May 2009
RAPS CALENDER OF EVENTS
Sunday, May 3 --
Celebratre Cats! Arts, Crafts, and Education Fair (1 - 3 pm)
May 23 & 24 --
Noah's Wish Training (pre-registration required)
Saturday, May 30th --
RAPS Pub Night in StevestonSunday, June 7th -- Bake-off for Bunnies! (1 - 3 pm)
Saturday, June 20th -- City Shelter Clean-up Day and BBQ (time TBD)
Wednesday, July 1 (Canada Day) -- RAPS at the Salmon Festival in Steveston (Richmond)
Saturday, July 18th -- Animal Wellness Day (time TBD)
Noah's Wish Coming to RichmondThe Noah's Wish Animal Rescue training organization is coming to Richmond for an overnight training session.
Find more on the RAPS home page or at
Noah's Wish.
RAPS Alumni Check In!We
always like to know how the animals that were adopted from RAPS are
doing in their new homes. Check out these wonderful adoption
success stories about
Bear and
Sola (formerly 'Sparkle')
The Easiest Ways to Help Animals at RAPS 
There are lots of easy ways to help raise money for the RAPS shelters. Here's a top five list of easiest ways to help!
1) Donate your recycling to RAPS through local Return It Centres.
Find out how.2) Donate your 'Save-On' Points to RAPS at the Ironwood Save-On Foods in Richmond.
See how.
3)
Donate your quality, used goods to the RAPS Thrift Store or purchase
from the RAPS Thrift Store at Unit 140-8260 Granville Avenue in
Richmond.
4) Have a pet drawing done by
Pet Portraits, who donate all the proceeds to RAPS.
5) Donate your spare change to RAPS Coins for Cats program.
See how.
Adoption Profile: Lewis
Lewis
is a timid 10-month-old kitten who needs to go to a patient and quiet
home. He is warming up to our staff, and has decided that he loves to
be petted and to sit on an open lap. Come meet Lewis at the RAPS
City Shelter.
Training Tips from Downtown Dogs
Q: How do I deal with on-leash aggression between two dogs?
A:
First and foremost, if you are experiencing any problems with on-leash
aggression, seek the advice of a Certified Trainer. For the safety of
your dog (as well as any unwitting four-legged bystanders) please
address this issue as soon as possible. Many owners hope that the
problem will resolve itself over time; however, left un-checked most
on-leash aggression will escalate - what started as a “bark and lunge”
habit can easily turn into a full-scale dog-on-dog attack. In the
meantime, here are a few tips that can help while you are working
through this problem:
-Safety first! If you know your dog is not
going to behave well when meeting other dogs give yourself and your
pooch lots of space. Don’t force your dog into an unpleasant
experience! The more negative interactions your dog has with other
dogs, the more the behaviour becomes re-enforced, making it that much
tougher to work through.
-Take a basic obedience course with
your dog. A dog that follows your commands is a dog that will give you
his/her attention when it counts. Learning to work with your dog will
also increase your skills and confidence as his/her handler. Plus, your
dog will be learning to work in a safe environment around other dogs-
no bad behaviour allowed!
-Practice a non-confrontational
behavioural modification program, such as “Nothing In Life is Free”.
Living with your dog in this way puts you at the head of the pack; the
leader’s word goes! Getting your dog’s respect by being his/her alpha
makes it easier for you to control your dog when it counts.
Christine Reynard is the owner and trainer at Downtown Dogs. If you have question for Christine, email her at info@absolutek9.ca
Click to Give...on the Animal Rescue Site. Check out the easiest way to help shelter animals!
Help RAPS Win Grants by Clicking at Petfinder.comPetfinder.com
is offering the chance for shelters to win cash by having the public
vote for their favorite shelter. The shelter with the most votes
each week can win weekly cash prizes and eventually grand prizes for
the shelter with the most 'clicks'. Start clicking now to help
RAPS. Here's how:
1) Go to the
Animal Rescue Site to "
Help Your Shelter Win Cash"
2)
Click the purple box to give food to shelter animals. This will
take you to the next page where you will see a red and white box in the
top right hand corner that says 'Vote Now'. Click this
box.
3) On this next page, type 'City of Richmond' for name of shelter.
4)
In the drop down menu for country, change USA to CAN. Wait
for a second or two for State to change to Province and use the drop
down menu to click 'BC'.
