Toronto Animal Services Rolls Out Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic

Toronto Animal Services’ SNYP (Spay/Neuter Your Pet) Mobile Clinic is officially hitting the road tomorrow.

It will travel to neighbourhood improvement areas throughout the city to provide spay and neuter services for dogs and cats. Residents with an income of less than $50,000 will qualify for subsidized or waived fees.

Over 12 metres long and outfitted like a state-of-the-art veterinary clinic, the truck was purchased thanks to a $250,000 grant from PetSmart Charities and additional donations from Toronto residents.

Toronto will be the first city in Canada to employ a mobile spay and neuter clinic.

The hope is the truck will remove financial and geographical barriers that prevent people from altering their animals.

"We want to target those people in Toronto who otherwise do not have access to a veterinarian," Mary Lou Leiher, the manager of partnerships and marketing at Toronto Animal Services told CBC.

The SNYP Truck will be unveiled on Wednesday May 11th at Nathan Phillips Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a live band and food trucks.

More information and the schedule for the SNYP Mobile Clinic is available here.

The Summit nominees for Community are...

Three nominees vie for the Urban Animal Industry's highest award in the Community category: 

1. Kathy Powelson, Paws for Hope is nominated for her work to assist pre-qualified community-based animal rescue and support groups with their different areas of need - from vet care and capacity building to holding helpful workshops on important topics like 'compassion fatigue'. 
2. Bonnie Isenberg, Ft. Saint John Animal Control is nominated for taking the care and control sector to a new level of animal welfare. Officer of safety and community education, Bonnie trains her staff extensively. New hires ride-along for 30 days; ACO's check daily that they are equipped to handle any animal situation. Community events are used to educate and interact positively with the public. 
3. Mary Lou Leiher, Toronto Animal Services is nominated for launching the Blue Paw Pet Licensing Rewards program in 2014, which provides exclusive offers and discounts on pet-related products and services to owners who license their cats and dogs. This program encourages communication throughout the pet community creating a more positive environment and experience for all pets and their owners. 

The Summit for Community of the Year  recognizes achievements to create a more pet friendly environment with the implementation of a best practice in licensing, identification, wellness,recreation, public spaces, housing, tourism or standards of care.

Review all Nominations

VOTE NOW!!

The 2014 Summit for Community will be presented during the Awards Gala on Friday, 24 October. This event is open to the public. 

Toronto Animal Services staff recognized for homing efforts

Eric Coulson (Pets Plus Us) & 
James McLean (Toronto Animal Services)

Toronto Animal Services has been a major player in the Urban Animal industry. Their municipal licensing compliance rates, mobile chip truck and collaboration with local cat TNR groups has earned them respect within the Care and Control sector and across the entire industry.

James McLean, Animal Control Officer with TAS, secured the esteem of his colleagues for his drive and commitment to homeless dogs, not only at work but also during his free time. For this, McLean was presented with a 2013 Summit Award for Homing during the 2013 Summit Award Tour in October. 

His nominator, Animal Services veterinarian Esther Attard, who received the 2012 Summit Award for Individual Achievement, said McLean is a great resource for Toronto Animal Services and is often called upon to find homes for some harder to place animals. 

"James is a remarkable individual who devotes his work and home life to rehoming as many animals as he possibly can," she said. "He has developed a barn program for cats and can even find a spot for chickens, ducks and doves. The mill dogs are his latest triumph - he can see past their hopelessness and has the ability to match them up with incredible people for a truly storybook ending." 

The 2013 Summit for Homing, sponsored by IAMS Canada, recognizes an organization that demonstrates innovation, commitment and success in the homing of animals through adoption, sale, return-to-owner, rehoming and/or fostering programs.   

Poll 3 WINNERS!

Poll 3 winners are.... 

