Toronto tattoo shop hosts fundraiser for animals in need

Alexa Gregoris Senior Reporter

Tattoo artists at a west-end Toronto shop tattooed animal lovers will support foster pets in need, by donating 70 per cent of proceeds.

The donations were raised for New Collar Collective, a volunteer-based nonprofit animal rescue organization dedicated to diminishing animal homelessness.

The organization takes in stray, abused, abandoned, or surrendered animals who require care both Canada-wide and internationally.

Storm HorseTattoo partnered with New Collar Collective to host the animal rescue fundraiser at their shop, last Saturday, March 25.

Owner of Storm Horse Jacqueline Pavan, alongside fellow artists Stephanie Metcalfe and James Dray, designed animal themed tattoos to reflect attendees’ pets and their love of animals.

“I hope that this brings awareness to them and that these organizations are out there,” Pavan said. “I think that there are a lot of the people at the event that know New Collar Collective and there’s people that just know us, so it’s really nice to bring those two communities together and to get people aware of what they do and spread the word.”

The Storm Horse owner said this year was the right time to support animal rescues, following the rise in pet surrenders since the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Collar Collective Foster-Lead Kersty Kearney said there is an endlessly long list of needs for animal rescues and shelters, with demands changing day-by-day.

“The rescue world has gone through so much in the last few years and so many ups and downs, and there’s lack of education and access and just basic understanding of foster dogs and cats and some of the challenges that they go through,” Kearney said.

In a statement, Humane Canada said there was a surge in animal shelter capacity in 2022 across the country, which decreased shelters’ effectiveness in saving the lives of homeless animals.

“In 2021, Canadian shelters took in more than 60,000 cats and 21,000 dogs. In addition, reporting organizations admitted into care almost 13,000 animals of other species, including domestic companion animals, exotic animals, and wildlife,” Humane Canada said.

Kearney said New Collar Collective is always in need of financial support, as they operate solely on donations and volunteer work.

The sold-out Storm Horse fundraiser raised $2,000 to be donated to New Collar Collective.

Foster parents with New Collar Collective do not purchase anything themselves while fostering pets.

The organization provides foster parents with all sorts of supplies such as crates, leashes, food, bedding, and anything else required for the foster pet’s wellbeing.

“Our goal with New Collar Collective is always to try and help as many cats and dogs as we can,” Kearney said. “Every once in a while, dogs and cats require additional care and training support and those are services that we want to be able to offer widely.

“Relying on donations does sometimes make that challenging, so always coming up with creative new ways that we can engage the community at large and funnel any of those financial and monetary donations back into the organization really is a priority for us,” she said.