Pesach Newsletter, 2016

SPCA Israel presents its traditional Newsletter for Pesach

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Greetings from the Chairwoman, Passover 2016
Dear friends,

Two months ago the Society launched a series of enlightening lectures on animal welfare, and as a result, many people who were exposed in this way to the work we do came to our shelter. One of the questions that came up again and again was how they could assist the Society and the animals sheltered within it. In the spirit of mobilization, generous giving and voluntarism that characterize the Passover holiday, I would like to elaborate on this subject in our traditional holiday newsletter.

Donations: As a nonprofit organization whose work is made possible thanks to donations, every gift, large or small, aids us in continuing the work we have been doing for many years for the welfare and wellbeing of animals. Even a donation of equipment and accessories would be welcome. If, for example, you’ve cleaned out your closets for the holiday, we would be greatly helped by old blankets, sheets and towels, and even pet gear and accessories that are no longer in use, such as leashes, collars, pet-carriers, litter-boxes, litter-sand, cushioned beds, cat-scratcher-boards etc.

Adoption: At any given time, there are dozens of abandoned cats and dogs in the SPCA shelter. Their only wish is to have a warm home and loving owners. Our adoption counselors will accompany you in the “responsible adoption” process, which is customary in SPCA, and will help you find a new four-legged friend of your liking.

Voluntarism: A long, pampering walk, a caressing hand and a loving glance contribute so much to abandoned animals, to their attachment to human beings and to their learning of habits that make it easier to find them a home. You are warmly invited to come for volunteer training that takes place twice a week at SPCA. Afterwards, we would love to have you join us and take part as a volunteer, at your leisure, without advance notice. We would also be grateful and glad to make use of the professional skills of volunteers from various walks of life.

The Society’s work: The Society’s Department of Humanistic Education runs hundreds of educational activities each year for various groups, including a guided experiential tour and a hands-on encounter with the animals. You’re welcome to contact us for information on community-contribution days for companies, birthdays with added value and special activities for children. This includes joining the SPCA Members’ Club, in which kindergartens and schools assist animals in different ways.

Medical treatment: Our veterinary clinic is open to the public seven days a week, offering veterinary services at affordable prices. If your pet is not spayed/neutered, these operations can be performed at the SPCA Clinic, thus contributing to the animals’ health while averting over-population and suffering of puppies and kittens cruelly abandoned in the street or that can’t find an adoptive home.

Social networks: A small click can have a big impact. On our Facebook page important messages appear with information about animals that are ‘candidates’ for adoption and various activities. A LIKE or SHARE of these posts will provide greater exposure to many more people.

Reporting: Have you encountered an animal in distress? Don’t just ignore it. Call the Society’s hotline and we will handle the case or refer you to the appropriate entities.

Your ideas and suggestions are important to us. If you have ideas concerning the welfare of animals, please share them with us, and we promise to explore

Wishing you a very happy Passover holiday,

Hilma Shmoshkovitz, Chairwoman (volunteer)
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel
For our Newsletter click here

A clean and safe Passover

Moving over to ecological cleaning products – for your family, your pets and the environment

The rapidly approaching Passover holiday traditionally brings with it a cleaning frenzy. Not many people are aware that using a large variety of cleaning products not only doesn’t really clean, but can produce a harmful, contaminated environment. The main groups at risk are infants, young children and pets. The good news is that there are safe alternatives that do not harm humans, animals or the environment.

Caution – It’s too clean!
Shiny surfaces and artificial scents carried in the air are usually signs of a sparkling clean house. In effect, many of the common cleaning products we use contain petrochemicals – synthetic substances which are byproducts of fueloil and which are also found in plastic, cosmetics, food and fashion products. It’s no wonder then that many cleaning products carry safety labels regarding their proper usage.
The chemical substances in cleaning fluids are liable to cause contamination and safety hazards in the home, since chemical vapors carried in the air we breathe remain on floor tiles and on other various surfaces, and even on our dishes and eating utensils. Even ordinary laundry products may contain dangerous synthetic chemicals with which our body comes into constant contact, for example, through our laundered clothes.

