planet! The weather where I am is cold and winter seems to be in full swing - blech!

I can't help but think about all the poor animals outdoors - wishing for a warm indoor home and people to love them. One of our directors has been helping a feral cat colony in her neighbourhood and I think it is going to be a long, cold, hard time for them this winter.

As I write this, I am fostering three 10 week old pups (including charming Dexter pictured above) and 4 cats - plus I have my own crew to hug! Of course we have both dogs and cats in other foster homes too - more than 20 lovely creatures looking for new homes at the moment.

Although giving a living creature as a gift is never recommended, when it comes to adopting for yourself, sometimes this time of year is perfect. If you are home for quiet holidays on your own, perhaps a new friend is exactly what both of you need?

What about sweet, Maple? Or the handsome duo of Tigger and Tiki? Or sweet and unassuming Lily and Veruca? Or darling Ted? We have all ages, colours and personalities - probably someone that would be a perfect match for you!

If you aren't in a position to adopt right now - how about sponsoring? Monthly donors are especially helpful...

To see the wonderful creatures that are looking for homes,please visit www.ProjectJessie.ca

Not sure what to give the animal lover in your family or circle of friends this holiday season? Opening a dog or cat rescue package will warm the heart of anyone who cares about animals.

For only $35.00 a cat or $50.00 a dog, we will send your loved one, friend or co-worker a personalized Holiday Rescue Package with your special message.

The Holiday Rescue Package includes:
- A photograph of a rescued dog or cat
- A “Certificate of Rescue” in their name
- 3 Holiday gift tags
- A Personalized Christmas card
- Project Jessie Program brochure

To order a HOLIDAY RESCUE PACKAGE,please access our secure online server through the website or phone Jacqui at 416-462-9541 x22

However you are able to help, we ALWAYS appreciate it very much!!!
Thank you!!!
And Happy Holidays!
Shelly

What's up?

2007-11-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Boy things are hopping around here!

Luna's pups are growing, growing and getting big and silly and very adorable. It is hard to believe that they will be 8 weeks old this weekend - so next week they will get their shots and be able to go to new homes...

Bailey is comfortably established in his new place - as resident cat, official greeter and chief of lap-warming at a Toronto hospital. The folks there were very excited and he had quite the welcoming committee there to greet him. He is such a sociable guy that I am sure he will adore his new role! Gosh - I love happy endings! /(new beginnings!)

This week I spent a LOT of time on the road - picking up from pounds, picking up from/dropping off to vets, picking up from/ dropping off to foster homes.... pheeewww!

I am very glad that I don't have to do any driving this weekend (although I do have a couple of people coming to look at puppies). This program really is a 24/7 thing!

One of the dogs I picked up this week is an absolutely gorgeous fellow - a three month old, harlequin great dane pup. I am in love! Actually we have some really nice dogs right now - a pomeranian, a poodle, a shih tzu, a black lab...

People often have the perception that all the dogs that are in rescue are mixed breeds, old or aggressive and nothing could be further from the truth! About 30% of dogs in shelters are single breed and we have had everything from chihuahuas to St. Bernards.... You might have to be a bit patient, but if you are really set on a specific breed eventually you will find one in need of rescue.

The handsome fellow at the top is Ted - one of the cats currently being fostered at the main office. Ted is a siamese mix with the most cuddly, affectionate purrsonality! As you can see he is incredibly handsome and has gorgeous super soft fur! I think the fact that he is cross eyed makes him even more charming! Ted's only requirement is that he needs a home that is wiling to give him eye drops once a day, and has no dogs. He is absolutely petrified of dogs no matter how nice they might be. If you think that Ted might be an awesome new guy for you then let's chat!

TTYS, Shelly

Happy weekend....

2007-10-26T15:24:00.000-04:00

I hope that you have a nice weekend planned! It is supposed to be nice weather where I am - I hope that it is for you as well!

A happy way to end the week - Buffy & Cujo - the awesome kitties that have been fostered in the main office for almost 9 months now have gone to their new home today - yipee!!!
Fingers (and toes and everything else!) crossed that the single resident kitty likes having these new friends!

And we may have a place for Bailey cat so fingers crossed that works out as well.

Bijoux continues well (you can see her above lounging about with her friend Rootbeer)
and the beagle-y pups are now 5 weeks so I am starting to look for potential adopters for them. (You can see them on the website http://www.projectjessie.ca/) They are so darned cute!

On the down side, in the last few days I have been asked to take:
- a cockateil and 2 budgies
- a friendly, but very pregnant cat who is currently living outdoors
- a momma dog and her 2 week old pups
- "some" of the cats living in this woman's house (she *thinks* there are about 30)...

