2011 Memory Lane.

2011 was a phenomenal year for Hopeful Hearts, and although we suffered some losses, we have so many wonderful memories to be thankful for. Join us as we take a stroll down 2011 and share some of our favorite memories with you all!

January started off with puppy breath, puppy breath, and more puppy breath when Daisy Mae gave birth to 9 beautiful and healthy puppies. Each angel was named in memory of a Hopeful Hearts dog that passed away in 2010: Apollo, Kennedy, Lea, Hana, Gracie, Mingo, Mai Tai, Phantom, and Shandy. Momma and her babies were adopted in March, April, and May, while the last one to be adopted was Gracie, who found her forever home in June. She was clearly holding out for the best!

We were surrounded by even more puppy breath in February when the Aussie pups joined the Hopeful Hearts family: Merlin, Piper, Tawny, Shelby, and Fozzy Bear. If fuzzy puppies weren't enough to make our hearts flutter, the love continued later that month when the Global Pet Foods Kanata, Bank St, and St. Laurent locations sponsored us during their Show Us Your Heart campaign. All money donated went directly to Hopeful Hearts, with Global Pet Foods matching every single donation!

Once a year Hopeful Hearts welcomes dogs from Beirut and in March we met the Lebanon five: Tatti, Roo, Max, Ruben and Mercy. All of them had missing limbs which gave them no chance for a life in their country. BETA (Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) raised the money and organized the transportation of all 5 fully vaccinated, spayed/neutered dogs to Montreal, where the Hopeful Hearts team met the dogs to bring them into foster care. All of these special angels were quickly adopted and are now enjoying a wonderful life!

We were brought to tears in April when you showed your support to the Hopeful Hearts family after Simba was rushed to an emergency vet with a ruptured eye. We were given an estimate of $1000-$1200 and in less than 24 hours we were shocked to see that $1125 had been donated by so many wonderful people. The generosity and compassion you showed Simba in his time of need blew us away, and it's something that we will never forget. We say this time and time again, but we could not do any of this without you. Thank you from all of us at Hopeful Hearts -- this meant the world to us -- and to Simba too!



May was a month of fundraisers: The first ever Happy Tails Spring Walk-a-thon was phenomenal, raising an outstanding $7300! The turnout was more than we could have ever dreamed and we had a blast seeing so many familiar furry faces and meeting new friends. Earlier that morning Groomer's Touch also held a fundraiser and in addition to collecting toys, dishes, accessories, crates, and beds they also raised over $550. Later that month was our Hope Springs Eternal fundraiser and another $1400 was raised. The month ended in heartache though, when we lost our beloved Joey. We know Joey is smiling down at us now, thanks to his wonderful foster mom Doogie.

By June summer was in full swing and with sizzling hot temperatures the Hopeful Hearts Dog Pond at Westfest was the place to be! Our furry friends of all shapes and sizes came out for a refreshing dip and a ton of laughs. Thanks to The Pond Clinic and Dovercourt Community Association, and all our amazing volunteers for making that weekend at Westfest a HOWLING success! Click here to see all of the hilarious pictures from that day.



We lost another Hopeful Hearts furry family member when ten year old Chiquita went to Rainbow Bridge in July. We grieved but also worried about what her absence would do to our little Simba, as they were an inseparable pair of potato-loving yorkies. It seems as though Chiquita was working her magic at Rainbow Bridge though, because after being in foster care for over a year, Simba finally found his forever home a couple of weeks later.

Our fearless leader was at the vet one day in August when Newt, a six week old pom, was brought in to be euthanized due to a faulty heart valve. Never one to turn away an animal in need, Roz convinced Newt's owners to surrender this little Humpty Dumpty to Hopeful Hearts so that we could put him back together again. Centre Veterinaire DMV performed Newt's heart surgery and he was the smallest dog they had ever operated on! It was a nervous time for all involved, but the surgery was a great success! The only way we could have saved this little boy’s life was with the incredible support of the entire doggy community who stepped up to the plate and helped us raise close to $6,000 for this surgery! Incredible!

photo courtesy of HSI Canada

September was a month that many of us will never forget. HSI Canada rescued over 500 dogs from a "large scale breeding facility" -- the largest seizure in Canadian history. Volunteers from rescues all across Canada and the US worked together at the emergency shelter, day and night, to take care of these angels. Words cannot describe how incredible it was to see dog lovers come together to achieve one goal: showing these dogs what it was like to be loved for the first time in their lives. Hopeful Hearts was proud to welcome 31 of these Freedom Dogs into our family.

Kamotik, a lovely young Malamute mix, was brought to us from Nunavut at the end of summer after narrowly missing her kill date by 12 hours. In October she gave birth to 7 beautiful puppies: 4 females and 3 males. The puppies were named Aura, Blaze, Eclipse, Kobalt, Nakia, Sahara, Skye. Kammi has done such a wonderful job taking care of her babies, and they're now ready for their forever homes!

Joshua & his brother

November we were reminded that people of any age can make a difference when we met two wonderful young people wanting to help their animal rescue community. 8 year old Joshua had a "Rescue Dog" themed birthday party and instead of toys and video games, Joshua asked for donations and items for Hopeful Hearts' angels. Then there was 9 year old Cami who decided that instead of a birthday party, she would like to raise funds for two local dog rescue groups - Hopeful Hearts being one of them. She told us she was doing this because many dogs don't have homes, and all dogs want to be loved. A HUGE thank you Joshua & Cami for your support -- you are an inspiration to us all!

December was a very merry month!
The photos with Santa events were a hit, raising $1045. Our very delayed "fall" auction also turned out to be a great success -- raising another $3800+ for dogs in need. With the Bark & Fitz Christmas Giving Tree & our own Secret Santa event, 45 of our dogs had some new toys to play with Christmas morning and comfy beds to snooze in after indulging on yummy doggie treats! And most importantly, 22 dogs found homes that month. Many of those dogs had either been in foster care for a very long time or had never had a home of their own before, so it was a special month for them and for us.



It was quite the year for everyone at Hopeful Hearts, and at every step of the way we had people supporting us. Thank you for your support, your generosity, your shoulder to lean on, and your encouraging words.

Here's to 2012 and all of the new adventures it will bring us!