Stray Mittens

Mittens, a 16-year-old brown tabby, has always been an outdoor cat. She is much-loved by the neighbours on our quiet court in Hamilton, Ontario.

We were very surprised when she didn't come home one night, but it was not until the next morning that we began a search. We started by speaking to everyone on our court, asking them to check their garages and sheds, just in case she slipped in there out of curiosity.

On the second day, we registered Mittens with PetLynx and visited our local animal control centre. We also posted a large colour picture of Mittens throughout the neighbourhood.

On the third day, we received our first possible match on PetLynx, but it didn't have a picture, so we went to the animal shelter to check but it was not her.

On the fourth day we received two possible matches with PetLynx, this time with pictures so that we didn't have to go to the shelter. We could see that it wasn't our Mittens. We put up more posters, this time putting them up farther from our home.

On the 6th day, a local teacher came to our house and told us that the students were saying that the stray cat on the playground matched the cat in the posters. We went to the school and it was Mittens!!

We don't know what happened to her, but feel that she is too old to be wandering now. She now has supervised outside time and we have peace of mind.

Susan M.
Hamilton, Ontario

Local Service Provider: City of Hamilton Animal Control

Newspaper Carrier Delivers Really Good News!

Merlin is a seven-year-old Siamese/tabby cat who, his owners say, "is quite a character!"

"We all swear he can talk!" exclaims his guardian, Nella.

But when Merlin snuck into the garage late one Sunday evening, then ran out when the door was opened, he didn't stop to say where he was going!

"Normally, Merlin does a drop and roll in the grass and waits for you to pick him up," explains Nella. "But it was dark and by the time we got a flashlight, he was gone!"

Nella's youngest daughter made "Lost Cat" posters and put them them up in the community. Her husband suggested putting one on their own front door, with the hope that their newspaper carrier might spot the stray cat. (He's the only person around in the wee hours of the morning!)

After several nights of worry, Nella and her family were awakened by a 4:00 a.m. phone call. It was the newspaper carrier, calling to say he had their cat!

When asked where he was he replied, "At your front door. The red one."

"I went right down to get Merlin and, in my excitement, forgot to ask the man's name or give him the reward," exclaimed Nella. "No one complained when I woke the rest of the household to tell them Merlin was home!"

The newspaper carrier's identify and the reward got sorted out by calling the Hamilton Spectator office later that day. Turns out that the delivery man, Terran, had been keeping an eye out for Merlin since he saw the notice. He found Merlin quite a distance from home and carried him HomeSafe.

"We have one heck of good newspaper delivery man!" says Nella.

Local Service Providers: Hamilton/Burlington SPCA

Kind-Hearted Neighbour Helps Lost Pup

When this little dog went missing her guardians feared they might never see her again. But thanks to a kind-hearted neighbour, this little ragamuffin is now HomeSafe!

Our six-month-old Cocker Spaniel X Bichon puppy, "Bella", loves to dig! A few weeks ago she dug an opening under the fence and decided to investigate what was on the other side. This led to another fence, which she also dug under to bring her to another neighbor. They were sitting at their table in the back porch overlooking the garden when they saw this white, dirty face pop up now and again. They investigated and found our Bella digging in their garden. Bella's collar didn't have a tag on it yet, so they kept her overnight. She got to enjoy their company and some steak, then slept at the foot of their bed. These kind neighbors also placed a "Found Dog" advertisement with the local newspaper. The next morning, they took her to the SPCA.

When my wife, Jane, arrived at the SPCA to look for Bella, the attendant exclaimed,"We have her here!" A very shaky and scared Bella was quickly brought out from the kennels. Once Bella spotted her "Momma," she lunged and jumped and climbed up to Jane's shoulders.

The reunion brought tears of joy to my wife and a lot of relief to Bella. With a name tag now and a renewed love for her momma, Bella headed home to the delight of the all the neighbors. Naturally, we were really pleased the way things turned out .

Later, when I was reading the paper, I spotted the "Lost dog" ad with a phone number. That is how we found the "the other side of the story" and the identity of our kind neighbors who took such good care of our little Bella during her adventure!

