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Tyler’s SPCA Fundraiser – Save the Animals!

January 10, 2009 Posted by Tyler Cruz

I had been planning this fundraiser for around a year before finally being able to actually get it done. In fact, I had actually scheduled to have it ready for before Christmas but we got hit with a ton of snow here which brought things to a halt

Fortunately, I was able to rebook my visit and yesterday Lisa and I visited the Nanaimo SPCA.  I met up with Bonnie there, a 12-year veteran at the Nanaimo SPCA who had helped me plan this fundraiser through several phone calls and e-mails back and forth.

I talk a lot about money on my blog and often celebrate new milestones and goals met. I live a very comfortable life and make a good income from the web, and so I felt it was time to give back. While this certainly isn’t the first time I’ve ever donated, it’s the first time I’ve ever run a fundraiser.

I’m a huge dog lover and of animals in general, so choosing the local SPCA as my charity of choice was a no-brainer.

Help Me Raise $1,000

My goal is to raise $1,000 for the Nanaimo SPCA by January 16th. I will personally be writing them a cheque for $500 from Merendi Networks Inc. which means that I’m only asking that you guys match my donation as a whole.

I’m sure I’m not the only animal lover out there so please consider donating something. Any amount helps and is appreciated. The Nanaimo SPCA does a great job of making the dogs and cats (and other animals) feel welcome and comfortable and most are actually volunteers. And for our cats, we have found out some cat litters are much better than others. These cat litters are necessary accessories to keep our pets happy inside.

Many animals get abused by cruel owners and are rescued and taken care of by the SPCA. They work tirelessly to find homes for all the animals and can always use more funds.

How to Donate

To donate to the Nanaimo SPCA, simply use the basic donation form on the BCSPCA website. Please be sure to select the Nanaimo Branch when filling out the form, as seen in the screenshot below:

Unfortunately PayPal is not accepted (I’ve already put in the request) but they accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Best of all, it’s a tax write-off since the BCSPCA is of course a registered charitable organization (their Charitable Tax # is BN 11881 9036 RR0001). They should also be mailing you (real postal mail) a receipt that you can use.

Once you donation is sent you will automatically receive a confirmation and thank you via e-mail. Please forward that to me at tyler@merendi.com (don’t worry, your credit card information isn’t shown) so that I can count and authenticate your donation.

In addition, I’ll be linking to each donator’s website in a week from now on my blog when the donation drive ends. Be sure to mention your URL when you forward the e-mail.

Again, any amount helps and is greatly appreciated. It’s a tax write-off, you get a free link, and best of all you’ll be doing a good thing and will feel great.

Sponsor a Dog!

For fun, I thought it’d be cool to let readers sponsor a particular dog. In the spirit of full disclosure, all of the donations will go to one big pool for the Nanaimo SPCA, but I thought it would be neat to allow users to sponsor their own dog for fun.

When you forward your e-mail receipt to me, please specify which dog you wish to sponsor.

If you cannot afford to sponsor a dog, please donate a smaller amount that you can afford. I guarantee it will make you feel good inside.

Here’s a video of the dogs. Unfortunately, my cat video file got corrupted and I was unable to use it (I spent literally 6-7 hours last night trying to fix it):

(Update: The corrupt video appears to have also affected 3:02 – 3:35, but the rest is fine.)

Before I introduce the dogs I just wanted to dispel some myths of Rottweilers since there were 3 of them at the shelter. While I’m personally more of a Golden Retriever/Lab kind of guy, I realized that I was too quick to judge Rottweilers.

While it’s true that many Rottweilers are bred, trained, and used as guard dogs, there are just as many gentle friendly ones. Just take a look at the video above to see for yourself. I wanted to cuddle and hug them!

Chief

Chief is a “senior” male Rottweiler. In fact, he’s the only senior there right now. He came to the Nanaimo SPCA extremely malnourished and in very poor condition but is an extremely gentle and lovable dog. He is wonderful and sweet and is looking for a loving retirement home.

To sponsor Chief, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Chief when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Mini

Mini is a female Mini Pinscher who just loves her blue coat. She’s 6 years old and is a very happy and well-balanced dog. She enjoys the company of other dogs and wants you to sponsor her!

