Results tagged “torontohumanesociety”

Wiggles the Pig is having both a bad and a good day—bad because she fell off a moving transport truck on the 401, but good because she's been saved from becoming someone's dinner.

FAMILY: The Harbourfront Centre offers a packed itinerary for the long weekend, including HarbourKIDS: IMPACT! The event celebrates the ways in which kids can make an impact on the world around them, and the unmissable highlight is the Toronto International Circus Festival. Co-produced by Zero Gravity Circus, the festival showcases exciting feats for adults and kids alike, involving world-class acrobatics, blazing fire-eaters, daredevil stunts, stilt-walkers, jugglers, and more. The main show, SIRIUS FUN: The Impact! Big Top!, takes place this afternoon at the SIRIUS Satellite Radio Stage. Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), events from 11 a.m.–5 p.m., FREE.

Although it doesn't feel much like it yet, spring is here, and all the birdies and beasties are getting ready to have their babies. Due to the abundance of parkland within the city as well as the constant real estate development nibbling on the borders of their natural habitats, wild animals are closer to us than ever. For this reason, the Toronto Humane Society—mostly known for rescuing cats and dogs—runs a Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre where people can bring injured or immature wildlife found in the city at any time, day or night.

HOLIDAYS: Santa will be visiting the Toronto Humane Society on December 24. In exchange for a donation, Santa’s elves will give out free wicker pet beds made, their press release assures us, at the North Pole. Toronto Humane Society (11 River Street), 12 p.m., December 24, FREE.

FILM: Spiritual dreams, full-blown hallucinations, and alpha-wave highs, all without drugs? Sign us up! Award-winning documentary FLicKeR tells the story of Canadian artist and visionary Brion Gysin's dream machine: a bright light placed inside a rotating cylinder that matches with the alpha waves in our brains (the results are pretty incredible). Check out the premier tonight, and please don't try to make your own machine—we don't want you locked up at home staring at a lightbulb shoved into a toilet paper roll. The Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 9:15 p.m., $8 for members, $11 for non-members.

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.

Sarah Lazarovic—curator of the garage-based Montrose Portrait Gallery of Canada—is painting a portrait of a Torontonian every day. Each Monday, we'll feature one of those portraits here. Suggestions for subjects welcome.

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Employees of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, which now oversees the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation, will not be permitted to buy lottery tickets in Ontario. A representative of the affected staffers complained, "why do you think we wanted to work here in the first place?" before shotgunning a 40-ouncer of Absolut and collapsing to the ground.

If you're interested in learning more about what the future holds for you, but feel that clairvoyance is not something to be attempted on an empty stomach, Psychic Brunch may be just what you’ve been looking for.

Almost 200 men auditioned to be the new faces of Harlequin romance novels at a Toronto casting house on Saturday. Studies showed that Harlequin's main readership (female in their mid-40's) were "upset when slight, young cover models clashed with the brawny, mature heroes described within [the books themselves]." Canada's Next Top Harlequin Cover Model, anyone? Hosted by Fabio?

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.