This is on top of the pounds that we normally work with.
It just never ends..

Anyway, onward we plod! ;o)
Have a good one!
Shelly and crew

Oh boy - where does the time go!?!

2007-10-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

I am SO sorry!!!
Things have been crazy and I do apologize for not posting!

(A few of you have emailed to comment - sorry!!!!!)

Things have been fine but busy...

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came to the Project Jessie Reunion last weekend. We didn't have as many people attend as in years past, but those who came had a great time. It was wonderful to see all the people and pups and we raised about $1000 in the process.

To those who didn't come - so - why not? Please let me know if you think it would be better to maybe have the next reunion at a different time of year - maybe the spring? Is there something you think we should do differently? I really would appreciate your feedback - thanks!

Bijoux is doing well - although now that she is feeling so good, she has turned into a very naughty cat!!! Seriously though, it is wonderful to see her having so much fun. She spends her days climbing and jumping and chasing the other cats. She has so much energy and life to her that I smile to see how far she has come.

Thank you all for helping to make that possible!

The handsome fellows at the top of this post are Luna's pups. They are 4 weeks old now and just becoming real little dogs. By that I mean they are now exploring, and wagging their little butts, snuffling and trying to learn how to howl... They are so darn cute!

But it is a lot of work: Feeding them and cleaning up after them, making sure they have new things to see and do and just keeping them happy. I am sure that Luna will be happy when they start eating more solid food and stop bugging her for milk all the time!

So that is how things are in my part of the world - how about yours?

Happy Tuesday everyone!

2007-10-09T16:02:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Okay - Is there anything better than leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast?!?!? I think not! ;o)

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend. Where I am, the fall colours are near their peak and there is a bit of crispness in the morning and evening air (even though it is still very warm during the day for this time of year!)

This weekend my family and I took our dogs on a lovely hike along part of the Bruce Trail and it was wonderful to be outdoors. I hope that you had some nice times too.

The weekend started off well. On Friday, Maple and one of her kittens Birch, were adopted together - hurray! Her other kitten Willow was a bit upset for a day but doing well now, and cuddling up to the other foster kitties...

Bijoux is still doing well - in fact she is racing around the house as I type - chasing the other cats and getting into lots of lovely mischief. I think she is really enjoying life at the moment and I am so grateful that she has been given the chance to have fun...

Luna the mama beagle and here babes are doing well...

The rest of the foster kitties are fine...

One tiny crisis this morning with some foster dogs that arrived that are very undersocialized - but hey - it can't be all good news or it wouldn't be my life right???

I am looking for a foster place for a young yellow lab, a 10 month newfoundland cross, and an anxious terrier... Anyone want to foster? Adopt?

I hope all is well in your world!
Shelly and the crew

Monday morning...

2007-10-01T15:03:00.001-04:00

Don't you love this picture - this is exactly how I feel today!

Actually it isn't really me - but it is one of the wee pups (as yet unnamed).

He is exactly one week old in this pic and life is composed pretty much of eating and sleeping - sounds lovely to me!

I hope you had a great weekend! The weather here was gorgeous - clear and warm and crisp! Not that I got out much...

Bijoux continues to do well - thank you all for your kind thoughts! She has fit right in with the other cats and is really making herself comfortable. She is on antibiotics because last week I thought I could hear a bit of odd noise to her breathing and the vet agreed that it sounded like the start of something. (She is at high risk for aspiration pneumonia because of her condition). But better safe than sorry and we did catch it early!

She doesn't have to wear a full t-shirt really, (just enough to keep the feeding tube in place) so last week I took the black shirt off and now she is fashionably dressed in half of a slightly fuzzy, nice pink sock. I will post pics here soon - she looks so cute and she is not fussing with the shirt or tube at all. I guess the concept of the feeding tube was bothering me much more than it seems to be bothering her...

We had a "yipee!" moment on Saturday - Larry and Wonka were adopted together! These two kittens had been with me since early spring, and although they were from different litters they are fast friends. They have been adopted by a really nice family and I am so happy for them!

I also had a very nice family come on Sunday to meet Luna - the mama beagle - and they would love to adopt her when she is ready to go! The mom of this family has a brother who has adopted 2 dogs through Project Jessie - one a beagle who was used in research and an large husky/shep/mix??? who was to be sent. It is SO nice that Luna will have a permanent place to go once she is done raising her babies and is ready for a new home of her own, and WONDERFUL that this family is so compassionate!

