HEADS UP: This blog will be all about fur babies! Fur babies with stripes and spots, and wet noses and lots and lots (and lots) of fur!
Reason being is I was fortunate enough to be asked to volunteer at the Grand Reopening of the SPCA in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Montreal. Like this was even a question, half my heart belongs to animals so whatever I had planned that day, was now cancelled to help with adoptions and such :)
If anyone read my previous blog, you would already know I was very sick that entire week after donating blood. Didn't stop me nonetheless, I had my daytime flu meds and away we go! I was asked through a family friend who is an amazing event planner and has been working with this SPCA for the past 2 years. When she reached out to me, I answered back in minutes with an instant yes. We then recruited my mum to help as well. Being that we all come from the same small, hometown, we were lucky enough to have another close family friend who was the photographer for the day! Needless to say, it was a day we were all looking forward to.
The grand reopening was to begin at 10am so we showed up earlier to help with preparing the outdoor events. There were many people who came out and donated their time and supplies which was such an amazing thing to see! When we arrived, there had been a young couple sitting, outside on the sidewalk waiting for the doors to open so they can go in and adopt their fur baby. There were literally hundreds of orange balloons, food vendors, bouncy castles, coloring station for the kids, a raffle and donation table, a DJ, a photobooth and tons more! It was a full house and we occupied the entire parking lot. It was so exciting that all this came together to help find forever home for all these animals.
10am wasn't even around when there was a lineup of people just waiting to come in and pick their new family member. The sight of this was so warming and fulfilling.
10am came, music went on, people were let in and the day of adoptions started!
Just to clarify a little bit on the roles of what the SPCA is; SPCA is an abbreviated term for Society for the Prevention to Cruelty of Animals. They ARE NOT a pound or state organization, nor a rehabilitation center or animal shelter. Their main role is to prevent the ill treatment of animals, promote positive behavior of man, be knowledgeable on applications of laws regarding the treatment of animals and make representations of these laws to the appropriate authority. They educate people as well as children about the proper treatment of animals, host events to promote adoptions and many more! It is important to remember that any SPCA is an animal welfare organization that receives no funding from the government and most of the time, no funding from the municipality. The sole function of an SPCA is based on the support they receive from surrounding communities.
SO what kind of support can you give YOUR local SPCA?
There's many different types of support that you can give from home with your fur babies such as; prevent unwanted litters and back yard breeding by having your animals spayed or neutered, don't support the purchasing of breeders, puppy mills or pet stores, share your education of proper treatment of animals with others. YOU have to be their voice. ALWAYS adopt. Of course, being that SPCA's don't receive any government funding, donations are always appreciated as well. Your time is always valued too! Volunteer on a rainy day.
Education is key. Educating yourself on cruelty-free products are so very important too! I'm proud to say that I shop cruelty-free and I educate where I can. Just to make a quick definition of what cruelty-free products are; In the animal rights movement, cruelty-free is a label for products or activities that do not harm or kill animals. Products tested on animals are not considered cruelty-free, since these tests are often painful and cause the suffering and death of millions of animals every year.
It sucks to say that shopping cruelty-free isn't easy. You walk into your local pharmacy and there's often one small, unknown brand that don't test on animals. BUT there are certain shops and stores that offer an entire range of non-tested products! Such as Lush and The Body Shop. There are also signs you can look for if you don't happen to be near these stores, in your local pharmacies. One important thing to remember is NO MATTER WHAT, if a brand does NOT test on animals, they will say it. There is a small logo on the back of any product that shows a little bunny and it will say "not tested on animals" sometimes it will show just the bunny as well. SO if you see this little bunny, you are in the clear.
These are all little things that you can do BUT it will make such a big impact on these babies who don't have forever homes or those who are living their life in labs. Like I said before, YOU are their voice. It's an empowering feeling!
By the end of the day of the reopening of the SPCA, of 13 dogs and puppies, 10 were adopted as well as a handful of senior cats and an entire litter of kittens! These animals have now found their forever homes. I remember seeing the first family of the day, walking away after signing the adoption papers and seeing this dog so unbelievably excited and happy, and I looked to my mum who had tears in her eyes. I then teared up as well because how amazing is it to know that you just saved a life? These are happy tears of course! To these animals, we are their entire world, literally. We leave for work in the morning and live our day. When we leave for work, your animals that you have at home, live their day by waiting for you to come home. They depend on you to live; to feed them, take them for walks, socialize them. This is why I love the term "fur babies". I have 3 cats and 1 dog at home. I bathe in fur everyday! But I wouldn't change it for the world. They are my family too. I will always be an advocate for animals, I will always be their voice and I will never leave any of my fur babies behind.
On that note, I will leave you to your day! I cannot stress enough, the importance of being educated; educated on living a cruelty-free life, on knowing where to adopt your future family members where it WON'T support breeders and puppy mills, knowing the proper care and treatment of animals and so on. Don't take in a puppy for kitten because it's cute if you're not ready for the grey hair, smelliness and years to come. One important thing to remember is, this is THEIR life too. You are their life so make them a part of yours :)
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