Potential harm
Some claim that exposure to these synthetic substances may cause skin irritation, allergies, asthma and even attention deficit disorders and a weakening of the immune system. The highest risk groups for potential harm are, of course, babies who crawl on the floor, young children and pets. But while we have the freedom to leave the house after cleaning, our pets usually remain in the contaminated space.
In this way, for example, dangerous chemicals remaining on the floor after mopping can attach to the skin of a cat that comes into contact with them and, subsequently, enter its body when it licks itself. Our pets’ food and water, which are usually in bowls on the floor, may also be exposed to toxins.

So what do we do?
We all know that it’s important to keep cleaning products and other toxic substances out of reachand store them in a place that is not accessible to children or pets. We also know that after using aggressive chemicals we should physically leave the cleaned space and make sure to air it out. However, if we want to maintain a safe environment and protect the health and wellbeing of our loved ones, we can simply replace the cleaning and laundry products we use with ecological ones.

Ecological cleaning products, which are usually based on plant extracts and natural minerals, are available today at all retail outlets. Floor and dish-washing liquids, laundry and dishwasher products, sprays for cleaning windows, ovens and grease – and even products for cleaning the bathtub and toilets – all have ecological alternatives. Users of these products affirm that their cleaning capacity is no less than that of ‘ordinary’ products and their prices are not as high as they used to be in the past. Another option (recommended!) is not to buy cleaning products at all, and instead, use bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, lemon salt or fresh lemons.

Not only will your family and pets thank you, but the environment, too, will benefit because ecological products disintegrate biologically and thus return to nature without polluting the air, water and soil.

We wish you a clean, safe and happy Passover holiday!

Pesach Newsletter, 2015

SPCA Israel presents its traditional Newsletter for Pesach

For our Newsletter click here.
Greetings from the Chairwoman, Pesach 2015
Dear Friends,

Each year, as the Spring Festival approaches, I am happy to present our traditional newsletter. This year we wish to honor those families rearing animals they consider an integral part of their families.

Allow me to open with a personal reminiscence: Close to the Pesach holiday nine years ago, a weak and skinny puppy reached the Society, having been found by a passerby in the trash. Just one glance sufficed for me to fall in love with the tiny pup, only the size of my hand, and to name her “Baby”. Baby quickly acclimatized in our home, taking her place beside her ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’, the cats and dogs. Since then and to this day she shares the path of life with us, lovingly and faithfully accompanying us with her friendly nature and understanding expression.

Our many years of experience in placing animals in adoptive homes teach us that not all dogs and cats have similar fates, with many of them never having the privilege of living their whole lives in one home. In the SPCA, as in other organizations, this season in the year is distinguished by two familiar phenomena: On one hand, for various reasons many dogs and cats are abandoned during the holidays, often after these animals have accompanied their owners for long periods of time and have filled a significant role in their lives. Joining them are the huge numbers of kittens that are born in the Spring to homeless cats and un-spayed house cats, resulting in the shelters being packed with animals begging for adoptive homes. We, of course, take in every animal brought to us, and encourage pet owners who are taking vacations at this time to use our boarding facilities while they are away.

The second phenomenon is adoption of dogs and cats by families who choose a new four-legged friend during the Pesach vacation. It appears to be an ideal situation – with the animals getting more attention due to the free time available. However, when the children go back to school, many animals that were adopted during the vacation are brought back to the shelters, since the kids’ enthusiasm fades and the burden of caring for the pets falls on the parents.

Every adoption is, needless to say, welcomed. However, it is important that the process be carried out in a responsible manner and not in a moment of enthusiasm or to fulfill the children’s wishes. The adopters must understand that the meaning of adoption is the adding of a new member to the family, an additional ‘child’ that demands attention, care and commitment for the fifteen years ahead.

In order to avoid this emotional upset both to the adopters and the animals, that may experience another traumatic abandonment, we in the SPCA operate an orderly process named “Responsible Adoption”. The aim of this process is to match the animals with the adopters, taking into account the wishes and life-style of the adopters and their ability to provide the animals with all their needs for their entire lifespan, a process which includes completing a special Adoption Form, meeting with an adoption counselor, a veterinary examination, vaccinations, spaying or castration and guidance in all matters concerned with pet care.

If you are considering adopting a pet, have the whole family take part in the process. We recommend encouraging the children to gather information about the animals and to learn about its needs and, at a later stage, to set up a division of tasks relating to the care of the animal. This will give the children a sense of responsibility, partnership and devotion. However, it is important to remember that expecting young children to undertake the full care of the animals is unrealistic, and that, in the final analysis, the responsibility rests on the parents’ shoulders.

