News release Feb 23, 2012
RAISE THE WOOF
Shelley Cunningham, President of “Litters ‘n Critters”, a Nova Scotia based animal rescue organization which has a strong link to the Happy Valley-Goose Bay SPCA www.hvgbspca.com announced an exciting new project and will be inviting friends and volunteers of this rescue group to participate.
“The project we are planning”, says Cunningham, “is a “Habitat for Humanity” type build with volunteers from Nova Scotia travelling to Labrador to join with volunteers and trades people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay to build a new animal shelter. The current shelter is small and in very poor shape.” says Cunningham who recently returned from a trip to Labrador where she saw for herself the inadequate shelter which has a very limited capacity and is literally held together with duct tape.
“There is such an incredible need for a bigger and better shelter for this group of SPCA volunteers who work tirelessly every day to save hundreds of homeless and abused animals from all over Labrador. The shelter relies on donations and fundraisers as it only receives $10,000 annually from the provincial government yet food and vet costs alone are $20,000 to $23,000, not counting the normal day to day operations. The stray animal population in Labrador is out of control and the Federal and Provincial governments turn a blind eye when approached to help. Unfortunately, this is an all too common dilemma for many of Canada’s northern communities.”
“This is our way to say thanks to all the amazing volunteers all across Labrador for all those precious gifts of wonderful animals saved by the HVGB SPCA that are sent to be adopted by hundreds of grateful Nova Scotians. We are fortunate here in Nova Scotia to have a large volunteer base to help foster animals and raise funds to help with our costs so we are pleased to be able to reach across borders and assist a northern community that is struggling. This is an exciting project and may inspire other rescue groups to link with rescue organizations that are less fortunate.”
The HVGB SPCA rescues hundreds of abused and stray animals from all over Labrador every year and often links with Litters ‘n Critters and arranges transport for dogs to Nova Scotia for adoption.
"We were absolutely stunned to hear that Shelley and her volunteers and supporters plan to help us out," said Bonnie Learning, PR Director for the Happy Valley-Goose Bay SPCA. "We knew they were big supporters of us and grateful for all the dogs and cats we send their way but to find out they want to help build a new shelter this summer-it goes above and beyond what we could have hoped for. We could not be more excited!"
Litters ‘n Critters and HVGB SPCA will be organizing fundraising events as well as planning for the building project scheduled for this later this summer/fall. Anyone interested in donating to the fund can contact these organizations through their websites.