Hastings SPCA Spring 2014 News - August 2014

Newsletter Spring 2014

Join us at Blossom Parade P r i nci pa l S po n so r

Welcome from the President

Hi to all for our Spring edition. As we look toward the end of the year (yes, we are in the downhill run now!), we’re expecting the usual influx of unwanted cats and kittens. This always puts extra pressure on staff, and there are several ways you can help us at this difficult time.

Firstly, spread the word about responsible pet ownership, including desexing, to all you know.

If everyone did this, we would almost be out of business.

Secondly, if you have the time to volunteer, either at the shelter or at fundraising events, we could really use your assistance. Contact the shelter for more information (contact@spcahastings.org.nz or 878 8733). Even if you only have a couple of hours a month to give - it all helps.

We have a busy few months coming up events wise, but the most notable is our first ever Harcourts SPCA Glamourpuss Ball & Charity Auction. We’re hoping that this will become our flagship fundraising event and will greatly increase our income. This year we simply want it to be a big success!

We also have the Blossom Parade approaching.

You can read more about these events in this newsletter. Don’t forget to come and say hello at the shelter; we love to see our members here from time to time.

Sharon Arcus, President

The annual Hastings Blossom Parade is being held on 13th September. The Shelter will once again be a part of the Parade, and we’d love to have as many supporters as possible walking alongside us.

If you’d like to join us, meet at the shelter by 10:15am on the morning of Saturday 13th, and we will go to the staging area together as a group.

You can contact the shelter for more information on 878 8733.

Events Diary

Blossom Parade Sat 13th Sept Contact us if you wish to join us in the Parade - details on back page Harcourts Glamourpuss Ball Sat 22nd Nov Check our website for more details Annual Appeal Week 1st - 9th Nov Please volunteer with us for our most important fundraising event!

Animal Blessing Sun 5th Oct, 5pm at St Mathews Church, Lyndon Road, Hastings All creatures great and small are welcome

Proudly sponsoring this newsletter.

it’s Black & White...

...These animals need your help.

We currently have a high number of fabulous black and white adult cats patiently waiting for their forever homes. Pictured here are just a few of them: Boston, Corey, Stanley and Bob. All of our animals are de-sexed, vaccinated, microchipped, worm and flea treated and vet checked.

If you think you have the space in your heart and your home for a new family member, we’d love to hear from you on 878 8733, or see you call into the shelter. We’re open daily from 10:30am to 2:30pm.

Join us for the

Glamourpuss Ball & Charity Auction Saturday 22nd November, 2014

Join us for our inaugral Harcourts SPCA Glamourpuss Ball & Charity Auction. This is a combined event with the Napier and Hastings SPCA shelters working together to raise funds to help the animals of Hawke’s Bay, supported by our Principal Sponsor, Harcourts Regent Realty.

This is a fantastic corporate pre-Christmas social event. All details will be confirmed on our website in the coming weeks, at spcahastings.org.nz

Napier War Memorial, Conference Centre Dress: Formal/black tie. $147.00 per person or $1400.00 per table of 10

A huge thank you to all our wonderful sponsors and supporters who are helping to make this event possible.

*Price of the ticket includes GST

Vo l u n t e e r w i t h u s !

Ticket includes a glass of bubbly on arrival, complimentary table wines, delicious 4 course plated dinner, live band & evening entertainment.

There will be a fantastic charity auction on the night fundraising for the Napier & Hastings SPCA’s

Can you help us during our Annual Appeal Week between 1st and 9th November? We urgently need street collectors to join us, so if you have an hour or two to spare, please contact us and be a part Limited tickets available through Harcourts Havelock North Office ofPhone: our 06most significant fundraising opportunity! You may be able to bring your dog along with you too.

873 0123 or Email: enquiries.havelocknorth@harcourts.co.nz Or contact the Napier & Hastings SPCA’s Get in touch: fundraising@spcahastings.org.nz or 06 878 8733 Napier - www.napierspca.org.nz or (06) 835 7758 / Hastings - www.spcahastings.org.nz or (06) 878 8733 Event Proudly Supported by:

Once again, we’re producing fundraising wall calendars. Our 2015 calendars have been photographed by Kelly Hosken Photography, and feature past and present residents from the shelter, such as Mia pictured here.

The calendars will be available shortly for $10. Keep an eye on our facebook page (facebook.com/spcahastings) to hear when and where they’ll be available for sale!

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

H o n o u r s

B o a r d

We rely greatly on the kindness and generosity of others and we’re sincerely grateful to the many organisations and individuals who lend us a helping hand.

Mitre10 Mega hosted a fantastic Kennel Building Competition, we had loads of great entrants with some fab ideas. We still have some of the creative kennels available for sale at the shelter, so pop along to view and purchase them. IMS Payroll donated a magnificient Corporate package at a Magpies game recently which was auctioned for $600 - a great result, and we’re sincerely grateful to IMS Payroll for their support.

