About Second Hope Circle
(Last updated November 2nd, 2012)
A network of people, shelters and rescues giving hard to place animals a second chance at finding a loving home through promotion, funding and education.
Second Hope Circle is a place where people can search for hard to place and special needs pets in Ontario and also access pet related resources. The animals featured on the website are all having difficulty being adopted due to various medical and behavioural issues. All of the shelters and rescues participating in this project have signed an agreement, which ensures everyone participating is on the same page and agrees to follow similar practices.
There is also an action alert service that shelters/rescues and members of the public can sign up for. Subscribers receive a monthly update about what has been going on at Second Hope Circle and will also be messaged in emergency situations. These situations could include a large number of animals brought into a shelter that is unable to accommodate them, natural disasters and outbreaks within shelters (and a necessity to quarantine).
At the moment Second Hope Circle is a registered non-profit business. In the future we will hopefully become a registered non-profit organization and then a registered charity.
Our Mission and goals:
- Help promote animals with medical or behavioural issues so they can find loving homes
- Help promote animals that are 'difficult to adopt' which could be due to any number of reasons
- Provide resources and aid to shelters and rescues
- Provide informative resources to pet owners
- Notify subscribers of emergencies within Ontario
- Promote responsible pet ownership and encourage adoption from shelters/rescues
- Help participating shelters/rescues with emergency medical costs
- Help people in Ontario adopt and foster pets from rescues/shelters in their area
- Create a network of caring people, shelters and rescues across Ontario
We Believe:
- Animals should be adopted from shelters/rescues, rather than purchased from pet stores
- Responsible pet ownership includes spaying and neutering pets to stop pet overpopulation
- Before adopting a pet you should do research and know the costs of that pet
- Pets should be cared for their entire lives, they are not disposable. pets are often abandoned because a child loses interest, a new baby or pet joins the family, people move or an allergy develops. These should be taken into account before the adoption of a new pet, not after.
- If an animal is to be re-homed due to unavoidable circumstances it should not be done over the Internet where potential adopters cannot be screened. Animals should be given to a trusted friend/family member, returned to the shelter/rescue where they were adopted, returned to the breeder they were bought from or surrendered to a reputable rescue or shelter.
- Breed standards are important but we do not believe in unnecessary medical procedures like tail docking/ear clipping
- Unless medically relevant, cats should not be declawed and we believe that dogs should not have their voiceboxes removed.
- Everyone is responsible for helping those who cannot help themselves. Even small acts of kindness can make a huge difference! Fostering, volunteering, adopting, donating and word of mouth are all great ways that you can help pets in your community.
About Me
My name is Kimberley and I am the project director and founder of Second Hope Circle. I am currently completing my undergrad degree as well as running this project. I want to go into animal behaviour; although I'm still figuring out which field I like best. I love animals and cannot imagine my life without them. My family and I currently have a dog, 4 cats, 2 rabbits and 2 rats (and I have two foster kittens!). I became vegetarian in July 2010 and I’ve found that cooking is a lot more fun that I originally imagined (especially baking... yum!) My other passions include dancing and photography.
I want to create change and really make a difference in my lifetime. I'm not sure how that will play out in the future but I am currently a part of several initiatives. This project is so important to me and I truly believe that this website will help hard to place animals find homes. If even one animal is able to find a home because of this website, it will be well worth the effort!
If you would like to contact me feel free to send me an email to kimberley@secondopecircle.org !