Bill C.
Hamilton, Ontario

Local Service Providers: Hamilton/Burlington SPCA

DNA My Dog Event

Trace Your Dog's Family Tree

Although all dogs are descended from common wolf ancestors, each breed has specific genetic markers that uniquely identify it. Now there’s an affordable test to reveal all of the breeds contained in a dog through that unique genetic makeup.

‘DNA My Dog’ have been offering pet owners a special kit that involves a one minute cheek swab. The swab is then sent away and in just over a week a full analysis is returned that includes your dog’s dominant breeds, personality traits and health concerns. The Canine Breed Test was developed and validated using U.S. dog populations and will show all popular breeds in Canadian and U.S. dogs. (95% of all breeds). The test has been popular in the U.S. for years and is catching on with curious Canadians.

‘DNA My Dog’ will be on hand at the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA's premier pet event -- the Wiggle Waggle Walk-a-thon -- on Sunday September 13th with registration beginning at 9am.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this service to everyone participating in the walk,” said Jacqueline Roth, VP at the HBSPCA. “All proceeds from pledges raised and a portion of the ‘DNA My Dog’ fees will go to support our protection and adoption departments as well as the educational programs offered by the Hamilton/ Burlington SPCA.

Local Service Providers: Hamilton Burlington SPCA

Hamilton/Burlington SPCA Cat Crisis Update

Increased Adoptions Alleviate Crisis
But More Homes Are Still Needed

July 23, 2009 ~ Last week the Hamilton Burlington SPCA (HBSPCA) launched a public campaign to bring attention to the severe cat overpopulation crisis in our communities. “Since that time there has been a marked increase in the number of cat adoptions from our shelter” said Jim Sykes, CEO.

In the past week cat adoptions at the HBSPCA increased to 42, compared to 24 in the same period last year. There are, however, still dozens of healthy cats ready for adoption and the crisis continues. “The good news is that by having 42 cats adopted out, when typically we would only see 3 or 4 cats re-homed in a weekend, we have been able to save nearly twenty more lives by creating room for our adoptions team to rescue that many more cats,” added Sykes.

The Hamilton Burlington SPCA is a zero euthanasia shelter meaning that animals in its care are never euthanized due to a lack of space. Unfortunately with the sheer number of cats in the community that are not spayed or neutered, coping with the cat overpopulation crisis is an on-going challenge.

While some cats in animal shelters have been surrendered by their owners, many are strays that have no form of traceable identification, making it extremely difficult to contact their rightful owners. In addition to registering a lost pet on PetLynx , individuals who have lost a pet are urged to visit their local SPCA and/or animal control agency in person and view the cats currently in their care.

Miraculously, Dory's home!

I wanted to thank you for this incredible web-site and the work that goes on behind the scenes to enable pet lovers like me and countless others to do everything possible to try to find their lost and loved pets.

I put her out to do her business as usual on Saturday night, about 9:30. She always just walks about 30 feet away, does her business, then is anxious to get back in again, usually whining at the back door. After 10 minutes of being on the phone, I checked the door to let her in, but no Dory. I went out with a flashlight and scouted around until midnight, driving up the long farm lane, into the fields...everywhere I could think of looking....no Dory. The barns were checked, upstairs and down, the garage, the woodshed.....nothing, not a trace. No barks, whimpers, nothing was heard.

I woke this morning with the idea of having one more good look through the waist high weedy field, taking my walking stick to thrash the path before me. No luck. Then as I walked back to the house, I heard a familiar yelp.....like a parent recognizes their kids voices, I too recognized the yelp of Dory. With my hat, glasses and walking stick, she was unsure as to who I was when I walked up to her, and I could hardly believe my eyes! She was stressed and thirsty, but ever so glad to see me and come in the house to flake out.

So, I want to thank you and all those that you work with there, for the PetLynx site. After filing a lost dog report with you, I had 3 alerts within a few hours, none of which were Dory of course, but the help your site offered was incredible! Thank you!

I don't know how much longer we'll have Dory with us, but we're thankful she's home again, none the worse for wear, nothing that a fresh bowl of water, a good meal and lots of rest won't fix.


Thank you so very much! I'll be sure to tell others about your website.

Rejoicing today in a much loved pet's homecoming!

W in Caledonia

Local Service Providers: Hamilton Burlington SPCA, Hamilton Humane Society, The Cat Clinic, City of Hamilton Animal Control