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THE PAWPRINT
Issue 67
Shuswap Branch
May 2015
Volunteer Profile
When Shawnee Venables and her daughter Darian started volunteering 11 years ago they
were walking the dogs but they also visited the cats. After some time the staff asked if they
would foster some puppies. They brought home a litter of five lab puppies that needed
bottle feeding since they had no mom. Since that first experience they have fostered many
babies, mostly kittens that needed bottle feeding. Shawnee brings the kittens to work at
Momentum Gymnastics. This year she brought home the first arrivals of this year’s kitten
season: a black mom cat and her seven kittens! It is easier for the kittens and the foster
family if they have a mom to feed and clean them. But this first mom of the season was
overly busy with seven kittens to provide for.
Our foster families are so much appreciated when the shelter is overflowing during the kitten
season. In recognition of her many years of help as a foster parent, Shawnee was given an
award of merit at the AGM March 29th.
BC SPCA - Shuswap Branch
5850 Auto Rd. SE
Salmon Arm, BC V1E 2X2
Phone: (250) 832-7376
Fax:
(250) 832-7307
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours:
Tues. - Fri. Noon - 4 pm
Visiting / Adoption Hours:
Tues. - Sat. Noon - 4 pm
Emergency Phone (injured cats/
dogs):
(250) 803-1195
www.spca.bc.ca/branches/
shuswap
Shawnee with mom cat and the seven kittens at work
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ISSUE 67
High Paws to…
 Centenoka Park Mall and the Mall at Piccadilly for providing display board space for
pictures of our adoptable animals and posters for our events and projects.
 Super Self Storage for allowing us the use of a storage locker.
 all our members for using our branch Co-op number - 100150 - when buying gasoline or
propane at the Coop in Armstrong, Salmon Arm or Canoe. This year’s rebate on purchases
came to $5923!
 High Impact Signs and Designs for donating our new Paws Walk “Gold Sponsors” sign for
the building.
 Rona for the Adopt a Pet section of their advertisements.
 Tidbits, Lakeshore News and the Salmon Arm Observer for their continued support of
adoption, events and animal welfare topics.
...Janet Pattinson
BC SPCA and CFHS
Shuswap CC members Carole, Constance, Janet, Muriel and Shirl travelled to Kelowna
on April 25th for a regional meeting with members of other branches. It was an opportunity
to share experiences and ask questions. CEO Craig Daniell provided information on the
new Pet Registry and Tracy Westmoreland outlined all the work being done in the region
which stretches from the Thompson/Okanagan over to the Kootenays.
May 2nd was the date of the Society AGM at the River Rock Resort in Richmond.
Shuswap Branch was represented by Janet and John Pattinson. The AGM is a time to
hear about all the activities of the previous year and plans for the year to come. Full details
are in the May 2015 edition of Animal Sense.
From May 2nd to 4th we attended the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies
conference also held in Richmond. This gave many member/volunteers an opportunity to
hear from people from across the continent about the work being done in the broad field of
animal welfare. Amongst the sessions was one by Kim Monteith of the BC SPCA Provincial
Office. One of Kim’s roles is helping homeless and low income people and their pets living
in the downtown east side of Vancouver, along with other social service agencies that
recognize the value of keeping pets and people together. Part of this work is done from
Charlie’s Pet Food Bank.
There were many sessions about farm animals. Some about practices in slaughter houses
were hard to hear, since the news was mostly not good. However, the session on the SPCA
Certified program by the BC SPCA was very encouraging. That program sets high
standards for the care of farm animals that provide food products.
There were also speeches by researchers at UBC’s Animal Welfare Program about what
they have learned from their research, including one who was studying how fish learn!
Overall, it was a great opportunity to learn about what’s happening across the country to
improve the lives of animals.
...Janet Pattinson
ISSUE 67
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From the Chair
This year the AGM of the Shuswap Branch of the BC SPCA was held on March 29th. We welcomed 18
members and 5 guests who included Romany Runnalls and Jennifer Gore, Regional Directors for the
Thompson/Okanagan/Kootenay area, and Tracy Westmoreland, Regional Manager. Branch Manager,
Shelly Hand, was present as were several staff members who generously gave up some of their free
time to support us.
