WE NEED YOUR HELP TO FIND BAMBI A HOME!

Bambi is a sweet, gentle girl who needs a home. And she needs your help to find it! You see, Bambi is unlucky enough to be a pit bull in a province where pit bulls are banned. The Windsor/ Essex County Humane Society has opposed breed specific legislation (BSL) since the Ontario government first considered it, but sadly, it's still in place. And we don't want Bambi to run into any issues once she finds her new family, so she needs to find a human outside Ontario to love. And she will definitely love that human, like she loves everyone she meets. We're told she is a lap dog who has lived with children, and she enjoys her furry friends as well.

Can you help Bambi find a home in Quebec, Alberta, or Michigan? Or basically anywhere that doesn't have a silly breed ban in place? Please share her adoption post with contacts outside the province!

WE'VE UPDATED OUR CLINIC'S BOOKING PROCESS!

We love that our community recognizes the importance of spaying or neutering your animals. The demand for our spay/neuter services is greater than ever - we performed 6,506 public surgeries last year but even that couldn't keep up with the demand!

To help make the booking process more streamlined, moving forward we will be opening up the next month's appointments one month at a time. May appointments were opened this week and filled quickly. June appointments will open on May 8 at 10am.

But...we've added an extra day entirely of cat neuters on May 18, and our email subscribers are getting the first opportunity to book!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR STRAYS ON STREETCORNERS!

Strays on Streetcorners is our largest fundraising event of the year, and we need your help! This year the event is June 1-3 - volunteers are stationed at major intersections around Windsor/Essex collecting donations from drivers and handing out our Woofstreet Journal newsletter. The success of this campaign is directly tied to the number of people we have out collecting donations, so any shift you can do makes a big difference!

Shifts are as follows:

Thursday June 1 & Friday June 2

7:15am-9:15am

3:30pm-5:30pm

Saturday June 3

10:30am-12:30pm

12:30pm-2:30pm

For each shift you volunteer for, you earn an entry to WIN $250 CASH! A second draw will be held for a $50 Devonshire Mall gift card.

**Must actually attend shift to be entered**

Please send the following information to [email protected]:

1) What shift(s) you are available for.

2) What area of the city or town in the county you live in so we know which corners would be best suited for you.

3) If you can form a team to do a corner with you (3-6 people needed per corner) **Pro tip - it's way more fun with friends so we highly encourage you to form your own team!

4) If you are interested in being a shift leader (responsible for picking up the supplies and dropping the donations and supplies off at WECHS after your shift)

5) Your cell phone number

COMMUNITY CATS NEED YOUR HELP!

Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programs save cats’ lives. While we would like to see every cat have a cushy life indoors, we have to accept that some cats are happiest in their outdoor home, living life on their own terms. For them, TNR is essential to control the population and also to improve their quality of life. Several years ago, these fellows were brought to the Humane Society as stray cats. But it was clear that they were "community cats" and the best option for them was to neuter them and return them to the familiar place they came from. Soon after their release, they made their way to Peggy and Tom’s house. Tom and Peggy recognized that they were altered because of their ear tips, but didn’t want to see them hungry out on their own so began to feed them and provided an outdoor shelter so they could escape the elements. 

Fast forward a few years...and the Town of LaSalle passed a by-law saying that you can’t feed cats except as part of a “trap, neuter or spay, and manage program approved by the Supervisor”. A neighbour complained to the Town’s by-law department about this pair, and a $255 fine was issued. Peggy and Tom reached out to the Humane Society for help. We confirmed for the Town that these are cats who were TNR'd under our stray cat intake agreement with LaSalle. We also confirmed that they are community cats who are microchipped to the WECHS as free-roaming cats. But these arguments fell on deaf ears, and their fine of $255 was upheld.

How can you help?

🐾 Send an email to LaSalle’s mayor at [email protected] telling her that a bylaw that prevents people from feeding cats who have been responsibly TNR'd is inhumane! 

🐾 Want to go a step further to help the cats? Email all the LaSalle councillors that the bylaw needs to change - find the list here. If you live and vote in Lasalle, be sure to mention that in your email!

🐾 Donate to help us cover the cost of Tom and Peggy’s ticket. Any funds raised above the amount of the ticket will be used to help advocate for community cats, and against feeding bans like this one (Windsor passed a similar bylaw in 2021!).

🐾 Be a responsible community cat caregiver. While that doesn’t guarantee that you won’t run into issues (these caregivers are very responsible!), it does reduce the risk that your neighbours will complain or advocate for feeding bans.

APRIL 22 IS EARTH DAY

Spring brings much-needed change after a long, hard winter. It means longer walks outside, frolicking through the park, and basking in the warm sun with our furry friends. Spring also reveals lots of garbage after the snowbanks melt away. This includes some things we use on a daily basis as pet owners waste bags, food packaging, forgotten tennis balls, the list goes on. Wondering how you and your pet can make things a little greener?

Here are some ways we can all do our part to be more “earth friendly”:

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Reduce your consumption of single-use plastics and recycle whenever possible. By reducing waste, you can help to protect wildlife habitats and prevent plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways.

• Try Meatless Mondays - Eating a plant-based diet is one of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint and minimize your impact on the environment. It also reduces the demand for animal agriculture, which is a leading cause of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Eliminating meat from your diet even one day a week can make a major impact, so try out Meatless Mondays with your family!

• Support Sustainable Products - Look for products that are sustainably produced, made from renewable resources, and are biodegradable. By supporting sustainable products, you can help to promote environmentally responsible practices and reduce your impact on the planet. Be sure to buy biodegradable poop bags to reduce waste when picking up your pet's... well... waste!

• Protect Wildlife - Protecting wildlife and their habitats is crucial for the health of our planet. You can help by supporting conservation efforts, avoiding the purchase of products made from endangered species, and by not supporting businesses that exploit animals for profit.

Together, we can make a difference for the planet and its inhabitants. Let's all do our part to create a healthy and sustainable world for all. Happy Earth Day!