Ziggy is a 1 year old orange tabby. He has been neutered, viral tested (negative), been dewormed and is up to date on shots.

Ziggy would do very, very well in a loving home where he’s the only cat, or possibly with one other cat. He’s a sweet, affectionate cat who loves having his head rubbed. Because of his rough start in life (he spent all of his kitten hood living outside) he just needs time to feel warm, secure and loved so he can trust his new family completely and relax enough to be the sweet kitty he is inside.

With the right environment and lots of love, Ziggy would make a loving companion for someone.

Please e-mail / call us today if you would like to know more about Ziggy.

On his behalf, thank you!

Meow for now,
Lia and the AAC crew

The few challenges ago, because of YOU Project Jessie came in first place (for Canada) in this challenge and won $1000. Last challenge we came in third.

Perhaps we can try to push for first again?

If you are going to vote from multiple sites, you do need to “setup” each page once.

Search under “Project Jessie”, city “Caledon” “ON” just like you did the first time, but after that, it will take you back to “the shelter you last voted for”.

If you keep this email, you can click from any of the links below every day. You can vote up to 17 times a day if you have the time – I REALLY appreciate it!

And feel free to pass this email along to friends and family.

Thank you SO MUCH for your help!!!

Shelly and crew =^..^=

These are all the places where you can go EVERY DAY to vote !!!

Vote for a Shelter @ The Animal Rescue Site

Here’s the link: http://twitter.com/#!/AACLizWhite

So four more sheep are scheduled to go to their new home in August, leaving the last three guys for a final lucky adopter.

One home that adopted two sheep decided to adopt two more. Apparently the reunion was quite a sight! The boys ran to each other and chatted up a storm (awwww!). The new arrivals got a guided tour of their new home and seemed to have no difficulty adjusting to their new environment. Next time we’ll have to try to capture that on video!

Tail wags,
Lia and the AAC crew

Even before bringing your animal to the veterinarian, your immediate goal is to cool the animal down. Place the animal in tub of cool water (not cold), wrap her in cool, wet towels, ice-packs, or simply use the hose to bring down body temperature. Take your animal immediately to the veterinarian in an air-conditioned car.

Never leave companion animals outside or in enclosures on hot days, and provide cold, fresh water at all times. Dogs, cats, rabbits, and all other animals are all susceptible to heat stroke.

Never leave your dog or cat unattended in a parked car. If you see a dog or cat in a parked car, enter the closest store and ask that the owner of the car be paged. If the animal is obviously under duress, immediately call the local police because it’s against the law to leave an animal in a car in extreme heat.
In a relatively mild 85-degree day, it takes only 10 minutes for the interior of a car to reach 102 degrees-and within 30 minutes, the inside of the car can be a staggering 120 degrees. New Jersey is under an extreme heat wave, where the temperature is reaching 100 and above and cars can get much hotter and quicker.

Leaving car windows open a few inches does not help. Dogs cool down mostly by panting and the car can become an inferno with the addition of hot panting breath. In only a short amount of time a dog with a high body temperature can suffer critical damage to his nervous system, heart, liver and brain, resulting in death.

For more information about Animal Protection League of New Jersey and our programs, please visit http://www.aplnj.org/

Reminder that the Second Annual Joyful “Toronto Veggie Pride Parade” is this upcoming Saturday, June 4th, 2011! We will be meeting/starting on Asquith Avenue (one street north of Bloor) at 11:30am, and then at 12pm we will begin marching south on Yonge Street, all the way to Queen Street and then finishing the parade portion of the TVPP over at Trinity Square for a post-parade event with entertainment, guest speakers, and vegan food!

If you loved last year’s 1st Annual Toronto Veggie Pride Parade event (first ever in Canada), then you’ll love this year’s 2nd Annual TVPP, as it will be even bigger and better than last year’s event. Just like last year, our vibrant, Kimberly Carroll, TV Host, will be our Parade MC (and post-parade event MC), leading the joyful parade down Yonge Street.

The Toronto Veggie Pride Parade is for Everyone, so whether you’re a veggie (vegan or vegetarian), or a closet wanna-be veggie, or veggie-friendly – YOU ARE ALL MOST WELCOME TO ATTEND THE PARADE, and help us celebrate the “Veggie Lifestyle”! Come and see how diverse and desirable the Veggie Diet/Lifestyle IS!

Just like last year it will be a joyful, fun, family-friendly, diverse, and inclusive event that is welcoming to ALL, yet still great, meaningful, diplomatic vegan advocacy!

We are a ‘real parade’, with a float and all, that just happens to be a parade with a social justice cause attached.

For more details please check out our website! www.veggieprideparade.ca

It would be very helpful if you were able to cross-post this email and/or cross-post our attached promotional poster. On our website we also have multilingual posters. And if you are able to print off our poster and post it around town too, then that would be super helpful!

http://veggieprideparade.ca/get-involved/downloads/

Thank you!

