Pet tips, news releases, stories and more. The money was raised during a month-long campaign in October called "Fundraise for Farley Month" aimed at increasing awareness and raising funds to assist the Farley Foundation - a registered charity which subsidizes the emergency veterinary care of pets belonging to seniors and disabled persons in Ontario.
Each year, veterinary practices from around the province, order free fundraising kits which include posters, brochures, paw prints and a new item this year - Farley Foundation wrist bands. Veterinary practices are encouraged to get creative with their annual campaigns, using the kits as a starting point. Over the past few years, veterinarians and their staff have come up with some great community-based events, such as doggy walk-a-thon, dog wash, dog Olympics, dog treat bake sales, pet fairs, pet shows with pet/owner look-alikes contests, pet pedicure parties, pet costume parties, pet fashion shows, Santa pet pictures, "Shave Your Veterinarian's Head" raffles and teddy bear clinics.
Top performers of the fundraiser are recognized with a tiered awards system. Gold, silver and bronze 'Friends of Farley' will be honoured at an awards ceremony in conjunction with the 2007 Ontario Veterinary Medical Association's Annual Conference & Trade Show.
This year's top fundraiser, Park Road Veterinary Clinic from Brantford, Ontario, raised over $10,000 for the charity. This is the second year in a row that staff at the Park Road Veterinary Clinic raised $10,000, outperforming the next most successful fundraiser by $5,000.
Veterinary practices to be honoured today are:
Gold Friends of Farley (raised at least $5,000)
- Park Road Veterinary Clinic, Brantford
- Thunder Bay Veterinary Hospital, Thunder Bay
Silver Friends of Farley (raised at least $2,500)
- Chicopee Hills Animal Hospital, Kitchener
- Gananoque Veterinary Clinic, Gananoque
- Algonquin Animal Hospital, Ottawa
- Fletcher's Creek Animal Hospital, Brampton
- Harwood Pet Hospital, Ajax
Bronze Friends of Farley (raised at least $1,000)
- Yorkwood Veterinary Clinic, Keswick
- North Bay Animal Hospital, North Bay
- Ayr Animal Hospital, Ayr
- Markham Veterinary Clinic, Markham
- Bloor Mill Veterinary Clinic, Etobicoke
- Fairmont Animal Hospital, London
- Green Bay Pet Hospital, Cloyne
- Baxter Animal Hospital, Sudbury
- Royal York Animal Hospital, Toronto
- Belleway Veterinary Hospital, Belleville
- Colonial Veterinary Hospital, Navan
- The Animal Clinic, Toronto
- Mullen Small Animal Clinic, Walkerton
- Lynwood Animal Hospital, Nepean
- Gloucester Veterinary Hospital, Ottawa
- Pine Valley Animal Hospital, London
- Springer Animal Hospital, Sturgeon Falls
Farley Foundation Awards Ceremony
The Farley Foundation will honour these top fundraisers at an awards ceremony to be held in conjunction with the 2007 OVMA Conference & Trade Show in Toronto. Media must register on-site at the OVMA Registration Desk.
When: Friday, January 26, 8 a.m.
Where: Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, Toronto
Photos: Digital images will be available post-event upon request.
About the Farley Foundation
The Farley Foundation assists seniors (in receipt of the Federal Guaranteed Income Supplement) and disabled persons (in receipt of the Ontario Disability Support Payment) to afford emergency veterinary treatment for their pets. Established in 2001 by the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, the Foundation has distributed well over $200,000 to assist almost 700 pets.
(*)North Bay native Lynn Johnston created the Farley cartoon character as part of her syndicated comic strip, For Better or For Worse(R). The beloved English sheepdog was a member of the comic strip's Patterson family, and died while attempting to save April Patterson, who had fallen in a ravine. The Farley Foundation is named in honour of this much loved character.
For further information: about the Farley Foundation or the above release, please contact: Nadia Vercillo, Manager of Communications and Public Relations, Phone: (888) 262-9811, ext. 4, Email: nvercillo@ovma.org