We hosted a fun Quiz Night in July at Breakers Bar & Cafe and raised $3240 for our shelter animals! We couldn’t have made the night possible without the help of the great folk at Breakers and all of our fabulous supporters. Thank you to all who came along and joined us. Special thanks to the following businesses who donated wonderful prizes: Breakers Bar & Cafe - Animal Care - Askerne Winery - Bridgets Digits Massage - Cornucopia Organic Store - Fluff & Puff Dog Gromming - Hawkes Bay Toyota - Hawthorne Coffee - Hawkes Bay Racing - Lifestyle Chiropractic - Off The Track - Pet2Us - River Bar & Restaurant - Rose & Shamrock - Streetwise Coffee - Snap Fitness - Top Workwear - Vertu Hair - Vet Ent - Vet Associates - Cre8tive Gems The following organisations provided us with significant grants of funds or services for which we’re extremely grateful Kingdom Foundation - Bernard Chambers Trust - John Holt Trust - Eastern & Central Community Trust - Infinity Foundation - Department of Corrections - BNZ

Mobile Car Valet service our Animal Ambulances every month. They do a fantastic job for the Shelter at no cost, by way of supporting the SPCA. We highly reccomend Mobile Car Valet for your professional vehicle valet needs, and what’s best is that Pete and his team will come to you!

Find out more at www.mobilecarvalet.co.nz or call 0800 497 395

Super Liquor Hastings have come on board as a sponsor of our Hastings Branch, and as part of their support they’re offering discounts to SPCA members.

When you shop at Super Liquor, let the staff know “I support the SPCA” (and ideally show your member card). This applies to both the Hastings & Napier Super Liqour Stores.

Thank you to our Cupcake Day supporters The annual SPCA Cupcake Day happened on 25th August, and once again we had amazing support from individuals baking up a storm and selling their creations to benefit our shelter animals.

We hope that all of our cooks enjoyed being part of this great event, and look forward to having you on board next year!

We’re also extremely fortunate to have the amazing team at Heaven’s Bakery behind us too, who donated over 3,000 cupcakes to both ourselves and Napier SPCA. Left - Right: SPCA volunteers Devorah and Caleb manning the popular Cupcake stall in Hastings town centre; Heaven’s Bakery Cupcakes; Briar from Heaven’s Bakery embracing Cupcake Day in animal themed dress at work!

Adopt from the SPCA and save a life.

All of our animals are de-sexed, vaccinated, microchipped, flea and worm treated.

D u c k s

&

With the onset of Spring comes the cute Spring babies, and here’s some advice on what to do should you come across ducks or ducklings and you have a concern for their welfare.

Sick or injured birds - If possible confine the bird/s in a cardboard box or cat cage and phone the Hastings SPCA emergency service on 021 679 399. Staff will assess the situation.

Healthy birds - Once ducklings hatch, the mother will lead them to water and, in most cases, it’s best that a mother duck be left to care for and lead her own young. However, this may involve crossing roads and although you may be tempted to try to “rescue” the ducklings, interference can cause extra stress to the family and risk the mother being spooked and flying off. Generally keeping an eye from a distance and, as long as it is safe to do so, shepherding the birds across a busy road, is all that is needed.

Attempting to catch the young may cause the mother to become frightened and fly off, in which case the ducklings will often scatter and are then even harder to catch. Well meaning attempts to interfere usually end up making a bad situation even worse.

If the mother has been spooked and already flown off leaving her ducklings behind, they can be gathered and placed into a cardboard box left open to the sky. She will usually circle back to try to locate her young.

Occasionally ducklings can become separated from their mothers, and if the mother is nearby it’s best to leave the ducklings completely alone as they will call out to their mother to let her know their whereabouts.

If you think the ducklings are orphaned please call the SPCA for advice, and before removing ducklings from their environment,

The RNZSPCA is proudly supported by Hills Science Diet

D u c k l i n g s it’s important to check the mother is not hidden nearby.

Do not feed any ducks or ducklings that come onto your property. Feeding them will only encourage them to return and does not help them learn how to fend for themselves. They’ll leave when they’re ready, so please let them be and enjoy their company from a distance.

Some well-intentioned members of the public tried to catch these ducklings and their mother flew off in fright.

The eight little orphans, who are only a few days old, were brought to the SPCA by two kind Police Officers.

How to Care for Ducks & Ducklings - If you’re prepared to care for the ducklings yourself please visit our website which includes instructions courtesy of Canterbury SPCA. Other Birds - Baby birds on the ground are probably ‘fledglings’ whose first flight was unsuccessful. The parent birds will fly to the ground to feed their baby. It is safe to return the baby to the nest if you can find it. Birds don’t have a sense of smell and won’t reject a returned healthy baby.

Alternatively you can nail a margarine container (make sure you put holes in the bottom for drainage!) in the tree, line it with soft bedding and place the baby in it. This will help keep cats & other animals away.

Web Facebook Post Location Shelter Hours Phone Email

www.spcahastings.org.nz www.facebook.com/spcahastings PO Box 930, Hastings 4156 8 Heathcote Road, Hastings Daily, 10.30am – 2.30pm 06 878 8733 contact@spcahastings.org.nz

Being a member is such an important way of supporting the shelter. If you’d like any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us or visit our website.