Prairie Region leads 2013 Sheltering Nominations

Seven finalists vie for the Urban Animal Industry's highest award in the category of Sheltering:

1. Animal Welfare Agency of South Central Ontario - AWASCO (Kathy Innocente) is nominated for completing the amalgamation of the Perth and Kitchener Waterloo agencies and for increasing the live release rate.
2. British Columbia SPCA - BCSPCA (Amy Morris) is nominated for implementing their new Capacity for Care program that has increased the Live Release Rate in BCSPCA shelters to 85%.
3. Calgary Humane Society- CHS (Mark Takhar) is nominated for activities during the 2013 Southern Alberta Flood when CHS infrastructure was used as the central hub for assisting pet owners across a wide area.
4. Coquitlam Animal Shelter - CAS (Andrea McDonald) is nominated for collaborative activities that has increased the number of animals being adopted through collaborations with other municipalities, retail and vets.
5. Edmonton Humane Society - EHS (Stephanie McDonald) is nominated for creating a new shelter complex and best practices that has enriched the lives of both pets and people passing through EHS.
6. London Animal Care Centre - LACC (Kent Lattanzio) is nominated for sharing subject matter expertise across the animal care industry.
7. PetLand Red Deer (Amy Pawson) is nominated for creating a new hybrid Sheltering/Homing facility with Alberta Animal Services that includes shelter funding and using PetLand resources to adopt out 400 animals.

The Summit for Sheltering recognizes an organization that best addresses the care of animals in shelters, pounds, retail outlets, kennels, veterinary clinics/hospitals, grooming shops and breeding facilities.

The 2013 Summit for Sheltering will be presented during the Awards Gala on Friday, 18 October 2013. This event is open to the public.

VOTE NOW!

Kijiji urged to ban household pet listings

A Montreal animal advocate plans to file a 50,000 signature petition with Canada's largest online classified site, Kijiji, to prevent the sale of household pets. 

Barbara Lapointe told the National Post that by banning private pet sale listings, Kijiji would be cutting off one of the last avenue available for puppy mills to sell their animals. The same article reported a Kijiji spokesman said the company has no intention of banning pet sales but that it has already partnered with several organizations in Humane and Rescue to help prevent commercial breeders. 

Shawn McIntyre, Kijiji's community manager, told Global News the site has set up a system to catch suspicious posts and prevent mills from posting listings. 

"We're choosing to work with the industry and do our best to keep it clean and safe," he said. "We want to make sure that we're filtering out any bad users and not driving them underground." 

Related Reading: 

• Calgary Breeder Certification Announced
• Kijiji and OSPCA collaborate on educational video