Winter, July 2016

Puppy RescueRecently we came to the rescue of a litter of pups who lost their mum after she was tragically hit by a car and killed. She left 13 beautiful four week old Staffy/ Collie cross puppies, unfortunately three of whom didn’t survive without their mum. At the time the shelter was full to capacity with other abandoned, sick or injured animals, and the whole shelter team was run off their feet caring for our residents already in house. Luckily, help was at hand for the pups as numerous caring people pitched in to give them the round the clock care they needed at such a young age.

Above: Shelter Manager, Mike, herding some of the litter.Right: Some of the pups in their foster homes.Below: Our regular giving campaign.

Hastings & Districts SPCA is proud to partner with radio sponsor The Hits Hawke’s Bay 89.5fm

All of the pups have now found their forever homes, and we’re pleased to have been able to arrive at such a happy outcome for them. We are also pleased to announce the appointment of our new Shelter Manager, Mike Georgantis. As you can see from this shot, he’s already immersed in the role, and has recently welcomed a new small canine to his family!This story highlights our need for funding in order to

keep the Shelter and emergency ambulance open and able to care for animals in our community.We currently have a campaign underway to encourage you, our fellow animal lovers, to make a regular donation to the Shelter to help us do this.Check your dog rego acknowledgement, or visit out website to learn more about regular giving, or contact Sally at community@spcahastings.org.nz For the price of a coffee a week, you can make a difference to the lives of animals.

Being a member is a valuable way to support the shelter.Please contact us or visit spcahastings.org.nz for a membership form

Meet Harry! A boy longing for a home

W e l c o m e2016 is another busy year at the Shelter. Our amazing staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly to look after the large numbers of abandoned and injured animals coming in. Unfortunately unwanted kittens and puppies continue to be a major problem, due to owners not de-sexing their pets. Thank you to all the wonderful people who have opened their homes, and hearts, and adopted. And for anyone who has space in their lives to provide a forever home please contact us, the joy and love a pet brings will make your life happier and longer - it’s a scientific fact!If you’re unable to provide a long term home you might be interested in fostering. We’re currently initiating a foster care programme for younger, older, shyer animals, and those requiring medical care.Volunteering, at the shelter or for fundraising, donations and regular giving are just some of the other ways in which you can make an impact. Community, and individual support, is what makes the difference and is as simple as contacting the shelter to let us know how you would like to help. Thank you. Daileen Kensington, Chair

Visit our OP-SHOP at 322 Heretaunga Street East • Ph: 878 9385Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm • Sat-Sun 10am-4pm

Proud supporters of local animal welfareThanks to our newsletter sponsor

C U P C A K E D AYCupcake Day is happening on Monday 15th August, and as usual here at Hastings and Districts, we like to make a whole week of it, through to Sat 20th!Cupcake Day is our fun, community-driven annual fundraiser, and sees oven-loads of sumptuous cupcake creations baked and sold to raise funds for SPCA’s around the country. Thanks to our generous sponsor Heavens Bakery, we’ll be delivering cupcake orders directly to you throughout the week, and will also have stalls in town (details below). Email promotions@spcahastings.org.nz for your

order form or find it on our website. Stalls: Hastings Westpac Wed 17th, Fri 19th and

Hastings Warehouse Sat 20th. 10am - 1pm.

Hi, my name is Harry! I’m around ten months old, and the mix of breeds I am is truly anyone’s guess! I’m medium size.You may want to hear about how I ended up here. I was tied to a stranger’s fence and left completely alone; whoever tied me there never came back for

me. Luckily for me though, the fence belonged to a caring volunteer here at the SPCA, and she brought me to the shelter so I could be looked after. Despite the way I was abandoned, I’m a fun loving and gentle soul. I love everyone, but especially anyone who has a treat for me! I will even try to hypnotise you with my gorgeous eyes until you share something with me. I love playing with my girlfriend Brandy (she longs for a home too), but I also enjoy meeting new friends.I love to run! I have a friend at the shelter who takes me to the river from time to time, and it’s so much fun. I enjoy swimming as well, although I must admit, I’m still getting the hang of that. I’ve been told if you look closely at my very handsome face you’ll see that my whiskers are different colours on each side; one side is black and the other side is white. Just one of my endearing features!I’d really love to meet you, so please do pay me a visit and let me see if I can charm you too!

