SPCA Nelson

The Nelson SPCA will be holding their Annual Street Appeal November 5th - 11th which is the organisations largest fundraising event of the year nation wide. Each year the well being of thousands of animals is brought to the attention of our Inspectorate all over New Zealand; some have suffered at the hands of cruel individuals, some have been abandoned or dumped, and some have just become “surplus to requirements”.

The money we raise in our annual appeal will go towards a wide range of services and projects including our investigations of animal cruelty in our region, food & veterinary care for our centre animals and improving the facilities at our centre to make the stay more comfortable for all our residents.

The money raised will also contribute to our desexing voucher system which we are currently offering to beneficiaries and those of financial hardship. This is something the Nelson SPCA does each year and assists in reducing the population of unwanted animals being brought into our centre and out in the community.

Appeal Week will run from the 5th – 11th of November. Collection locations below

New World, Stoke: 9am – 4pm, Monday 7th – Wed 9th
Kodak Express, Trafalgar St: 9am – 4pm, Wed 9th – Fri 11th November
Queen St Pharmacy, Richmond: 9am – 4pm, Wed 9th – Fri 11th November
Donations can also be made at our new SPCA Op Shop on 80 Vangaurd St, Nelson

This year the National Office RNZSPCA has made possible a Text Donation. To make an automatic $3 donation text the word SPCA to number 3181.

September 1, 2011
Topics: Campaigns
What to do with baby birds
Each year we receives hundreds of calls from members of the public who are concerned for baby and young birds that they find. In the majority of cases these animals are not in need of any extra care, and in fact have a much better chance of surviving to adult hood if left in their own environment. To help you decide what to do if you find a bird you are concerned about, we’ve compiled a list of 10 key points concerning baby and young birds.

1.If you find an injured bird i.e. it is bleeding or has a broken wing please place it in a dark box and transport it to the nearest vet clinic or SPCA where it will be taken from you at no cost.
2. Most New Zealand garden birds have chicks that fledge (leave the nest) before they can fly. Just because a bird is on the ground and is unable to fly, does not mean it is injured.
3.If you are concerned for a baby bird, try to determine if it is a nestling or a fledgling. The easiest way to tell is that nestlings will have very few feathers and be unable to perch on your finger. Fledglings will be mostly fully feathered and be able to perch on a finger.
4.Nestlings need to be placed back in the nest, as this the only chance they have of surviving. Try to hunt for the nest in nearby trees or bushes. If you cannot locate the nest you can make a temporary nest out of an ice cream container, and place some soft bedding material in this along with the nestling. Secure it to a nearby tree and the parent birds will most likely return and continue to care for the chick.
5.Fledglings that are uninjured are supposed to be on the ground before they can fly. The parent birds will be in the local vicinity finding food for themselves and their chicks. It is best to leave these fledglings alone and let the parents handle the situation. The only time you should move a fledgling is if its location is potentially hazardous i.e. a busy footpath or carpark. In this case place the chick somewhere close by that is more suitable, like a bushy area with some vegetation cover.
6. Birds have a very poor sense of smell. If you have handled a baby bird, don’t fear; the parents will not reject it because of this.
7.But what about cats? Yes, cats can and do catch birds, which has, and will always be the case. Wellington SPCA is not in a position to prevent this happening and we recommend that if you own a cat and know there are baby birds in your yard, to keep your cats inside when possible. The chick will have fledged and be out of danger in a few days. As a last resort you can take a chick from a very open exposed position and relocate it somewhere with more cover nearby.
8.Baby birds have a very high mortality rate in an animal shelter. In fact any unnatural environment is more likely to kill the bird than do it any good. The best chance of survival for the baby bird is to be left in its own environment.
9.What about ducklings? The same general rules apply for ducklings as for garden birds. If the parents are around it is best to do nothing. If you are absolutely sure the bird is lost from its parent you can place it in a box with a covered hot water bottle or similar, and take it to your nearest vet clinic or SPCA free of charge. The biggest killer of ducklings is the cold. They are not waterproof and should not be kept around any sizeable water source without their mother. If holding to transport it is imperative the duckling is kept warm.
10.What about feeding? It is not recommended that you attempt to foster and care for a baby bird unless you know what is involved. Young birds need to be fed every 15 to 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset. Most people are not able to provide this much time and effort in raising young birds.
 

Cupcake Day 2011 was a very busy and successful day! We managed to sell the 500 odd cupcakes baked by NMIT cookery students and volunteers at our various locations in town which is fantastic. The total amount raised by our stalls was $1,500 and local bank BNZ sold 550 cupcakes raising $1,600 alone! Donations are continuing to trickle in and so far the total figure known is around $4,000.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in this event and made it such a success! A very special thank you to NMIT for providing us with facilities & assistance in baking and decorating the cupcakes, to BidVest for supplying a bulk of the ingredients, to More FM for the great promotion of the event and help in fundraising, to the local Coffee Carts who sold our cupcakes and to all the folks who gave us their time and skills in either baking, decorating, selling & delivering the many cupcakes on the day!

Huge thanks to all of the people, groups & businesses who registered on-line and sold their own cupcakes and last but definitely not least all of you who supported the SPCA & gave your generous donations on the day. Without your support we would not be able to carry out the important work that we do!

Registrations are now open for Cupcake Day! Register as a Cupcake Cook and download your Cupcake Kit posters and stickers - with a few months to go before Cupcake Day, you'll have plenty of time to promote your Cupcake Day event and do a few cupcake decorating practice runs!  www.spcacupcakeday.co.nz

The Nelson SPCA has some exciting things happening for CupCake Day. We have had enormous support from NMIT Cookery department who have agreed to help us bake 300 plus cupcakes to sell at various locations in Nelson City, Stoke and Richmond. The ingredients for the cupcakes have been kindly donated by BidVest. Both BidVest and NMIT gave us the same support last year so a huge thank you to them again! 

We will be needing a helping hand to bake and decorate all of these tasty morsels so if anyone has some free time on Sunday the 28th of August from 1pm onwards please get in touch with Donna or Summer at the Nelson SPCA by e-mail to info@nelsonspca.co.nz or by phone on 5477171.  Check out the locations below where cupcakes will be available on the day:

• Cupcake Stand at New World, Nelson from 10am – 2pm
• Cupcake Stand at Countdown, Nelson from 10am – 12pm run by Nelson Intermediate School Students.
• Coffee carts in Nelson City, ‘Crème’ at the top of Trafalgar St & Coffee Cart on the corner of Trafalgar and Bridge Street.
• Toxic Coffee in Nelson City Montgomery Arcade
• Coffee Cart in Richmond at Sundial Square
• Nelson SPCA Centre on 379 Waimea Road
• Nelson SPCA Op Shop on 80 Vangaurd Street