Romany Runnalls provided a report in which she thanked the Branch and Community Council for their
work and talked about the volunteer and membership base. She also explained the role of the BC
SPCA Board of Directors. Tracy Westmoreland gave an update on the Strategic Plan and discussed
improving adoptions, pet registration and the recent $5 million provincial grant for structural
improvements. Shelly Hand reported on the changes and updates made to the shelter as well as the
outreach and fund-raising initiatives over the past year and her plans for the upcoming year. We should
like to take this opportunity to thank Shelly for an impressive first year – the job of Branch Manager is
not an easy or simple one and she has achieved a great deal already.
This year we awarded certificates of appreciation to several of our supporters in the community to
acknowledge the help they have given us through the year. Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union,
together with its members, continues to support us financially and also by allowing us to set up events
on their property. John Pattinson was recognized as a most generous supporter both for his financial
contributions and for the time he donates at the shelter with the dogs, managing donation boxes and
recycling. Celia Harris logged an impressive 388 volunteer hours last year between the shelter and her
always successful book sales. Shawnee Venables was recognized for her fostering and socializing of
numerous litters of puppies and kittens. Veterinarians, Kim Buker and Richard Auck were recognized
for their ongoing support and invaluable advice. All these people make a huge contribution to the
welfare of animals in our community and we thank them sincerely.
Your new Community Council is composed of Tina Cosman, Celia Harris (vice-chair), Judith Hutchins
(chair) and Constance Ladell who are all serving the second year of their terms. Newly acclaimed
members are Janet Pattinson, Muriel Schubert, Candace Mitzel (secretary), Carole Kubik and Shirl
Hutchison. We were sorry to say goodbye to Evelyn Greenius who chose not to let her name stand
again. We should like to thank her for her many years serving on the council and also express our
gratitude that she will be continuing her work taking the Society's advocacy programs to the schools
and libraries.
As well as working on many outreach and fund raising activities through the year, Council was also
actively involved with governance issues concerning communication between Councils and the Board,
the role of Community Councils and membership. The first two of these will be topics for discussion at
regional meetings that have been planned with Board members later this year. The problem of
increasing membership in the Society is ongoing and your Community Council continues to stress the
importance they attach to a strong committed membership as a means of ensuring that the Society
continues to be the voice of animal welfare advocates in all communities in the province. By being a
member of the BC SPCA you are not only able to keep up with the activities of the Society but are also,
through the Community Council, able to express your concerns and wishes to them. So please,
remember to renew at the end of the year and encourage a friend or family member to join too.
As usual, I should like to extend a big thank you to our loyal volunteers who logged an impressive 2000
hours last year. This may actually be a conservative figure as some of our volunteers are not signed up
on the online program. All our volunteers are encouraged to go into our online program, Better Impact,
and log the hours they spend whether it is at the shelter cleaning kennels or sitting at the Mall. By
recording these hours we are able to quantify the huge amount of time and effort the Society receives
from its volunteers. Not only does this serve to demonstrate the importance of volunteers but it also
helps when we are planning fund-raising and outreach events. We are continuing to try to recruit and
train volunteers for all the available positions at the shelter although it is not always easy or possible, to
match availability of volunteers with needed times.
Judith Hutchins, Chair
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Shuswap Branch Shelter Report
I have just completed the requirements for the grant that we were issued last year from the
SCF for $2500 for shelter improvements. We renovated the old grooming room to make it
into a reception area (picture attached) and fixed the small dog yard for little dogs so as they
cannot get out.
We were granted just under $5000 to have 50 cats spayed or neuter and then released back
into their colonies. This a feral cat project and we have just started by having 6 cats already
done from 1 colony. We have 3 colonies that we are working with and hopes of having this
go well and be successful we will have the opportunity to continue doing more. We however
have to fund $1000 ourselves for the project and we are currently at $560. If you are
interested in helping us out with a donation please mail or drop off a cheque at the
shelter. Please make sure that the notes say for the TNR program.
I am currently putting our name forward again for another grant to help us to finish the floor in
the reception area and to paint the dog runs. Hope we will be lucky again.
Currently we have 66 animals in our care with 40 being kittens in foster. We thought maybe
we would miss this kitten season but not so lucky just a late one.
Our Pasta night didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped but being my first it wasn’t too bad
and we made $1300.
May 2 was our spring/summer Book Sale and it went very well, with Celia working hard again
to make this event a success. We made $1800 and the left over books were picked up by the
Book Sale volunteers from Kamloops to use in their sale which worked out well.
