Canada: Staff return to Toronto Humane Society for first time since November raids

Staff return to Toronto Humane Society for first time since November raids

(CP) – 4 hours ago

TORONTO — Toronto Humane Society staff re-entered the facility today for the first time since the animal shelter was raided last month.  However, the facility remains closed to the public and there is no word on when that will change.

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals searched the shelter in November and uncovered several alleged cases of animal neglect.
The society's former president, Tim Trow, and four senior employees were arrested and charged with animal cruelty.

THS president Bob Hambley says he is pleased the court has recognized that the "unending occupation of the THS had to stop."  He also says in a statement that staff are "very happy to be returning" to the facility to resume business operations.  Hambley adds that he will not deal with legal matters in the media but in the courts. A court action was filed last week by the Humane Society accusing the OSPCA of defamation, trespass and negligent investigation.

"This has been a difficult five weeks for all of us as we have been prevented from doing what we always strive to do, which is to treat sick, injured and abandoned animals," said Hambley.

"We look forward to updating everyone on when the THS will reopen to the public again and recommence adoptions.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. 

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5i7-yP2MQ8ciZthtFwTl-AhClLTnw

Canada: Dogs rescued from illegal Taiwan meat factory

Rescued in Taiwan, brought to Island

Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10:04 AM

Vixen on a Christmas walk in Cowichan Bay, a world away from the illegal Taiwanese meat factory, where the chubby Siberian husky was being fattened up as a dinner entrée.

Photo Credit: Island Dogz Rescue, Courtesy

In her four years of life, Vixen has seen a lifetime of horror.  The chubby Siberian husky, now in foster care in Duncan, was being fattened up as a Taiwanese dinner delicacy when she was rescued from an illegal meat factory by an extreme group of Taiwan-based animal rescuers known as the Compassionate Mamas.

"It's hard to look at her and think they were going to eat her," said Gem Zolciak founder of Island Dogz Rescue, who is fostering Vixen.  The dog already has lost almost three kilograms and is now a relatively svelte 25 kg (55 pounds). Her hips and back are slowly recovering strength after being kept in a small cage.

Vixen is among three dogs brought to Vancouver Island from Taiwan by Island Dogz this month. They represent the first shipment from Taichung Universal Animal Protection Association, a no-kill shelter that takes in stray and abandoned dogs, including those rescued from meat factories.  At the shelter, six volunteers care for more than 1,000 dogs.

Eating dogs and cats has been discouraged in Taiwan for two decades. A 2001 law banned the killing of dogs for skin or meat. Legal loopholes were then closed by a 2004 law banning the sale of dogs as food, but underground markets still exist.  The laws are rarely enforced, said a spokeswoman for the Taichung group.

Some dogs are "farmed." Others are snatched off the street and stuffed into tiny cages until they are killed.  "Some people feel the adrenaline coursing through the body makes the meat taste better and the dogs are tortured before they are killed," Zolciak said.

Taichung group volunteer Johanna Quinn, who arranges dog shipments to rescue organizations in Canada, the U.S and Germany, said the Compassionate Mamas go on random, night-time raids when they hear of a factory and then turn the dogs over to rescue organizations.  Others go in undercover and buy the dogs, Quinn said.

In addition to Vixen, Mooch, a nine-year-old malamute cross, and Heidi, a nine-month-old mixed- breed puppy, are in foster care in the Cowichan Valley.  "I could bring 100 dogs here if I had the foster homes. We foster them before we adopt them out so we can assess their personalities," Zolciak said.

Dogs brought to Vancouver Island are checked by veterinarians and fully immunized. They are shipped from Taiwan in crates with canine amenities, usually accompanied by a human caregiver.

jlavoie@tc.canwest.com

Source: http://www.globaltvbc.com/entertainment/Dogs+rescued+from+illegal+Taiwan+meat+factory/2388894/story.html

Canada: Pugs and kisses and cuddles, too

Pugs and kisses and cuddles, too

By: Ashley Prest

28/12/2009 1:00 AM

Moka loves to cuddle up to Angus, who seems to be taking this new closeness in stride.

She has bulgy eyes, a wrinkly face, a curly tail, and weighs just six kilograms.Her name is Moka and she has brought us pugs and kisses for Christmas.
Moka is our new family member, a one-year-old pug born in a local rescue shelter's foster home.  She is simply an awesome little dog -- so sweet-natured, energetic and fun-loving. There's no end to how long she will let you cuddle her or how many kisses she will try to give. I have never seen a dog so overcome with joy at all times.

She has made Angus, our huge eight-year-old Rottweiler-cross who is also from a rescue shelter, into her personal heat source. Anytime he lies down, Moka burrows into his enormous side and makes a cosy little nest against his stomach. Sometimes, she brings her chew toy and props it against his front paws while she gnaws on it. With him, just like all of us, Moka can pretty much do whatever she wants.