To sponsor Mini, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Mini when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Misty

Misty is a 7-year-old female Newfie. She has some missing patches of hair as seen in the photo below. How she got them I do not know as I didn’t hear her story, but she was is a gentle giant.

To sponsor Misty, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Misty when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Chimo

Chimo is a 2-year-old male German Shepherd/Chow Chow mix. He is very soft and cuddly and seemed to have a sense of intelligence about him.

To sponsor Chimo, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Chimo when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Sam

Sam is a female Dalmatian/Australian Cattledog cross who would like a nice easy going home. She’s very loving and an all around nice girl.

To sponsor Sam, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Sam when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Loralei

Loralei is a female Pit Bull Terrier cross. Unfortunately, she’s been at the Nanaimo SPCA for close to a year now. She had ran into a lot of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances that landed her back in the SPCA more than once.

I think that Loralei might get a bad rap as her first impression isn’t always the best. She will often bark and appear intimidating at first glance which I think immediately turns many people off. But really that’s just her wanting attention. Even Lisa was scared of her at first but warmed up to her later.

Once she gets attention she’s really very gentle and lovely. Loralei is good with both dogs and cats but can sometimes be nervous of men (she was fine with me it seemed). I really felt for her because I could tell she was a good dog, it’s just that she can appear a bit intimidating at times… which is to be expected if you are locked up for close to a year.

To sponsor Loralei, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Loralei when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Barkley

Barkley is a male 10-week old Shih Tzu Poodle. He’s a silly boy who loves playing. Fortunately, he bunks with another Shih Tzu Poodle to provide him some company. He’s the youngest at the Nanaimo SPCA.

To sponsor Barkley, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Barkley when you forward the e-mail to me.

Jinny

Jinny is a female 1-year-old Shih Tzu Poodle and Barkley’s roommate. She is a described as a little shy but that is sure not what I observed! She sports a blue blazer and looks after Barkley.

To sponsor Jinny, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Jinny when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Popeye

Popeye is a male Rottweiler who is currently under medical care. It broke my heart because the other dogs were getting treats but Popeye wasn’t allowed one. I saw him sadly miss out and he was drooling and had the saddest look of anticipation on his face.

Popeye and Olive Oil (who you’ll see below) have an extremely sad story. Basically they were found extremely malnourished and abused and are currently healing up in the Nanaimo SPCA.

To sponsor Popeye, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Popeye when you forward the e-mail to me. Or, if you’re feeling extra generous, you can sponsor both Popeye and Olive Oil! Sponsored!

Olive Oil

Olive Oil is a female Rottweiler and Popeye’s sister! Like Popeye, Olive Oil was malnourished and abused and actually found with an industrial collar so heavy that she couldn’t even lift her head.

She seemed to be in a bit better shape than Popeye and looked extremely gentle and would calmly look at you with a slight swaying of her tail. Just look at those eyes…

You could tell just by looking at them that Olive Oil took care of Popeye. I like how the Nanaimo SPCA placed them opposite each other so they could see each other in direct sight.

To sponsor Olive Oil, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Olive Oil when you forward the e-mail to me. Or, if you’re feeling extra generous, you can sponsor both Popeye and Olive Oil!

Princess

There are so many cats at the Nanaimo SPCA that I had to select only two. Princess is a Domestic Longhair Cross and extremely affectionate. She was trying to rub up against me before I was even 2 feet away! It’s too bad my cat video file got corrupted…

To sponsor Princess, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Princess when you forward the e-mail to me.

Mr. Sleepyhead

Since most of the cats share one big room and are not restricted to cages, I was unable to identify this one. We just found him sleeping in a basket looking oh-so-comfortable.

To sponsor Mr.Sleepyhead, please donate $40 to the Nanaimo SPCA as outlined earlier in this post and specify that you want to sponsor Princess when you forward the e-mail to me. Sponsored!

Thank You!

I’d like to thank Bonnie and the Nanaimo SPCA staff for welcoming me in, as well as the volunteer dog walker lady (I didn’t get her name) who kindly shared the history of the dogs with me.

I’d also like to thank you readers for considering to donate to the Nanaimo SPCA. It’s good karma.

Please help me make my $1,000 fundraising goal! For more information about the Nanaimo SPCA or BSSPCA you can visit their websites at NanaimoSPCA.com and SPCA.bc.ca respectively.