We also held our Open House/Garage sale on May 9th at the downtown Credit Union
parking lot; this was a new idea for us. We had a great time and I had a wonderful volunteer
who took over everything and did a marvelous job. She is a new volunteer and her name is
Victoria. She arranged a holding place for our garage sale items and got some table
donations from vendors to participate and a BBQ. It ran from 8-1 and we made $3100, great
success!
…Shelly Hand
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Huge thanks to the people who
are supporting our Paws Walk this
year as Sponsors or Friends:
Plans for the Walk are underway. For the twelfth
year we will walk in the Salmon Arm Fall Fair
Parade on Saturday, September 12th. And we’ll
gather at Blackburn Park. Our target is $18,500.
We hope our members and volunteers will
support us by coming to the walk or donating to
one of the participants.
EZ Rock 91.5 FM
Integrity Roofing
Salmon Arm Observer
Shuswap Vet Clinic
Tina Cosman and Associates
Jacobson Ford
Sorrento Parts and Service
Askew’s Foods
Hilltop Toyota
Home Building Centre
Munro’s Sorrento Prescriptions
Old Dog New Tricks
Shuswap Lake Estates Golf Club
Touch ‘A Texas
Spreading the Word
Our Humane Education volunteers have been to Bastion, Sorrento, North Canoe, North
Shuswap, Armstrong Elementary and Highland Park Schools. Once again the popular topics are
Bite Free and Wildlife.
We have been working on this year’s advocacy topics: Pet Identification, Spay/Neuter and Pet
Friendly Accommodation, in a variety of ways. Local papers have been a big help in printing
articles on our issues. We put ads for Spay/Neuter month in local papers and these topics have
been included in many of the Pet Reports on CKVS Community Radio.
We have display Boards in both the Mall at Piccadilly and the Centenoka Park Mall where we
have posters on our many advocacy topics and pictures of adoptable animals.
We would appreciate our members spreading the word about animal welfare issues. Animal
Sense magazine provides detail on many of the projects the Society is working on. Here is an
important number for you to keep by the phone: The Call Centre (or Hot Line) is 1-855-622-7722.
… Janet Pattinson
Our thanks to those who
are sponsoring cat or dog
kennels in our shelter:
Contributions to the Pawprint: please send your articles to
Hilary Graham at [email protected], or drop off a
printed copy at the Shuswap Shelter. We’d love to hear from
you!
D. James
Kovalcik/Booth family
Gary and Pat Lagimodiere
John Pattinson
Nel and Gordon Peach
S. Philibert
Michelle Reed
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ISSUE 67
Pet ID Registry
Tragically, nearly one million pets, including indoor ones, are lost each year in Canada. Often, these
beloved companions are never found in spite of neighborhood posters and telephone calls or visits
to vet clinics and animal shelters. In 2014, only 14% of stray cats in BC were reunited with their
guardians and if cats have a permanent id such as a microchip they are 20 times more likely to be
returned to their homes.
In a bold move to combat the statistics, the BC SPCA recently unveiled the first province wide
pet identification registry; one that is now automatically being used with all its own canine and
feline adoptions.
This registry is quickly gaining momentum and is also available to guardians throughout BC
whether or not their animals have been adopted from the BC SPCA. With all brands of
microchips or tattoos being accepted in the registry, guardians no longer have to be concerned
about either a microchip company folding or a vet retiring.... both being an issue for later
information retrieval. Once the pertinent ID and contact information is entered into the
centralized data base, it is available to access if needed. Any changes of telephone numbers,
addresses and emails should be updated in the system at least annually, as well as when you go on
vacation or if a pet goes missing. This ensures that when the lost animal is found, you as the
guardian can also be located!
Registering a pet costs a nominal $12 a year or $45 for its lifetime and any profits that may be
realized are reinvested into furthering BC animal welfare programs. For more information or to
register bcpetregistry.ca / 1-855-622-7722.
… Muriel Schubert
In the past six months the Shuswap
Branch of the BC SPCA received
donations in memory of the following:
 Patricia Stoller
 Winnifred Cochrane
 “Tiffany”
 Doreen McHaig
 Tony Martinuk
 Renee Davies
 Inger Haagensen
 “Blaze”
 “Toby”
 “Smokey”