I wish you and your families a happy spring holiday. Hopefully all the many dogs and cats will find suitable homes during the festival.

Chag Sameach,
Hilma Shmoshkovitz
Chairperson (Volunteer)
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel
For our Newsletter click here.

Pesach Newsletter, 2014

SPCA Israel presents its traditional Newsletter for Pesach

For our Newsletter click here.
Dear Friends,

As we do every year as Pesach approaches, we are sending you our traditional newsletter, summing up the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ activities in recent months.

The rejuvenating Spring atmosphere is also felt here in the SPCA, with the completion of the lobby and veterinary clinic renovations as well as the building of the ramp at the entrance that is intended to make the facility wheelchair accessible. This project, the fruit of the Atzmon Architects & Co. architect’s office, was made possible thanks to contributions from many generous people. We are certain that the new facility and modern clinic will allow us to provide professional service to the public and optimal treatment to the animals in our care.

The Spring season, characterized by the awakening of nature, is also a time of births in the animal world. Amongst these births are multitudes of kittens born on the streets or cruelly abandoned after a non-spayed domestic cat has a litter. In order to prevent these unwanted litters and to minimize the suffering of these poor kittens, please make note of homeless cats in your neighborhood and, when necessary, contact the local authorities that are responsible for spaying and neutering stray cats. You may also call us to make enquiries regarding these procedures in our clinic.

The meaning of the transition from slavery to freedom is reenacted in the SPCA on a daily basis with the horses and donkeys that we rehabilitate. They reach us having experienced abuse and neglect at the hands of their owners, and no one is happier than we are when one of them completes the long rehabilitation process and we are able to find responsible owners for it. Unfortunately, the problem of horses and donkeys is far from being resolved, due to the powerlessness of the authorities, low awareness levels and the lack of budgets and personnel. We continue to put pressure on the various parties to ensure that the authorities care for these animals in a fast and efficient manner.

Recently the production company, zipipro, has joined us in our efforts to find warm homes for the abandoned cats and dogs that reach the SPCA. They have volunteered to produce special video clips on the subject of abandoned animals in an effort to encourage adoption. We wish to thank them most sincerely for this welcome initiative and invite you to watch the videos on our Hebrew YouTube page, and to adopt a new, four-legged friend, who will bring much joy to your lives.

Wishing you Happy Holidays,
The SPCA team
For our Newsletter click here.

Pesach Newsletter, 2013

SPCA Israel presents its traditional Newsletter for Pesach

For our Newsletter click here.
Greetings from the Chairwoman, Pesach 2013
Dear animal lovers and friends,

As Pesach and with it, Spring, approach I was asked to write a few words of introduction to our Newsletter. This became difficult because one of the latest additions to our home insists on sitting on me, and helping me type. I’m not complaining, actually I enjoy her and realize how lucky I am to have her and her brothers and sisters; the other animals in our family. Some people say the cats and dogs in our home are lucky because we took them in, but I think it is I who is lucky, being able to give them a warm home.

I am saddened by the fact that each time a major holiday approaches, our organization is flooded with cats, dogs and sometimes other animals, which are no longer wanted. It’s beyond me how people can make this kind of decision; to dispose of a creature they took into their home and heart, made to feel comfortable and loved and then decided to get rid of. Don’t they remember how grateful the same dog or cat was when adopted by them, how much he or she wanted to make them happy, bring a smile to their faces?

It is hard, especially for our staff, to see this happening, knowing that finding a new home is not possible in all cases, and even more so when the animal is older. Therefore we were all so very, very glad when Simba, a nine year old mixed-breed Golden Retriever who had been unashamedly dumped by its owner at the Society, did find a new home just before I started writing these lines. I wish more people would opt for older animals, not that I don’t want to see the younger ones adopted as well.

Still, I would like to send a prayer in favor of adopting an older animal, maybe as an additional pet to the one you already have. Please give it some thought. From my experience, when there is one pet at home, there is always space for another one; they keep each other company when their owners go out and more than everything, they enrich our lives.

I wish you, in the name of all our staff, a Happy Holiday Season, Chag Sameach,

Hilma Shmoshkovitz
Chairperson (Volunteer)
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel
For our Newsletter click here.