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True Patrons of Cats and Canadian Fauna: ORA-Organization for the Rescue of Animals (Toronto)Mar 09 '09 (Updated Mar 12 '09) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Charitable registration #85580 9448 RR0001. "Mew!"
The Organization for the Rescue of Animals (ORA) is a relatively new, Toronto-based charity run 100% by volunteers. Founded in November 2002 by a full-time real estate agent named Claudia Vecchio and her colleague, Corinne Thaw, ORA serves to promote the ethical treatment of animals and the preservation of wildlife in Ontario, Canada. While ORA is also concerned with protecting the rights and interests of many animal species including dogs, raccoons, skunks, bears, and so forth, the organization is gaining particular renown these days for rescuing feral, stray and abandoned cats in the Greater Toronto Area. Via a friend's recommendation, my husband and I first discovered ORA in 2003 when we were looking to adopt a feline companion for our first cat, Mao. We spoke and exchanged several emails with Claudia Vecchio before we finally met so that we could interview each other in person. We filled out an ORA application form for Claudia and paid a $150 adoption fee up-front to cover shots, flea removal, medical records and spaying. Having paid over $1000 to rescue Mao off the streets of Toronto ourselves, we sincerely appreciated being able to adopt our second cat for "less." While slightly higher than competitive animal humane society fees, Claudia explained ORA's fee was designed to discourage potential adopters from "purchasing" just to re-sell unsuspecting animals to cat mills or testing laboratories for quick profit. "Tell us no more!" we said. In any case, thanks to ORA, our second cat came into our world. On September 5 (my mother's birthday), 2003, we adopted Claire, a small-voiced, snowshoed runt of the litter. As most abandoned pet stories go, Claire's beginnings pull a little at the heartstrings: "Laura (Claire's mom) is a beautiful young mommy whose five babies were born April 27, 2003. She did a great job of raising them and she is now ready to be adopted. Her babies are still available: you will find pictures and description in this site (see Dexter, Fifi, Claire, Sara and Sidney). Laura was rescued together with her babies in a residential sub-urban area. She was raising her kittens on a platform high off the floor in someone's garage. The homeowners are not cat lovers and Laura's brood was in danger. Two of her babies were two weeks old when they spent two days on the garage floor before the homeowners took them to a vet! It's nothing short of a miracle that the clinic staff was able to revive them. Three of the babies are solid black, and two are black with some white. All are cute as a button. Laura has been a pet because she is very friendly and loves being handled. She is extremely affectionate. She has been through a lot and deserves a loving (forever) home. She is about a year old and solid black, except for a small white tuft on her neck. It would be nice if she was adopted together with one of her babies." (ORA-animalsrescue.org, 2003.) That was Claire's family story in 2003, but during our most recent communication with ORA, Claudia mentioned that Laura and her children are no longer on the online adoptions' list. Having lived at ORA for so long, Claudia Vecchio and her staff consider them family by now and thus will continue to take care of them for the natural durations of their feline lives. ORA's big role in Claire's family story is impressive, but let me tell you that they do all the little things too. Upon first contact, Claudia and her crew made time to get to know us and offer expert guidance on how to take good care of our cats. With no strings attached, Claire's medical and start-up needs were completely covered by the $150 fee. Less than one year after the initial adoption, ORA came back for Claire to have her safely spayed by a good vet at no additional cost. Whenever our cats have needed surgery or medical care in Toronto, going to ORA opened up their network of supporters to us, often at a friendly discount. We are especially happy to have met Claudia Vecchio, a small woman with a passionate spirit much bigger than she is. She is the kind of person who exchanges thoughtful, personal emails and phonecalls with cat owners and keeps tabs on the cats she adopts out (even after one of them moves to California!). We continue to support ORA from afar whenever we can, and keep in touch with Claudia and her volunteer staff to this day. Without a doubt, Claudia's version of an animal humane society is an idealistic, young charity with admirable and achievable goals. As far as my husband and I are concerned, ORA is a very caring pet adoption agency for your consideration. They are not a large organization by far (yet), but for us, that just makes ORA more accessible and easier to connect with on a personal level. Like most charities these days, ORA needs all the help they can get, so I encourage you to visit their website at http://www.ora-animalsrescue.org/ to see what you can do for Claudia and the many animals she and ORA are looking after. -- For Your Information: ORA-Organization for the Rescue of Animals P.O. Box 22608, 300 Coxwell Ave Toronto ON M4L 3W7 Canada Tels: (416) 726-8895; (416) 726-5762 Fax: (905) 473-9604 ORA: http://www.ora-animalsrescue.org/ Petfinder: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/ON100.html Pictures of Claire and her family, taken by ORA: http://picasaweb.google.com/claraspeer/ClairebySFamily?feat=directlink :: Claudia Vecchio is a woman taking the lead to save our planet through her efforts rescuing animals at ORA. For more articles about wonderful women like her, or to submit your own article about the same, please drop by pestyside's National Women's History Month 2009 Write Off ::  |
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