Although I try to stay non-political here, I thought I would mention that on October 10, election day, there is also a referendum on changing our voting system to a new citizen-designed voting system called MMP. One of the benefits of the new system is that it would make the Ontario legislature composition more closely match the popular support for each party across the province. This means that all voices would be heard, and parties would have to work together, and be much more responsive to the public. Given that public support for anti-cruelty legislation and for ending the Animals for Research practices is high, but the parties are not receptive currently, I think that the new voting system MMP would give us a much better chance of success. You can find more info at www.voteformmp.ca. Let me know if you have any questions or would like more info!

One example of why I think this is a good idea is illustrated by the scary (but true) story that can be read about here:

http://wagthedog.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/9/25/3253427.html

The DOLA (more commonly known as "the Pitbull Legislation") has made it very scary to have a black or brindle mixed breed dog in this province - even if your dog is very sweet.

Hopefully we can convince a new government to readdress the issue but I am not holding my breath!

And a big also, please don't forget about the Project Jessie reunion! October 14th is only 2 weeks away - yikes! For more info you can visit the website (http://www.projectjessie.ca/) and check under "Events" or stay tuned because I will definitely be bugging you about it tomorrow!

ttys, Shelly

Home again , Home again jiggety jig!

2007-09-24T12:10:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Okay - the best news first - Bijoux is home and doing well. Thanks so much to everyone who has been asking about her - it is so nice that other people care about this wee girl too!

She and I are learning the fine art of tube-feeding but she does seem happier to be back in familiar surroundings.

Since being back she has been laying in the sunshine by the patio door, scratching on the scratch post, chasing flies, curling up with the other cats, and just generally being a normal cat. The other cats think her t-shirt is interesting (she needs it to keep the feeding tube in lpace and still) but it doesn't seem to phase her at all - we tell her it makes her extra special to wear clothes!

The other news is that my foster beagle Luna (Balloona) had her babies on Saturday.

Wayyyy too much excitement - I hope your weekend was a bit calmer!

ttys, Shelly

Ups and downs and ups and - well you get the idea...

2007-09-16T20:13:00.000-04:00

Oh I am beat (and I am not even the one who had the surgery!!!)

Poor wee Bijoux just has to keep us guessing...

Yesterday when we went to visit her she was looking better. They had put an e-collar on her because she was up and around, and trying to groom herself. Grooming is a no-no right now but nice to see that she was feeling well enough to want to try! They had removed the chest tube, were weaning her off of her pain medication and everything was moving forward well. Except that I thought she sounded a bit odd - slightly wheezy...

The vet said that she had been planning on doing a chest xray anyway. Sure enough - what we had been fearing - Bijoux has fluid in her chest.

So today, they reinserted a smaller chest tube to drain off the fluid - and it appears that there is a bit of infection. She is already on antibiotics, so they may have to change the type she gets. She is also back on painkiller (a milder type though) and she does have a fever.

Esophageal surgery usually has a 3 to 5 days danger period and I was so hopeful - since we are now at the 5 day mark, but I guess we will have to keep worrying for a little longer.

Thanks to everyone who has worried along with me. I will certainly let you know how she is tomorrow...

Shelly

What a week!!!

2007-09-14T14:57:00.000-04:00

Wow - this has been quite the week!

First of all - I spoke to the vet this morning and Bijoux is doing quite well. Hurray!

Yesterday they took out her chest tube and she seems much more comfortable now. She is getting out of her bed and using her litterbox, sitting and looking around a bit more. She is still on IV and the feeding tube, but seems to be breathing much better and having less pain.

I will be going to visit her tonight and I will give her gentle hugs from all of you, and let her know how many people are wishing her well!

THANK YOU!!! to everyone that has been asking about her her, and huge thanks to everyone who has made a donation to help cover her vet bill. I really appreciate it!!!

Although I have been quite preoccupied with this little girl, the rest of the program hasn't stopped moving along. I had quite the surprise yesterday when I picked up the sweet little beagle I was supposed to be taking to the vet for her spay. She was - ummmm - how to put this delicately? - very, VERY fat!

As it turned out - she is very, very pregnant. Not that I need another project!

So is there anyone out there who has been thinking of fostering, has whelped a dog before and is feeling like this might be the time to join Project Jessie as a foster home? If so, please let me know as I would be very grateful...

I don't know if it was a planetary thing, or just sheer, bad coincidence, but this was a bad week for many creatures we know.

Buddy, the gorgeous big blind fellow that often helps out in the Animal Alliance main office passed away on Tuesday after losing his battle with nasal cancer. His picture is above - isn't he beautiful! I hope he is happily chasing chipmunks at the Rainbow Bridge - free from any more pain...

One of the budgies from the "great Budgie Caper" of last spring passed on Tuesday as well - rest in peace dear girl...

And on Wednesday our own rescue hedgehog Thistle was found dead in her bed - having passed in her sleep. She was at least 7 - so an older girl in hedgie terms - but it was a real surprise as she had never been ill and was vibrant and energetic to the end. We will miss her very much.

