Casey’s Restaurant in Timmins went to the dogs - and cats, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, (to a whole bunch of furry and non-furry pets), Saturday as the Timmins and District Humane Society hosted a Paws-alooza Karaoke fundraising drive to help attend to pets taken into care.
It's pretty certain that a lot of the people singing have been comforted by barking and meowing of their own pets, many of whom were adopted from the Timmins and District Humane Society.
“This is our first-time hosting Paws-alooza Karaoke,” said Timmins and District Humane Society manager Alicia Santamaria. “We try to do one or two fundraisers per year, but this is a pretty new and major fundraising event for us and we hope to do it annually if it goes well.”
Would-be rock stars donated $5 to for an opportunity to get on stage and sing their favourite karaoke song and they helped animals who find themselves in the care of the Timmins Humane Society at the same time.
The event, hosted by Moe Giroux, ran from 12 noon to 12 midnight with music provided by DJ Marc Giroux.
Uptown Funk, the Bruno Mars hit, was belted out by one Paws-alooza Karaoke singer.
For those who wanted to support Timmins and District Humane Society but were not musically inclined, there were plenty of other ways to help.
There was a 50/50 draw, a silent auction and a balloon busting bonanza.
“Some of the things the money raised would be used to cover (would be) the cost of vet care for injured or sick animals,” said Santamaria. “But even those pets that come into our care that are not outwardly sick still have to receive vaccines, they are dewormed and spayed or neutered.”
“Other animals may also require additional care,” explained Santamaria. “That could be various surgeries, or other medical treatments.”
Those are procedures that, for the most part, can be done in-house in the Timmins District Humane Society’s surgery room.
“However, if the injury, or disease is serious the animal may have to be sent to the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinarian College that provides the latest most sophisticated treatments and surgeries.”
“That care goes beyond the resources that they have at the Timmins and District Humane Society,” added Santamaria.
Santamaria gave as an example the hip replacement operation for Muni, a dog who was born without proper hip joints.
“She was born with total hip dysplasia,” said Moe Giroux. “Her hip bone had the ball joint, but was missing the cup that would enable movement.”
“That is a huge expense to expect an adopting pet owner to bear, so we help to pay for the cost of the operation,” said Santamaria.
In addition to caring for cats and dogs, the Timmins and District Humane Society also receives an assortment of other pets.
“Right now, we have a bunny that we are looking at spaying and re-homing,” said Santamaria.
But that is tame compared to some of the more exotic pets that are brought into the animal shelter.
“Recently, we received a gecko, and even a bearded dragon,” said Santamaria. “We even had a success in adopting out a pot-bellied pig.”
This week, the Timmins and District Humane Society took in 11 dogs and four, five-day-old puppies.
The intake area is primarily the Timmins area, but the shelter will take in animals from further afield if it has the room.
“We can take up to 30 dogs and 60 to 70 cats, with some space for a few of the more exotic pets as well," Santamaria said.
To donate or for more information, call the Timmins and District Humane Society at 705-264-4816 or visit its website