Who is the ultimate BFF…a dog or a cat?
The SPCA is asking you to let them know.
All you need to do, is tell them which loveable pet you prefer – a dog, a cat, or both, with an added donation.
Then, thanks to an anonymous donor, funds will be matched up to $100,000 for their organization.
Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Sarah Lyon tells us, getting the word out about donations needed this year, has been a little more difficult with the postal strike.
“But with Giving Tuesday, with a matching donor of up to $100,000, we do hope we can raise money that is needed to help the animals who are in our shelters.”
Trouble getting the word out
The SPCA relies on donations to keep their organization afloat.
The number one way they communicate that money is needed is through the mail.
Lyon says, that then might lead to a donation online or at one of their shelters, but a lot still comes through Canada Post and with the strike, they’ve taken a hit.
“We get donations through the mail very often. And in fact, our end of the year…you know, December…mail-in gifts can make up for 13% of our total mail-in gifts for the entire year. It’s over $20,000.”
With this campaign, they are hoping to raise the money they need for the animals in their care.
Cats keeping coming out on top
The crew at the SPCA have been doing this campaign for four years now.
Lyon says it started because they often get asked which animal they prefer.
“They will say, are you a dog person? Are you a cat person? So, we thought that would be fun to turn into a bigger campaign.”
And cats keep coming back every year, knabbing the top spot.
This time, Lyon is hoping team ‘dog’ will make a comeback.
Here are the team captains: Ella for Team Dog and Jeffrey for Team Cat.
Photo: SPCA
Matching donations
This year, an anonymous donor will match up to $100,000 in honour of their dog ‘Scamp’, who recently passed away.
They had approached the SPCA in the fall about being a part of the campaign after seeing it in 2023.
How do you participate?
Here’s the fun part.
You can go to a shelter to donate, go online or text 4-10-10 with a cat or dog emoji, or paw prints, if you are voting for both.
More than $14,000 has already been raised -last year’s total was $75,000.