So that's it for the moment!
I hope that all is well with you and your own feathered, furred or finned friends. Have a lovely weekend and I will let you know how things progress in my world!

(((hugs)))
Shelly

Still hanging in ...

2007-09-13T22:33:00.000-04:00

I went to visit Bijoux today and was told that she was not doing well...

As soon as I started to pet her little head, she looked up, opened her eyes wide and started to purr. The vet was surprised as they had never heard her make that sound before. (She has a funny little "chirpy" sound instead of a normal purr).

Anyway, she seemed very tired but was certainly more perky once I came to see her.

I told her about all of the well-wishes and how many people were rooting for her and I am sure that she understood.

Thank you for caring! I will let you know how she is doing tomorrow...

Bijoux - the day after...

2007-09-12T12:39:00.000-04:00

Wow - what a roller coaster ride...
The good news is that Bijoux is still alive, but there are a few bits of baddish news and she is not out of the woods yet...

The summary version is that she spent 5 hours under anesthetic yesterday. The doctors were amazing and did their very best to try and help her. She basically had 3 specialists working on her the entire time.

As I explained before, the diagnosis was Vascular Ring Anomaly which is quite rare. Of those rare cases, about 95% of the time the issue is called Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA). Of the remaining 5% there are 7 other conditions that could cause the same symptoms, only 2 of which need to be addressed by going in on the other side of the heart...

Well - you can guess what's coming can't you? Sure enough - our rare girl did not have PRAA, nor did she have anything that could be fixed from that side of the chest. By the time that all possibilities had been explored and ruled out she had been under for almost 3 hours.

The other thing that was very apparent was that her esophagus was packed solid with "gunk". The vets could not believe that she had been able to eat at all (She has been eating one to two cans of diluted wet food every day), and they could not move the solid mass of stuff out of her esophagus.

The decision was whether to continue under anaesthetic and do a second, entirely different surgery to remove the mess in her esophagus - or to let her die on the table without recovering her.

She is such a feisty girl, with such a will to live, that the decision had to be made to give her another chance...

Sooooo - they started the second surgery - a small incision in the esophagus. They pushed from the bottom and tugged from the top and eventually pulled out a solid "tube" of hair, partially digested food, and unidentifiable gunk out of her. (Imagine something like you would fish out of your bathtub drain and you would be pretty close...)

While doing this, the endotracheal tube popped out - which meant that she had no airway...
While one vet worked to reinsert it, Bijoux's heart rate slowed dramatically - the other vet needed to start open heart massage to keep her heart going. Once the tube was back in everything perked right back to normal - It was very close though.

Bijoux now has a feeding tube in place (hopefully short term only) to bypass the part of her esophagus that was opened, and allow it to heal. Apparently esophageal tissue does not typically heal very well, so she is still in danger of infection, tissue breakdown, or other complications. She is in the ICU unit and receiving the best of care though.

The good news is that once the stuff was removed from her esophagus, the constricted area could be seen to be larger than previously thought. As long as we can manage to keep her esophagus fairly clear, she should be able to eat much better. The bad news is, that since the vascular problem is on the other side of her heart, the likelihood of it being fixable are very small - even if she could survive another big surgery...

Of course, the extra surgery has pushed her bill up too. I think at the moment we are looking at around $2500, but if we had been doing this anyplace else we would be around the $10,000 to $12,000 mark - obviously we are getting a VERY good deal, even though it is still a lot of money...

So please, if you pray, or can send healing vibes, thoughts and good wishes her way it would be much appreciated. The next few days will be critical and then we will see where we are at.

Thank you to everyone who has phoned or emailed asking about her. The fact that you are following her story is very touching and really, really helpful!

I hate to even ask, but the bills are there. If everyone reading this could consider making a one-time special donation of $10, $20 or whatever just for her, it would go a long way to covering her bill. You can access our online donation page through the Project Jessie website http://www.projectjessie.ca/ or directly at https://wwws.vex.net/aac/jessieform.py
She is a great little cat and we are really hoping she will make a full recovery.

Thank you for caring!
Shelly and Bijoux

Bijoux's Surgery - today...

2007-09-11T06:24:00.000-04:00

We are just about to leave - wish us luck today!
Thanks!!!

Back to school and back to normal?

2007-09-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

Phewww! The kids went back to school yesterday across most of the province and I *hope* that means that things will be getting "back to normal" for people and that cat adoptions will pick up.

Over the years, I have noticed a real rhythm to adoptions:

Spring is usually okay for adoptions of young creatures but slower for the adults - almost everyone loves the babies...

Summers are slow because people are planning on going away on holidays and a new companion wouldn't fit in well...

