Cat Meier/The BUZZ
Jack Hanna
What if you own a pet and have little money, and life throws you a curve ball?
Maybe you are evicted and end up in a shelter, and your cat is not allowed. Maybe you twist your knee and cannot walk your dog.
For someone lacking extra money, even a small setback can mean losing a pet.
The individual is forced to turn over their cat or dog to an animal shelter or rescue service. That means parting with the pet permanently. The Ottawa Humane Society’s policy is that all animal surrenders are permanent.
Marna Nightingale says people whose lives are “precarious” often “are one bad day away from losing their pet.”
Nightingale, a freelance editor and former editor of The BUZZ, is launching a volunteer service in Centretown to help. She believes people sometimes can benefit from a little assistance getting past a momentary bump in the road, so that they can keep a beloved pet.
Her service is named No Surrender, because the goal is to avoid the necessity of pet owners having to give up–formally termed “surrender”–a pet to an animal shelter or rescue service.
That pets can suddenly become homeless and need help was driven home to Nightingale last November, following a tragedy in Centretown. Cat-lover Jonathan Hammell was killed after a fight. Abruptly there was no one to look after the two dozen cats Hammell had been caring for in his lodgings and backyard. Nightingale sprang into action, trapping the cats in a humane trap one by one. A GoFundMe campaign raised almost $7,000 to pay vet bills. Nightingale and her friends worked the phones, quickly finding temporary or permanent homes for all the cats. (See the December 2020 Centretown BUZZ.)
That experience led to No Surrender.
Help tailored to needs
No Surrender tailors its service to meet the need, Nightingale said.
If an individual experiences a temporary mobility problem–for instance, sprains an ankle–No Surrender can find a volunteer to walk the dog.
If the money runs out and there’s no cash for pet food, No Surrender can help. There are established organizations, such as Ottawa Paw Pantry and the Ottawa Humane Society, which operate as food banks for cats and dogs, giving out free pet food. No Surrender can direct someone to the nearest pet-food pantry.
As well, if the person cannot get to the pet-food pantry, No Surrender might be able to supply a driver to make the delivery.
Nightingale hopes No Surrender will be able to purchase some things a pet owner might require, such as kitty litter or basic veterinarian services.
No Surrender can even find a temporary foster home for a pet.
Someone who is evicted might end up in a shelter or on a friend’s sofa and their cat is not welcome. What’s needed is a foster home for the pet until the individual finds new lodgings.
Or a person might be admitted to hospital and need someone to take their dog until they are out.
Seeking volunteers
No Surrender is seeking volunteers who can provide a temporary home for a cat or dog.
“We just need people who can provide a sofa and some love for a little while,” Nightingale says.
One possible source of foster homes, she says, is university students. “A university student may not know where he or she will be in two years’ time and so cannot permanently commit to a pet. But they know where they will be for the next six months and would love to have an animal for a while.”
One cost No Surrender will face is veterinarian bills. For instance, before a cat or dog goes into a foster home, it will go to a vet. The animal will be spayed or neutered, and receive vaccinations and an ID microchip implant. The cost ranges from $120 to $500 per animal.
No Surrender is also seeking donations. The people it assists “do everything they can to care for their pet and just need a little bit of help,” Nightingale says. “Why not lend a hand?”
You can reach the group at nosurrenderottawa.ca or by emailing help@nosurrenderottawa.ca