Seven more days of wonderment!

I had another great week at the shelter. To repeat myself, as the lady in the HSI video says, 'today is better than yesterday', and so it is for the dogs and the volunteers. If you have time to spare to make a difference in the life of these saved dogs, please contact HSI to let Malena know your availability. You will be given more information at that time. Even one day will make a difference. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

My Zeetie and Max are great, almost. A woman had an issue with Zeetie on the weekend. Two ladies found Max waiting for me in the parking lot and they walked out to meet me as I came up the trail. They both seemed like very nice ladies, until...I reached down to put the leash on Max, forgot about Zeetz and she jumped up on the woman in happiness.

Yikes. If the woman could have kicked Zeetie all the way to the highway, she would have. She was yelling at her 'Bad dog, bad dog, don't do that, bad dog' and this seemed to continue for some time. She yelled at me and how that was unacceptable (yes, it is) behaviour and she needed training and the diatribe continued. I think Zeetz was lying cringing on the ground but I couldn't say for sure. I was busy picking my jaw up off the ground at the hysterics. If you're reading this, Lynn, I have been working on her but obviously not hard enough. She doesn't jump on us and I have been working hard with her on strangers but sometimes I forget if something else is happening at the same moment. I felt bad, I apologized but thanked them for letting me know they had Max. I want to say that yelling at Zeetie for jumping up hasn't curbed her inclination to jump up as of last afternoon.

Zeetie shares Trickster's bed with him.

Zeetie awaits the next Hallowe'en Trick or Treaters. When children arrived, doorbell ringing, she stayed lying down, not a peep but her tail was wagging fiercely. Good girl, Zeetie!!

Incredibly Rewarding

I just returned from two weeks of volunteering at the shelter. It was quite emotional for the first couple of days but I moved on and was well-rewarded.

It was hard work and long days but well worth it. Please consider volunteering for the dogs. They especially need volunteers during the week. People of all kinds arrive even for the day who drive in from Ottawa and the outskirts who have kids and dogs at home yet they find a way to come out. Those are the people who have a wonderful support system. There are even people from the States, and all across Canada. It's that important to them. Remember that every job is an important one in order to get the work done fast and efficiently. It is amazing to see this team work in action.

I plan on returning but will regroup this weekend. With some good luck, this will soon be over.

To see updates, see HSI Canada.

To volunteer, please contact Malena with your time availability.

Malena Porras-Pena
Volunteer Coordinator
hsi.volunteers@gmail.com
tel / 514.395.2914
fax / 514.395.8021

As an aside, it was wonderful to see my dogs, again, with their lovely soft coats.

Quebec ... The Puppy Mill Capital of North America

Paws R Us—That's the ad I would see in The Citizen newspaper when I used to look in the classifieds for dogs who needed homes. They also 'sold' these dogs to pet stores. They seemed to be around for a long while. I knew from the name that it couldn't be good. And, it wasn't.

This family bred 30 types of dogs at their farm in Clarendon Township. More than 500 dogs and puppies were rescued from these people with no souls. You can see the full story here: Humane Society International

It breaks me up that the owner said she is losing her livelihood and it breaks her heart. What about those dogs? According to her, the animals were seized because of cobwebs on the ceiling, untiled floors and improper ventilation. She makes it sound like nothing was wrong.

I hope this is only the beginning of the end of puppy mills. There are 800 unregulated breeders in Quebec. There is much more work to do. They also need to stop the sale of puppies in pet stores across Canada because those puppies come from puppy mills. No reputable breeder ever sells to pet stores.

This is also a reminder to those who insist on getting a purebred puppy to do your research. Simply google 'responsible dog breeder'. I have included a link Responsible Dog Breeding. Please note that there are breed specific rescues and all-around rescues may have the breed for which you are looking.

Soon after we had Clara, the breeder even came to our home to check on Clara at least twice to make sure she had been spayed, and to ensure she was being treated properly. They also followed up with phone calls. This is the way it should be. Some of you may think this is overboard, but it isn't. Ben was never neutered nor looked after properly and his end came after only four short years due to extreme aggression. He was caged most of his young life and starved.