5) Then click 'Search'
6) On the next page, just below the box you will see the 'City of Richmond' listed and a button to 'Vote'.
7) The following page will show you a picture of an animal to identify and confirm your vote.
8) Vote once a day to help RAPS win one of the shelter grants!
(Tip: You can sign up for daily email reminders to click for food and vote in the Shelter Challenge.
I have been doing this for 3 years and have never received spam from this site.)
Thanks
Some Young Donors
Click here to read about these special donors to RAPS.
The Richmond Animal Protection Society
(RAPS) is a registered charitable organization that operates two
shelters in Richmond, BC -- the RAPS City Shelter and the RAPS Cat
Sanctuary.
Richmond Animal Protection Society (RAPS)
12071 No. 5 Road
Richmond, BC
(604) 275-2036
newsletter@rapsociety.com
Executive Director:
Carol Reichert
Newsletter Writer/Editor:
Christie Lagally
Newsletter Copy Editor:
Helen Savkovic
Contributing Writers:
Shane Burnham
Marianne Moore
Sonya Kamp
Christine Reynard
Contributing Photographers:
Tracey Garbutt
Lynda Harrison
Marianne Moore
IN GOOD HANDS
A Pet Service
Planning
a get away? Leave your home and animals IN GOOD HANDS. Honest,
reliable, mature women with dog walking experience will spend quality
time with your pets in the comfort of your own home.
Your home is safe, your pets are happy. Daily dog walking available.
References available
Call Kim: 778-968-3605
kim_1957@live.ca
Join RAPS this Sunday, May 3rd (1:00 - 3:00 pm), for the '
Lucy
is a gorgeous seven-year-old red Shar-Pei who has spent nine months in
foster care learning how to be a happy member of her human foster
family. She’s ready for her forever home now and would like a family
with no other pets and no young children. In spite of years of
abandonment alone in her former owner’s backyard, Lucy loves life, has
a great sense of humour, and is a warm, affectionate dog with those she
knows. She is well-mannered around the house, rides perfectly in the
car, and loves to go everywhere with her people. She doesn’t mind
staying at home on her own sometimes, but the best part is her happy
dance when her people return! 
Richmond
has a lot of homeless rabbits and 40+ of them are waiting for adoption
at the Richmond Animal Shelter! RAPS needs your help to raise
money to repair their cages and spay/neuter the rabbits before they can
be adopted. Join us for the RAPS Bake-off for Bunnies.
Sign up to bring your best cookies, candies, or pastries for an
afternoon bake sale. Prizes will be awarded in a number of baking
categories. Please email RAPS at 
RAPS
wants your best pet photographs for our website photo contest! We
are replacing some photos on our main page and elsewhere. 
Cecilia
was one of ten cats trapped at an industrial site. Site employees had
seen cats wandering around at the far end of their rural property and
contacted RAPS. Although they’re not often seen by passers-by,
there are many such cat colonies living “wild” in empty lots, under
buildings or in back alleys all over the city. Some have lived like
this their entire lives, born to stray cats or abandoned as kittens
themselves. Many have never had contact with humans and behave as you
would expect a wild animal to behave when trapped – hissing, spitting,
and trying to attack their rescuers, whom they perceive as a threat. 
It
didn’t take very long for Cecilia to become a friendly and trusting cat
– most likely, she was once a family pet who had been abandoned by her
owners – but most cats in such trapped groups never become tame.
Jasmine never has. Although this pretty girl is now less likely to run
away and hide from us, she’s never let anyone touch her. 
P.J.
just showed up in someone’s back yard one day. The kind home
owners put food and water out for him and tried to befriend him,
but he was having none of that. With the assistance of RAPS
trappers, P.J. was brought to the cat sanctuary where he eventually
settled in quite happily. Like Cecilia, he had most likely been
abandoned by his former owners. 
Also, check out the wonderful pictures from Bull Breed Awareness Day by clicking 
Our
time as foster parents ended on April 9th when we took Dixie and her
baby, Taz, back to the shelter to be adopted. Our old cat just
wasn’t adapting to having them around, and since she is our baby, she
needed to come first. We knew this might happen. Still I
wasn’t prepared to given them up. 
It
wasn't signed with paw prints or written on one hundred-year-old
parchment, but RAPS has recently released a Dog's Bill of Rights to
help dog owners learn the basics of dog care. Check out this 