F O R E V E R H O M E S W A N T E D

L o o k i n g o u t f o r o l d e r c a t s

b u r t - Male

b r a n d y -sweet gitl

m i s s y - sun bather c h r i s s i e - sweet girl

k i t t e n s

long time resident

long time resident

c l e O - beautiful GIRLk i t t e n s

c o n s t a n c e - relaxed

Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with news and eventsfacebook.com/SPCAHastings

As a vet, there have been many times I have seen older cats coming into the clinic to be euthanased or in the advanced stages of diseases that, in many cases, are either preventable or treatable if they were diagnosed early on.For example, it is not uncommon to see really thin cats that are eating and drinking a lot, but still losing weight. These symptoms are very typical of hypothyroidism (the most common endocrine disease in cats) and diabetes. Both are easily diagnosed with a simple blood test, and both are treatable and need not reduce the quality of life of your pet.Hypertension (a.k.a. high blood pressure) is also a ‘silent killer’. It is rarely obvious to a pet owner until some catastrophic event such as blown pupils or failing kidneys occurs. Again, easily detected by a vet, and easily treated, but left to its own devices, it can seriously impact on both the quality and quantity of life.In addition, our cats are living longer in general, which means that as a whole, we are seeing a raft of diseases that are age related that we never really saw to any level before. This includes arthritis and dementia (yes,

old cats get dementia). The symptoms of both of these are often mistakenly shrugged off as ‘slowing down’. For both of these conditions there are really good treatments available once the condition has been diagnosed, which can give cats a new youthfulness. But in many cases, owners are unaware of the problem and therefore the conditions go untreated.Bottom line - if you have an elderly cat (and in veterinary terms, this means any cat over the age of seven), you should ensure that they are having a check up at least once yearly. You should also make your vet aware of any changes over the past year, no matter how trivial they seem. Activity levels, weight, eating, drinking, changes to behaviour, can all be very subtle, yet important indicators of an underlying problem. The best time to diagnose and treat many age-related conditions is early on, before they are able to impact on the quality of life. Our clinic (Vet Associates), along with several others, offer special consults and specific testing for ‘senior pets’ which are designed to detect problems early on. If you would like to know more, please speak to your usual vet about what they can offer for senior pets. Sharon Marshall, BVSc

Veterinary Associates HastingsProudly supporting Hastings & Districts RNZSPCA for over 15 years

www.vetassoc.co.nz • 06 878 8666 • www.facebook.com/vetassociateshastings

Thanks to our newsletter sponsor

Brian the cat in his new happy place after being adopted by Sandra recently.

Visit 8 Heathcote Road, Hastings 10am – 4pm dailyWrite PO Box 930, Hastings 4156Phone 06 878 8733

Email contact@spcahastings.org.nz

www.spcahastings.org.nz spcahastings

Adopt from the SPCA and save a lifeOur animals are de-sexed, microchipped and have had their first vaccinations

Thank you to Mary Doyle and Summerset in the Vines for making donations to the Shelter.Friday May 27th saw the annual Breakers Quiz Night and Charity Auction. Everyone had a great night, with the winners receiving Askerne Wine and Breakers vouchers. We raised over $2,000 for the Shelter, and would like to send a warm thanks to John, Simon and all the team at Breakers Hastings and The Hastings Function Centre.We’re proud to announce that The Hits 89.5FM are our radio supporter, and will be covering our activity and events, so please join Martin and Sarah on The Hits 89.5fm.The Online Printer are generously providing sponsorship of our newsletters and promotional material. Printing.com are generously sponsoring event material.VJ Distributors are major sponsor of this year’s Golf Tournament. Pre-registrations will be open 30th July. Keep an eye on our website.Dusk 2 Dawn are our event sponsor. Based in Hastings, the team supply a huge range of sound and lighting equipment.For supporting our Breakers Quiz, our warm thanks to: Lyn Hanns & Suzie Sturt at Tremains, Bluewater Hotel, Animates, Bay Espresso, Five Stags, Village Press, Maina, Urban Retreat, Whittakers Chocolates, Askerne Winery, Shampoo Plus, Jarks, Sania Park Cambridge and Plane Torque.Big thanks go to Taste Colour Creative and Senson Web Marketing for giving us a great new look website.For supporting our Love and Friendship movie, our warm thanks to Cinema Gold and Heaven’s Bakery.

H o n o u r s B o a r d

The RNZSPCA is proudly supported by:

Newsletter kindly supported by:

Thank you to our Grant providersWe wish to acknowledge the support and generosity of the following funding bodies: Hastings District Council for $20,000 towards a stray cat programme and $4,500 towards an education programme.Kingdom Foundation for $1,500 towards a new phone system for the Shelter.

Event Calendar Volunteer Lunch Saturday 30th JulyCupcake Week Monday 15th – Saturday 20th AugustVJ Distributors Charity Golf Tournament Friday 30 SeptemberLabour Weekend Coin Collection Saturday 22 OctoberSPCA Annual Appeal 2nd-8th NovemberPaws in the Park TBA - keep an eye on our FB page

“I am in favour of animal r ights as we l l as human r ights . That i s the way of a who l e human b e in g . ” - A b r a h a m L i n c o l n

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