Breeder 

Bundas Bengal Cattery with 60% of the votes

Communication 

Associate Veterinary Clinics – Dr. Jayne Takahashi with 33% of the votes

Homing 

Toronto Animal Services – James McLean with 42% of the votes

Lifetime Achievement 

Paul Melanson with 52% of the votes

CONGRATULATIONS to all Summit Award nominees and winners! 

Seven Finalists for the 2013 Summit Homing Award

Seven finalists vie for the Urban Animal Industry's highest award in Homing:

1. Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society - AARCS (Deanna Thompson) for opening the 'Safe Haven' shelter in Calgary and for continued efforts to intervene in cases of homeless animals.
2. American SPCA - ASPCA (Sandy Monterose) for envisioning and creating the 'MAP' online system that can move animals from places of high supply to places of high demand or shelter capacity.
3. Meow Foundation (Debbie Nelson) for providing leadership and best practices in Calgary and across Alberta for fostering and homing felines. 
4. Rabbit Rescue INC.  (Haviva Porter-Lush) for creating a system of fostering and adoption for rabbits that can be replicated in other communities.
5. Toronto Animal Services - TAS (James McLean) for creating relationships and for resourcing multi-species homing activities on behalf of Toronto Animal Services. 
6. Urban Cat Relief - UCR (Roz Gelade) for activities to foster, home or relocate feral felines especially in development or re-development areas of an urban municipality (Toronto). 
7. Victoria Adoptables (Carol Broad) for creating an online presence and targeted adoption service that assists rescue groups to home stray animals from rural Island locations to Victoria and other urban areas.

The 2013 Summit for Homing recognizes an organization that demonstrates innovation, commitment and success in the homing of animals through adoption, sale, return-to-owner, re-homing and/or fostering programs.

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

VOTE NOW!

Voting Begins for Community Compliance Summit

Three finalists vie for the Urban Animal Industry's highest award in Community Compliance:

1. Jane Thornthwaite, an elected member of the BC Government, was nominated by the Pacific Region Conference delegates for the introduction of legislation to create standards for ethical breeding.
2. The Ontario SPCA was selected by the Central Region Conference delegates for the development of the High Volume Spey/Neutre program which has lowered the admission of Cats to area shelters.
3. The City of Toronto, Animal Services was nominated by the Central Region Conference delegates for the development of the Chip Truck which demonstrated pet owners are sensitive to value added licensing.

The Summit for Community Compliance recognizes efforts to increase the overall level of compliance in a community from the development of best practices or codes of ethical conduct in the area of licensing, identification, spay/neuter, wellness, recreation, breeding or standards of care. The 2013 Summit for Community Compliance will be presented during the Awards Gala on Friday, 18 October 2013. This event is open to the public. 

Vote Now!

Central Canada Showcase summary

The first stop on the 2013 Urban Animal Regional Conference tour, Central Canada was a sold-out event with more than 60 delegates attending from around the province. The Central Canada Showcases highlighted many innovative and interesting concepts which could be introduced in other regions across the country. 

WooF: 
A social network app for dogs, WooF allows dog owners to network, find nearby parks and shops, keep track of their pet's health records and habits and includes a customized 'lost dog' element that will help make lost dogs a lost problem. 

Observations from our Urban Animal Experience: 
Toronto Animal Services is taking evolutionary steps towards value added licensing. The City recognized that if animal licensing was mandatory, pet owners wanted to see value for their dollars. 

Spay/Neuter by the Numbers:
Ontario SPCA's high volume spay/neuter program operates two clinics in the province, each one performing about 25 surgeries per day. Clinics have serviced more than 37,000 animals in three years, the average cost to owner is about $103. 

Care for Cats:
In 2012, Care for Cats partnered with CVMA to focus on cat health care. Judi highlighted the program's past successes and put out a call for industry feedback as it transitions into its next phase.  

Following the Regional Innovation Showcases, delegates were asked to select the two presentations they felt should be invited to the Urban Animal Summit. As a result, Spay/Neuter by the Numbers and Observations from our Urban Animal Experience will receive invitations to showcase their successes at the national level in October.