Fall is usually fairly stead for adoptions of all sorts until just before Christmas...

Then people are looking for kittens and puppies - usually for the wrong reasons - as gifts or surprises instead of thinking about the lifelong commitment they are making. Occasionally though people are looking at that time because they have no parties and travelling, they are off work for a week or more and they are thinking it is a good, quiet time to bond with a new friend...

Winter is often slower as people cocoon up inside...

This year has been incredibly slow for cat and kitten adoptions. Not just for Project Jessie - but for every rescue and shelter that I have talked to. People still aren't getting the spay/neuter message and I have no idea why.

In this country we kill over a million healthy dogs and cats - every single year - simply because they have no homes.

It is incredibly sad and totally unnecessary...

So - if you are thinking of adding a new dog or cat to your home - Please adopt! If you are close enough to adopt through Project Jessie of course we prefer that! If not, please visit your local animal shelter or humane society and DEFINITELY make sure that the animals you live with are spayed/neutered!!!

It is safer and healthier for them, and better than producing more babies that won't have homes....

Shelly

Argggghhhhh!!!

2007-08-28T11:13:00.000-04:00

So...Up nice and early and off to the clinic this morning ... only to find that the surgeon was over booked.

Since we are taking up a big time slot, are not an immediate emergency, and it is not the kind of surgery that can be rushed - we were bumped.

The two vets who are doing the surgery can only do it on a Tuesday (that's when they are both available in surgery at at overlapping time) and next week is out - sooooo - we are now booked for September 11th.

Barring flood, hurricane or other natural disaster, we will be there.

Maybe third time's the charm???

Stay tuned....

Happy Monday to you all...

2007-08-27T09:17:00.000-04:00

So - how was the weekend?
Mine was just fine - thanks for asking!

After a hectic week, the weekend brought a very good moment - one of our foster kitties - Lilah - was adopted yesterday by a very nice family - yipee!

This has been a very hard year for cat adoptions and that has been true for every group I have talked to. This is the first year in the 10 years or so that I have been the PJ coordinator, that I have had spring kittens from tiny babies and still had them here when it was time to spay them. Sweet Lilah was spayed 2 weeks ago, so she is 5 1/2 months now. So glad she has a family to love her! (Now to work on homes for her 2 brothers!)

A new guy has joined us though - Bailey is a sweet black fellow. Neutered, vaccinated and declawed (something we would never do), he has been left outside numerous times while his people went away for extended periods of time. The last time, his people went away for 10 days leaving him outside with no food, water or shelter. A concerned neighbour has found him sunning himself and grooming in the middle of the road on occasion - doh! Obviously he is not really meant to be outdoors. Know anyone looking for a sweet young, declawed boy?

Bijoux continues along just the same. Tomorrow will hopefully go off without a glitch so fingers crossed! xxxxxxx

Miss Sally did well with her spay surgery...

Shania has recovered and gone back to her foster home...
(after $900 in vet fees...gulp! but at least she made it. Poor Curtis was $1200 and still didn't pull through)....

Genie cat is doing well in her new home...

All in all - not a bad week! Let's hope this week goes as well.....

A bit of a delay...

2007-08-21T09:46:00.000-04:00

Lucky (?) Bijoux!

We were all mentally prepared for the big surgery today - AND - it has been delayed....

Seems that the anesthesiologist is not in today and they really want her to be there. Soooo - we are now rescheduled for next Tuesday (the 28th).

It will be okay.

Bijoux is looking great, and eating well. She started regurgitating again the past 2 weeks (after a nice month of none at all!) but I think it may be the hot weather. Lots of food is going in and only a bit is coming out, so I think she is fine to wait another week before surgery.

Of course from a purely selfish point of view it means an extra week for me to worry about her and get mentally re-psyched up for the surgery - but I am sure that I will be fine too.

Thank you SO much to everyone who emailed or called and said they were thinking about her. It really does help to know that there are others who care about her too!

(And a special thank you to the couple who made a donation to Bijoux's care - it really helps!)

Now that I know what I am NOT doing today - I can figure out what I should do!

First, good thoughts and crossed fingers for Miss Sally. She is being spayed today and we are a bit worried for her. Sally was one of 4 pups that came to us last summer. Their parents were siblings (grrrr to the people who let that happen!!!) and the litter had some very weird genetic issues. As it turned out, Sally was the most affected and has had many, many episodes of allergy, weird food troubles and odd health issues that her foster/adoptive Mom has spent a ton of time researching and coping with, and has managed all of these troubles amazingly well.

So. Today is her big day. Please think about her. She has the best possible vet doing the surgery - but - her sister had a very hard time and nearly died during her spay. So obviously we are hoping with all of our hearts that Sally does okay. She has a lot of people pulling for her....

