Volunteer, Randy Pollock, displays one of the youngest members from the Second Chance Pet Network.

Many people have heard about the Second Chance Pet Network, but still wonder who they are, and what they do.

Second Chance was formed early last year by a group of concerned community members looking to assist in the wellbeing of stray, abandoned and feral animals.  The group was formed with the idea in mind of establishing a permanent shelter for these animals.

Second Chance has established a temporary shelter at this time, located at 24 King Street in Dryden.  This temporary location houses many cats, but is not a sufficient location for any larger sized dogs.

Inside this location, Second Chance hosts an ongoing flea market, with all sale items previously donated by area community members.  They accept all forms of donations, with the exception of clothing.

The non-profit group has initiated the first feral Trap-Neuter-Return program in Northwestern Ontario.  Feral cats are humanely trapped at the local landfill sites, brought in for spay and neuter, with a prompt return back to the landfill where they originated from.

The group currently has many fundraisers and awareness events going on, with the next one being the Spay-ghetti and No Balls Dinner.  This is being held on Saturday, April 24th.  Other events are public awareness booths being set up at all local festivities, a “Tag Day”, a dog walk in August, and bottle drives.

The biggest fundraiser now in full swing, is the “Buy a Brick” campaign.  The goal is to raise enough money from the sale of the “bricks” to purchase some land and shelter for the care and health of the animals.

All the animals are currently cared for by volunteers, and the feed, supplies and expenses are taken care of solely by donation.

“We couldn’t do it without our volunteers,” says Heather Compardo.  “They run the shelter and spend countless hours helping out.”

The shelter is still in desperate need of volunteers for daytime weekday hours, as well as cash donations, along with donations of pet food, Canadian Tire money, Extra Foods bucks, and donations for their flea market.  The shelter can be found at 24 King Street, or can be contacted at 223-3335.  You can also find them online at my.drytel.net/triplefpet or by emailing secondchancepetnetwork@drytel.net.  If you are a Facebook or Twitter fan, you can find them there as well under “King the Cat”.

- Ally Dunham