Results tagged “pets”

The Academy Awards of the pet world was held yesterday, honouring animals who acted to save a human's life. Four new pets were inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame, joining over 140 other life-saving pets (all cats and dogs, save one horse awarded in the '70s) at the Harbourfront Centre's PawsWay Pet Discovery Centre.

When I was young and stupid, I took a job in the small animal department of PJ's Pet Store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre. I was really excited about earning extra pocket change and, even more than that, playing with cuddly animals all day long. Now, as someone older and wiser, I recall with disgust all the reasons I should have run screaming from that job. Like that, during my interview, I was told their motto was "The customer comes first" (translation: the animals come second). Like that, during the hot summer months, the guinea pigs and ferrets languished in poorly ventilated cages. Like that, during Easter, I was encouraged to push bunny sales, as though they were a type of candy or greeting card and not living things.

If you're an animal lover, the December fire that ravaged the Durham Region Humane Society's shelter, killing more than one hundred and fifty animals, probably broke your heart. Now, more than a month later, the organization still has no facility and is virtually inoperable without one.

With Woofstock having just come to town, why not think about adopting an animal? The Toronto Humane Society just opened a satellite adoption centre in North York (2802 Victoria Park Avenue between Finch and Sheppard) to make adoption easier in addition to its original Toronto location at 11 River Street (at Queen Street East). Another resource is Toronto Animal Services, which has four locations and a website to check out new pets available to adopt.

Waterfront Toronto has secured David Miller's support for knocking down part of the Gardiner Expressway, which currently looms over the waterfront like a massive prehistoric, um, highway. The teardown is likely to be delayed by a cost expected to be in the hundreds of millions, so Torontoist suggests doing a Berlin Wall on it—Sunday morning, we'll all meet down at the foot of Jarvis Street with our sledgehammers.

With the provincial election upon us, Toronto's Davenport riding is in for a shakeup as a new candidate enters the fray: Lucky, Felis catus siamensis.

Because there really isn’t any way to say no to a group of people dedicated to saving stray kittens and cats, Torontoist would like to encourage everyone to check out the Annex Cat Rescue’s yard sale this Saturday.

Canada's first same-sex marriage was performed here, and according to 2006 census data released today, nearly a quarter of same-sex common law couples in Toronto have officially tied the knot. Strangely enough, hetero marriages haven't crumbled en masse since the unions became legal country-wide in 2005, nor have people started lobbying to marry their pets. Someone should tell the Americans.

In the summer heat, Toronto’s downtown can seem like a sun-baked, arid domain of asphalt and glass. Scattered throughout the concrete desert, however, are a few oases of green. The Downtown Discovery Walk links the squares, parks and parkettes that can be found in the city’s busy core. And don't worry too much about the heat; there are plenty of places to duck into for shade, refreshments, and air-conditioned comfort along this route.

Study finds that Ontario children's group homes are like jails. Managers of group homes dismissed charges that their homes were Dickensian by pointing out that their children are not highly skilled pickpockets. Yet.

A report released yesterday by the Conference Board of Canada raised an alarm that Canada is in the doldrums when it comes to innovation. But after discovering this poster (at right) on the bulletin board at the Valu Pet Store at College and Augusta, the suggestion our society is failing to innovate seems mistaken.

We at Torontoist love our pets, and yours too, and we’d be happy if they didn’t do much else but shower us with undeserved admiration and give us a little snuggle when we get home after a hard day of Torontoisting.

The TTC proposes an "experiment" to make King Street West (between John and Spadina) a pedestrian-and-streetcar-only zone during the summer of 2008, much to the chagrin of business owners on the restaurant strip. However, the plan would allow a single lane to remain open for taxis and deliveries.

Conservative finance monkey Jim Flaherty on the budget: "We chose to support hard-working families." The budget has won favour with the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois, saving Stephen Harper from a dangerous early election. Flaherty recommended that Toronto "be prudent in their budgeting", dismissing David Miller's One Cent Now and transit plans.

There are more wild animals walking amongst us than there are in cages at the Metro Zoo. Everything from foxes to deer can be found within our city limits. But perhaps the most misunderstood is the coyote.

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did.

Torontoist has noticed an abundance of lost pet notices downtown this month, and what could be sadder, really? We don't know if it's a time of year when pets go missing more often, but we do know it's unlikely to be a result of a Halloween ritual blood sacrifice. Many shelters south of the border report that most of their missing animal calls come on the heels of July 4th fireworks, which often scare a pet out of the house and into hiding.

Over at blogTO, a reader's unbearably cute dog (above) has gone missing. We like cute puppies (who doesn't?), so we thought we'd help in the search. Details follow.

Canadian films don't make money. It's almost a certainty in the Canadian film industry but once in a while a film comes along that gives us hope. This year Fido, just might be that film. Our glowing review is here and other bloggers agree that the zombie comedy (zombedy?) about a '50s community where zombies are pets was the right choice to open the Canada First series.

A recent article in the Toronto Star about the pressing issue of dogs on restaurant patios caught our eye. The piece referenced a Gabby’s franchise which had previously allowed the practice, but which, according to the article, no longer did. Since the place is right down the street, we leashed up the dog (not purchased especially for this story) and raced over to investigate.

We know it's hot out there. It's so hot that last night was on record as the hottest night in Toronto ever. According to electricity companies we were just shy of the power record yesterday so keep up the good work everyone, don't do stupid things like blast your air conditioner and open your windows. Heck, try to avoid the A/C all together.

Torontoist will take a look each week at what's being said on the people's perpendicular press on and around the Danforth. Given the absence of wooden poles and the city's policy of scrape, scrape, scrape, vox pop isn't as loud as it used to be. Pity.

This summer is looking as bloody as last summer. Early this morning a man was shot dead on a rooftop patio in the club district. Two others were wounded.

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers.

The jury deliberating on the Lisa Posluns case was withheld some very gruesome evidence on the history of accused rapist/murderer Nelson DeJesus. The Star has the details here, and the Sun doesn't get left behind either.

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