I will let you know tomorrow!

Next, we seem to have an issue with a foster dog - Shania - that is eerily similar to the symptoms that Curtis had. She is off to the vet this morning...

Genie cat will probably be going to her new home today or tomorrow - yay! She is an AMAZING girl - super friendly and takes care of ALL the kittens here - whether they are her kids or not. She is going to a great home but we will certainly miss her. It is always fabulous when kitties get placed but just a tinge of sadness too. Every foster takes a bit of your heart away with them, but we couldn't keep doing it if they all stayed!

Anyway, I hope you are having a lovely day with your animal companions.

Thank you for thinking about us!

Bijoux's Story - a little cat who needs help!

2007-08-18T16:03:00.001-04:00

Bijoux is a perfect example of one of the "special cases" that Project Jessie helps every year.

While MOST of the animals that come into the program are healthy and just need help finding a good home, sometimes surprises appear.

Bijoux is a very tiny, fluffy white cat. She was initially picked up as a stray by one of the animal control operators in Montreal. Because she had an odd snuffling sound to her voice, they thought that she had upper respiratory illness, and she was scheduled to be euthanised.
On May 31st/2007 two of our Animal Alliance Directors were in Montreal meeting with animal control personnel. While touring the facilities they noticed poor Bijoux in the back room -waiting to be killed. They asked if they could have her and when the pound agreed, she was taken immediately. Bijoux went straight to a local vet where she was examined and viral tested (negative). She was soooo thin!

She was vomiting her food, so they tried different types until they could find one that she tolerated well. Everything seemed to be fine, until the frantic phone call. Bijoux's throat had balooned out - she was having trouble breathing, and had a huge mass in her throat. They asked permission to do xrays. Those xrays were repeated an hour later, and I was told that they showed nothing remarkable at all.

They diagnosed her with "air in her trachea and/or esophagous" and said it was outside of their experience and there was nothing they could do. They did feel that she was stable enough to travel, and so we continued to make arrangements for her to come to Toronto.
On June 9th some wonderful volunteer drivers brought Bijoux all the way from Montreal through Toronto and up to my house in Caledon.She was not eating very well, was occasionally sneezing, and occasionally vomiting.

I spent the first few days with her regurgitating up to 20 times a day. Her first vet had her eating a very small kibble, but she was only eating a few kibbles a day. She weighed only 1.4kg when she arrived here. (Just for comparison, she weighed about the same as the 12 week old kittens I was fostering at the time).

I changed her to a totally liquid diet, feeding her on my shoulder and holding her upright for 15 minutes 4 to 6 times daily. That worked well for awhile, but then she got the runs as the food was just too rich to stay on for long. Then we had a week of grinding her kibble, soaking it in water, then mixing the mash half and half with the liquid diet.

During this time I was consulting with our own vet, and had one midnight run to the emergency clinic for suspected aspiration pneumonia (AP). I was doing my own research like crazy, and we were waiting for an appointment with the internal medicine specialist.
(If it doesn't start automatically, see

Bijoux's video on YouTube)

Finally, Bijoux had her specialist visit.

After taking her history and doing inital exam, Bijoux had a contrast radiograph done and she has "classic" Vascular Ring Anomaly. So classic that they don't feel that she even needs scoping or fluoroscopy to confirm diagnosis. It was very interesting to see the rads. She has a very large esophagous from her mouth, to just before her heart. There she has a "pouch" about 5cm/2" in diameter. As the esophagous passes over her heart, it is constricted to about 2 or 3mm (1/8"). Everything gastro past that point looks normal. So basically, her esophagous is shaped like a sand timer, and she must be always hungry as she gets only a few drops of food at a time. Poor wee girl!

Vascular ring anomaly constricts the esophagus - this is a situation in which the fetal blood vessels are still present when they should not be. The vessel passes over the esophagus and captures it between the aortic arch and other structures, constricting it. This can be cured surgically in many cases. Because she has been coping with this for 2 years though, they expect that the esophageal motility is likely to be permanent impaired. In other words, the surgery will enable food etc. to pass into her stomach, but she will most probably always have mega-e, and need to be fed liquid or semi-solid meals from a standing position for life.
After her consultation, although she had gained weight (now she weighed 1.7kg) we switched her food to canned Hill's a/d, mixed half and half with water. I continued upright feeding, but also gave her an elevated bowl so taht she could continually self-feed through the day. She did really well with this, and we had no regurge at all for a month. Yipee!!!

After a month, and while waiting for the two clinics that felt that could do the surgery to come back with quotes and an available date... Bijoux now weighs 2.1kg and is looking good. Her coat and energy are much better and I am much more confident that she can survive the surgery.