Moka's life started in a U.S. puppy mill. Her mom, malnourished and suffering from an eye injury, was rescued by a Winnipeg group and fostered locally by a loving couple. Moka was adopted for an elderly man by his grandchildren to keep him company.  Last summer, when the he fell seriously ill and was unable to care for his little dog, whom he named Pug, his extended family struggled with what to do for her.

The family, all full to bursting with their own pets, shared her among each other for more than a month.  Fortunately, I happened into the story at this point through a series of coincidences that we all came to agree showed this little dog was meant to be with our family. Knowing their dad/grandfather was fortunately recovering, but not able to look after her with his new health concerns, his family allowed us to adopt her.

I will always remember the look on my 15-year-old daughter's face when we put this little dog into her arms four months ago. Only weeks before, she had been begging us for a pug puppy, something she'd wanted and researched for years. We had resisted the huge job of raising a baby dog.  But this little dog -- not a baby anymore, and needing us as much as we needed her -- was a perfect fit. She bonded instantly with our oldest daughter and, no exaggeration, changed her teenaged life.

We count Moka among the many things we have to be thankful for this season. We hope you can join us in our Pennies From Heaven campaign to bring gifts and hampers to the homes of other families. Families receiving hampers from the Christmas Cheer Board who mention their four-legged family members also receive something for their Christmas dinners.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca
Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/pugs-and-kisses-and-cuddles-too-80192442.html

CAN: Bakery is the Big Dog in the Beach

Bakery is the Big Dog in the Beach

Love for her Great Dane inspired owner to open shop where customers are greeted with a tail wag

Published On Sat Dec 26 2009

Jackie Krovblit's heart is bigger than the 120-pound inspiration behind her company's namesake, Big Dog Bakery.

Having instantly fallen in love with Trixie, her Great Dane and silent business partner, Krovblit opened Big Dog Bakery when she realized her "child" was too important for mass-produced pet food.  And now Big Dog Bakery is the big dog on Queen Street in the Beach – the only boutique pet store in the area that bakes products on the premises.

The bakery, located in the building that once housed the Three Dog Bakery, is decorated in a rainbow of colours.  Cupcakes covered in blue, pink, white and cocoa icing sit in display windows. The shelves are stacked with cookies and empanadas for cats and dogs. Dog cakes are baking in an oven behind the counter.

Trixie greets customers with a wag of her tail. The gentle Great Dane is the hallmark of Big Dog Bakery. Her face is on every package of treats the stores sells. Trixie "is my big dog in a little package,"  says Krovblit, who confesses, "I never thought I would have a dog. But when I got Trixie, my whole world opened up, like a lightning bolt."

Krovblit started Big Dog Bakery from her home in 2004. Making biscuits and treats in her toaster oven, she used Trixie and dogs in the park to figure what worked.  Big Dog then moved to Toronto's Woofstock – a festival for dogs in the Distillery District – in its first year. "They (cakes and cookies) are healthy – it's like giving your dog something really special," Krovblit says. "Yes, the look is entirely marketing, it is for the person, the dogs can't really see the colour but they can smell. So the dog will think, `What's that?'

"It goes back to what makes something really palatable for the dog. The market is there, so give people what they want. And the dog is going to feed off it and the person will get a kick out of it."

After her inaugural year at Woofstock, she started selling gourmet cakes, made with natural, human-grade ingredients and an assortment of dog treats through select stores around the GTA. It was in 2006 when she lost her job in the restaurant industry and put all her efforts into the bakery, which she opened in July.

Big Dog Bakery has since expanded to Home Sense locations throughout Ontario and Quebec at Christmas.  "I had to carry over from an existing store (Three Dog Bakery) with an American branding so it took a bit of work to convince people our product is better and healthier. All our bakery stuff is almost 100 per cent made in store. It's a new concept so people need to realize that," says Krovblit.

Iced with either carob or cream cheese, the store sells about 40 customized cakes each month in flavours like Peanut Butter Bliss, Chop Lick 'n Liver and Banana Rama. Krovblit has also discovered the purrfect companion products for dogs – cat food. So Big Dog Bakery now includes freshly made gourmet cat treats in its menu.

"People these days really care (about their pets), and they want to know where things are coming from and everybody in our market and demographic consider the dog to be part of the family," Krovblit said.  "They want to give that dog a lot and they want them to live as long as possible. And why shouldn't that
dog be on the same level of health and nutrition (as its masters)?"

Source: http://www.thestar.com/business/smallbusiness/article/742412--bakery-is-the-big-dog-in-the-beach