Holly on behalf of the Toronto Veggie Pride Parade Directors

www.veggieprideparade.ca

We are super excited to be hosting the 2nd annual Veggie Pride Parade on June 4th. This is our chance to show the world what a vibrant, fun, caring, environmentally conscious group of people the Veg community is. PLEASE JOIN US. Last year we had 300 people in attendance, this year we want double, triple or quadruple that. This is going to be fun day so put on your best costume (we will be giving our prizes for best costumes) or come as you are. You are welcome to bring along your four-legged creatures to march along in the parade. If you feel you are unable to walk the distance of the parade we can find you a ride in one of the parade vehicles.

Also, we are sending out a plea for donations for the Veggie Pride Parade. We still need to raise a significant amount of money to cover the many cost.

As most of you know, we are holding the Second Annual Toronto Veggie Pride Parade Saturday, June, 4, 2011. The Toronto Veggie Pride Parade (TVPP) is a non-profit, all volunteer event. All participants, including performers and speakers, are there on a strictly unpaid volunteer basis. However, the parade is an official legal event and as such has significant fees for permits, rentals and other professional fees. The parade can only take place and be a success for the celebration and outreach for the veg lifestyle with the financial support of the veg community.

If you are able to make a monetary donation towards the TVPP, then we’d be very grateful! You can donate by going on to our website and making a contribution via our Pay Pal System (www.veggieprideparade.ca), or if you prefer then you may also mail a cheque to the TVPP at our mailing address which is:

Toronto Veggie Pride Parade
c/o Panacea,
588 Bloor Street West,
Toronto, Ontario, M6G 1K4

Thank you very much in advance for your support.

Sincerely,
The TVPP planning committee

***

Please get involved & voice your opinion ASAP!

On May 12, 2011, the Toronto Zoo Board of Management will be considering the future of elephants at the Toronto Zoo.

In 2008, the Toronto Zoo conducted a feasibility study that looked at how their existing elephant exhibit could be upgraded and improved. In 2010, they hired a company called Lord Cultural Resources to look at other aspects of the elephant issue. The Lord study is complete and their report has been forwarded to the Zoo. It has not yet been released publicly.

It’s no secret that Zoocheck Canada has been critical of keeping elephants in cold climates and that we think the Toronto Zoo elephants should be moved. But taking that position should not be seen as an attack on the Toronto Zoo. It’s not. In actual fact, many zoo supporters, including the zoo’s former Executive Director of Support Services, who accompanied the first shipment of Toronto Zoo elephants from Africa back in the 1980s, no longer believe Toronto is an appropriate place for elephants.

In a nutshell, here’s why we think the elephants should be moved:

• Toronto’s climate is too cold, forcing the elephants indoors for significant periods of time;
• The indoor elephant enclosure is outdated, small and needs refurbished;
• The outdoor elephant yard is less than 1 hectare (2.4 acres) in size, devoid of pasture and other living vegetation and lacks significant structural enhancements and furnishings to keep the elephants mentally and physically stimulated;
• Even if the outdoor exhibit was expanded, there is no way to mitigate the climate issue (there is some talk of heated stations in the exhibit, but these are a stopgap measure- the entire outdoor space should be elephant-friendly);
• Out of 10 elephants at the Toronto Zoo, seven died before reaching old age (the two oldest were middle aged at 40, the youngest was just several days old);
• Records show the elephants have suffered from a variety of infections and are displaying abnormal stereotypic behaviours;
• Expanding the exhibit (reportedly to just a few acres in size) will cost an estimated $40 million or more – funds the zoo does not have;
• According to a 2010 study conducted by Zoocheck, visitors spend less than 2 minutes looking at the elephants (a result similar to studies in other zoos), too short a time for any positive educational impact;
• Other urban zoos that have phased out their elephant displays did not experience a downturn in visitor numbers, and some actually experienced an increase (a Toronto Zoo visitor survey said 85% of people would return to the zoo if there were no elephants);
• The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and other zoo and elephant organizations all agree there is no need or intention to breed elephants for reintroduction to the wild, as this will not address the problems that wild elephant populations face;
• The Performing Animal Welfare Sanctuary in northern California has offered the elephants a permanent home, with hundreds of acres to roam, at no cost to the Toronto Zoo.

It seems the Toronto Zoo has three options:

1) Keep elephants and spend millions of dollars upgrading their existing exhibit and, at some point, expanding it (estimated at upwards of $40 million – funds they do not have);

3) Relocate the elephants and replace with an interactive, high technology Elephant Learning Center, a stand alone facility of displays, actitivies and experiences for both kids and adults.
Zoocheck Canada is pushing Option 3. We believe that by following through on it the Toronto Zoo has an opportunity to move forward in an exciting new direction that will not only be good for the zoo and the animals, it will better fulfill the zoo’s educational mandate and save money at the same time. To see our proposal for an alternative display called the ELEPHANT LAByrinth, visit http://www.elephantsincanada.com/
Please take a few minutes to get involved by politely expressing your opinion about the future of elephants at the Toronto Zoo. Now is the time for your voice to be heard. Please send your opinion and comments to:

Toronto Zoo Board of Management

Fax: (416) 392-1879 / Email: dting@toronto.ca
Please send Zoocheck a copy as well. We’d like to know your views.