Anyway, (long winded - sorry!!!) our wee Bijoux is headed for her surgery this Tuesday (August 21st).

I can certainly tell you, that she has touched many hearts, and if she doesn't survive the surgery it will be a really awful day at my house!

I also realize that if she does survive the surgery we still have challenges to face, but I do think this will give her the best chance at having a "normal" life. At the moment I have to keep her in a large enclosure, or watch her like a hawk if she is out in the house. She will hoover up any tiny pieces of food, crumbs, dust bunnies etc that she finds on the floor. I am sure that she is hungry all the time. The problem is of course that if she swallows something that can't pass her stricture, and doesn't break down in the esophagus, she could easily puncture her esophagus. I want so much for her to have more freedom...

Anyway, if you can spare a few vibes or good thoughts for us next Tuesday we would really appreciate it! It is so nice to know that there are others out there who care...

While the amazing veterinarians at the clinic have been compassionate enough that they have agreed to do Bijoux's surgery at cost, it will still be about $1000 for the surgery (on top of the $1000 we have already spent on initial work, testing and consults) and the $5/ day for her special food.

If you are able, you could help us now by

contributing to Bijoux's surgery costs through our website today!

Thank you!

This crazy week and Bijoux's Story....

2007-08-18T09:44:00.000-04:00

Phewww - So we here we are at Saturday again!

This week has been a wee bit hectic but no huge disasters (so far anyway!) :o)

One girl kitten and two boys got spayed/neutered, 3 dog spay/neuters, a new finch (Frosti) came to my house, and a new dog too. (Kaytee)

Does it sound like I mostly drove around this week? From vet to foster home, to vet to home, to vet to shelter to vet? Yup - pretty much!

Katherine and Morris (two of our STAR volunteers!) drove up to my place and picked up Tigger & Tiki. Katherine is going to foster them and I hope she has fun! These are two totally lovable big, buff tabby brothers who are really bonded to one another. You can see their charming faces above. Anyone looking for a sweet pair of tabby toddlers???

Anyway, the good news is that a few leads for cat/kitten adoptions came in this week - yipee! Now to just arrange for introductions and - hopefully - a few kitties will be going to new homes soon...

So this upcoming Tuesday, Bijoux will be having her surgery. Any vibes, good wishes or other happy thoughts that you can send our way will be MUCH appreciated! I have confidence in the vets and I am sure that she will be fine, but nevertheless I am also positive that I will be a basket case on Tuesday....

You don't remember who Bijoux is?!? Stay tuned and I will give you her full story (so far!)

Hope you are having a great weekend...

Just where did this week go???

2007-08-11T16:24:00.000-04:00

Boy this week has gone quickly!

So - first an update on Archie. He does have a fracture on his pelvis and tail, but the good news is that the bones are not misaligned - so it is basically a matter of time and enforced rest and he will heal fine without surgery - pheww!

He did have a visitor while at the vet - a lady and her kids who were touched by his story and wanted to meet him. Keep your fingers crossed that but they are considering adopting him...

On Wednesday I took a dog from her foster home over to the vet for spaying. On the return trip however, my daughter fell in love with her and we ended up having her here for a few days. As you can see from her picture, she is a gorgeous girl! Absolutely great with kids but unfortunately, she wasn't very impressed with our current dog. Since Mollee weighs in at 92 pounds and Sugar is only 22 pounds, it wasn't a very good fit.

Today however, Mollee was adopted by a great couple. They live on a rural property with access to a river (and we know Mollee likes to swim because she kept trying to get into our little swimming pool! ) They are retired and have no other animals. A perfect spot for her and I hope things work out.

The hardest part of this program is the "match-making" - matching the dog or cat to the family or lifestyle that will work for everyone. Quite often people fall in love with a face - but we know that the animal's personality won't work with their lifestyle.

Don't adopt a couch potatoe if you want a marathon running partner, and if YOU are the potatoe, that adopting a hyper dog is not going to guarantee that you will get in shape.

I do think that there is a furry someone for everyone - but sometimes the best new dog for you is a cat. Or maybe even a bunny.

Isn't this supposed to be a long weekend??? Good news, moderately bad and awful...

2007-08-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

So...

The last few days have been anything but peaceful and relaxing.

Should I start with the good ?

Beatrix found a home - hurray! Poor princess Beatrix is a 4 year old cat that we have had in foster care since last November. Her new guy is wonderful and apparently she walked into her new place and made herself comfortable. She even coped well with the scary subway ride home. Brave Beatrix!!! I am so happy that she has a permanent place to lay her head - she deserves it!

The bad....

