Going Beyond Our Community to Improve Animal Wellness

Going Beyond Our Community to Improve Animal Wellness

With a team of industry leading experts and a passionate community network, we pursue our mission beyond our shelter doors

Toronto Humane Society is more than an animal shelter. While we offer industry leading shelter care, animal training and behavioural consultations, veterinary services, and find homes for thousands of animals every year – our mission to Improve the Lives of Animals moves us to go further.

We provide expert-led programs in training and behaviour, publish expert studies and journal publications, use our platform to advocate for the welfare of animals, and through our partnerships we travel to remote regions to offer our resources to those with minimal or no access to veterinary care.

While we also offer programs that support our community such as the Pet Parent Support Program, Urgent Foster Care, training and behaviour classes, and low-cost veterinary services, here are just a few ways we brought our mission to Improve the Lives of Animals beyond our doors. The report, titled Behavior and Adoptability of Hoarded Cats Admitted To An Animal Shelter, found that adopters were overwhelmingly positive about their adopted cats - despite the cats coming from a hoarding situation - and very few hoarded cats had any issues with litter box use.

The First Published Study on Hoarded Cat Behaviour

Toronto Humane Society’s Dr. Linda Jacobson, Senior Manager of Shelter Medicine Advancement, Dr. Jacklyn Ellis, Director of Behaviour, and Kyrsten Jade Janke, Research Coordinator, along with Dr. Jolene Giacinti from University of Guelph and Dr. Jyothi Robertson from Joint Venture Strategies, had the first article on hoarded cat behaviour published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. This study helps give a second chance to hoarded cats across North America by showing that they can comfortably be re-homed.

Using Geographical Information System to Better Serve Communities

Using geographic information systems (GIS), Tegan Buckingham, Director of Integrated Marketing and Development, Kyrsten Jade Janke, Research Coordinator, Kevin Roberts, a volunteer, and Dr. Linda Jacobson, Senior Manager of Shelter Medicine Advancement, from Toronto Humane Society identified areas within the GTA that are served and under-served for our stakeholder groups: adopters, pet surrenders, public veterinary service clients, volunteers, and foster parents using a Hot Spot analysis.

The significance in this report, published in the Frontiers in Veterinary Science Journal, can’t be overstated. Now that we have more information on the populations we’re serving and gaps in these services have been identified, we will move forward with a plan of action on how we can reach more communities that are currently

Travelling to Remote Areas

On June 17th, three Toronto Humane Society staff members led by Dr. Karen Ward, Chief Veterinary Officer, and accompanied by 10 volunteers and four community members, travelled to the southern tip of Georgian Bay to visit Beausoleil First Nation for a popup wellness clinic.

The team provided 86 exams and 31 pet microchips. Of the dogs examined, 12% of them tested positive for heartworm and 6% tested positive for exposure to lyme disease. Because heartworms are complicated and expensive to treat, prevention is especially essential in areas where there is not accessible vet care. Pets were also given heartworm, flea, and tick prevention if needed.

Lending Our Voice to an Urgent Conversation

Toronto Humane Society was recently invited by PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada to be one of 15 animal organizations on a North American panel to discuss accessible animal care. Phil Nichols, Chief Operating Officer, and Dr. Jacques Messier, our Chief Executive Officer, were invited to lend their expertise in important conversations on this growing issue faced by pet parents everywhere.

There was discussion, debate, and plenty of dialogue surrounding the best methods of providing accessible veterinary care through PetSmart Charities of Canada. The panel also discussed challenges in the industry, such as sustainable clinic models and how best to serve the growing number of pet parents in need.

As one of the four Canadian organizations on the panel, this was a fantastic opportunity for Toronto Humane Society to highlight our expertise, share our knowledge, and help address what is becoming a growing problem for pets and their guardians.

An Expert-Led Training Class on Bottle Feeding for the OSPCA

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Humane Society (OSPCA) expressed a need for support with kitten training. With our team of experts and many years of experience, we have a successful approach that helps nurture healthy neonatal kittens, so we invited representatives from each OSPCA branch for a training session.

The training was led by Toronto Humane Society experts Dr. Linda Jacobson, Senior Manager of Shelter Medicine Advancement, Rachel Fortin, Registered Veterinary Technician, and Larisa Nagelberg, Division Manager of Community Sheltering & Animal Transport. They shared valuable information on medical basics, necessary supplies, and kitten feeding tips and tricks with stuffed toy kittens. The session also covered information on capacity for care and key communication points to share with foster parents who care for neonatal kittens.

Dr. Linda Jacobson Presents at the American Heartworm Society Triennial Symposium on heartworm in New Orleans

The American Heartworm Society (AHS) Heartworm Treatment Guidelines are exceptionally influential, to the extent that some States in the US are obligated to follow them by law. As they stand, they promote “best practices” without looking at heartworm treatment and prevention from the lens of clients lacking resources, or those lacking access to veterinary care for other reasons.

For some years now, Toronto Humane Society has used a modified version of the “conventional” treatment protocol recommended by the AHS. Dr. Linda Jacobson, Senior Manager of Shelter Medicine Advancement, presented data on 157 dogs successfully treated for heartworm with our shortened protocol. Because our protocol is 6 weeks shorter, it improves the welfare for dogs with heartworm, who must be strictly exerciserestricted during the conventional treatment and improves life-saving capacity by allowing dogs to be adopted sooner.

Dr. Jacobson’s second talk presented the alternative treatment protocol as an accessible modified to melarsomine. Dr. Jacobson summarized a body of recent evidence that showed that the alternative protocol can be used safely and effectively and kills the parasites within a reasonable amount of time in most dogs. She talked about the heartworm work being done through Toronto Humane Society’s outreach clinics, and pointed out that, for many dogs, the choice is not between melarsomine and the alternative protocol, but between the alternative protocol and no treatment at all.

Dr. Linda Jacobson was the only speaker that touched the audience to applaud her in the middle of her presentation when addressing the importance of not using value-laden language, and that the best treatments plans for dogs are made when you meet them and their pet parent in the place where they are. After the talk, she received positive feedback from some of the most influential and important voices in the heartworm research community.