You're invited to an event that may help to stop the senseless killing of thousands of cats and dogs in Toronto-area pounds. The Organization for the Rescue of Animals works to stop the massive killings used to control pet overpopulation. We call our campaign “Sterilize, Don't Euthanize".

Recently, we rallied against Hamilton's Animal Services, which notoriously put down 3,000 cats and dogs per year while not even open for adoptions. Hamilton's outdated bylaws forbid free-roaming cats. This gives Animal Control the authority to pick up, take to the pound and kill any cats allowed outdoors by their guardians.

Alternatives exist. A no-kill movement has prompted some pounds to re-evaluate and implement life-saving measures that greatly reduce euthanasia. In Canada, the best-known example is Calgary Animal Services, with a high rate of returning pets to owners and one of the lowest rates of euthanasia. The Calgary Model, based on innovative measures, is known by Toronto politicians and animal-services managers who express an intention to follow it, yet such measures remain unimplemented.

We've invited Bill Bruce, director of Calgary Animal Services and creator of “the Calgary Model”, to come to Toronto and explain his successful shelter reforms and ideas. He will speak at 7 p.m. on September 30 in the Intercontinental Hotel, 220 Bloor Street West, Toronto.

Claudia Vecchio
Organization for the Rescue of Animals
Toronto, Canada

(September 21, 2011)


Calgary's skyline: where animal-control policies look more enlightened?

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