I got a frantic call to come and get a cat that we had placed a year ago. Of course, since it is technically a long weekend for most people, most vet clinics are closed except for the emergency ones which are big$$$ and the owner couldn't/wouldn't afford to take him there.

Poor Archie (pictured above) had been placed in a riding stable.

He was not and is not really an outdoor cat, but he has a nasty habit of peeing/pooping in places other than his litterbox on occasion. All veterinary reasons had been ruled out and he was so sweet that the clinic really didn't want to euth him as the owners were asking. Sooooo - we found a riding stable where he would get lots of pats and attention, would be fed, and they wouldn't care if he messed in a stall. (He also likes to use the riding arena as a giant litter box!)

It looks like he may have been kicked or stepped on. Apparently in the last little while he has gotten very hard of hearing and quite often won't move when the horses are coming.

He is doing okay, but is there anyone out there who night consider taking in this fellow and wouldn't freak about the occasional extra-litterbox deposit???

Archie loves other cats, dogs and kids - he is a really nice all around cat just looking for a place...

And the awful...

After 4 days of intense vetting including IV, anti vomiting meds, anti-biotics and even a plasma transfusion, little Curtis passed over the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.

He was a lovely pup and everyone who met him/ knew him is totally devastated. I can't even begin to cope. My daughter Emma was actually pushing to adopt him...

We don't even have the test results yet, but it was definitely something viral - either parvo or distemper. If he had been vaccinated EVEN once as a pup he would have gotten sick but it probably wouldn't have killed him.

Why can't people be more responsible???

I sincerely hope that your long weekend is going better.....

Think good thoughts...

2007-08-01T22:06:00.001-04:00

I just heard from the vet...

Earlier today one of our foster pups - Curtis - was rushed to the vet because he was vomiting, had diarrhea and was quite lethargic.

Initial blood work wasn't particularly remarkable but he is on IV and not looking great at the moment. Please send some good thoughts his way tonight...

Today is a venting day…

2007-08-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

Okay, so today is just one of those days I guess...

I went to one of our pounds to pick up two of the sweetest dogs you have ever met.

Ziggy is a 6 year old aussi shepherd x bassett hound with the most gorgeous eyes. He is good with other dogs, LOVED my kids and seems quiet and well behaved. They even know who his owners were. So WHY has he become a Project Jessie guy? Because his former people didn’t want to spend the $25 it would have cost they to bail him out of the pound. Grrrrr!!!!
Obviously he will be better off with a different family who can love him more and appreciate what he has to offer.

What I still can’t understand (even though it happens ALL the time) is how someone can live with an animal companion for a long time, and then throw them away for a frivolous reason???
I don’t get it! I mean, I get attached to my foster guys even when they are here for a very short time.

The other guy is a heart breaker. We have named him Piper and boy is he a cutie! He is a bit older, and incredibly dirty. He is going to need a good scrubbing and a bit of a “polish up”, but is he ever a lovely boy!Piper looks like a big black teddy bear, with white, speckled feet. He is incredibly obedient – knows stay, sit, down, shake a paw, and other commands. Obviously someone spent some time with this big guy at one time – so why was he found in such a neglected state, wandering the dusty roads?

There are so many times that I wish they could talk!

Today, I am also having Lenny neutered. This is the first year of fostering, that I have had a litter of kittens from birth to needing to be spayed/neutered. And I have THREE litters where this is true!
Cat/kitten adoptions have been so slow this year, and ALL of the shelters are drowning in kittens. Poor little guys! They all deserve good homes of their own and there are so many lovely kitties looking….

Why can’t people just understand how important it is to spay and neuter their own cats?!?!?

I actually lost it yesterday with a woman that I met at the vet. She said,”Oh! I understand that you are a rescue person, right?” She then proceeded to ask if I would help her place a litter of kittens. She had DELIBERATELY bred her female, so that her kids could see the “miracle of birth”. Now she had 4 kittens left from a litter of 5 and was having trouble finding them homes. Duh!!!
If you want to see the “miracle of birth” how about fostering for a rescue group or your local shelter?
If you are deliberately breeding so that your kids can have the experience – how about taking them down to the pound on euthanasia day so that they can get the whole picture?
I guess the “miracle of death because there is no space left” isn’t nearly as appealing…

Looks like it is going to be a kind of day!

Who are we? Why a Project Jessie blog???

2007-07-31T21:17:00.000-04:00

So, one of the questions that I get all the time is "What IS Project Jessie?"

In a nutshell - Project Jessie is an amazing network of individuals; volunteer drivers, foster homes, compassionate vets and ultimately adopters.

This blog was set up to give you a glimpse into the "day to day" operations of a rescue program - sometimes joyful, sometimes heartbreaking, often frustrating but always interesting...