Each member of the Roncy team works here because we share a deep passion for animal welfare. Our primary goal is to prevent dogs and cats from suffering, and we strive to improve pet & pet parent lives far beyond the walls of our clinic and the borders of our neighbourhood. Read on to learn about some of the causes close to our hearts.
Our Charity Partners: Annex Cat Rescue & Autism Dog Services
We’re proud to donate medical care to help pets rescued from challenging circumstances overcome the physical and emotional traumas they have experienced. Our primary rescue partner is Annex Cat Rescue (ACR), a 100% volunteer charity dedicated to helping abandoned and colony cats living on Toronto’s streets. We’ve provided over 500 homeless cats with thousands of veterinary exams, procedures and surgeries, and are thrilled to help them get a second chance at the happy and secure life they deserve.
Roncy Village Veterinary Clinic is also proud to sponsor veterinary care for dogs in training with Autism Dog Services & graduate dogs that have been placed with families throughout Toronto because we know their assistance can be life-changing. Our support was inspired by local Roncesvalles boy Wyatt, who launched a virtual lemonade stand in 2016 to raise money to get his own specially-trained service dog. We were thrilled to meet Dessa when she joined Wyatt’s family in early 2018.
Kitten Adoption Program
Our clinic's Kitten Adoption Program is another way that we help connect pets in need with families to love them. Our current program takes in street kittens that have been rescued by Annex Cat Rescue volunteers. Previous ‘graduates’ of our Adoption Program have also been placed with us by Toronto Animal Services, rescued by staff members, or come to us in sad circumstances (such as longtime patients whose owner passed away).
Community Veterinary Outreach
Dr. Mark Kinghorn is the volunteer director for the Community Veterinary Outreach (CVO) in Toronto, which runs pro bono veterinary care clinics at the Yonge Street Mission for pets whose owners are experiencing homelessness, street-involved, or vulnerably housed. These clinics are run on the One Health model - while pets receive veterinary exams, vaccinations, parasite control, spay/neuter clinic referrals, and donated food and supplies, their owners have access to embedded social and mental health services, such as dental care, harm reduction (naloxone kits, safe injection supplies), smoking reduction and cessation support, primary health care for adults and children (such as flu vaccines), and more. By leveraging disadvantaged pet owners’ devotion to providing care for their pets, the CVO has also engaged them in providing care for themselves.
Extending Our Reach to Assist More Pets
We want to help pets everywhere, not just our own patients! Our team writes & shares important pet safety information on our social media channels (click the orange Practice Information box to find & follow us) & blog, with the goal of educating pet owners about risks and pet safety, and preventing heartbreaking emergencies far beyond our neighbourhood. When local pets get lost, we don’t just put up posters in our window; we also share their pictures with our online networks and coach their families on search techniques to help get them home.
Each winter, we run a pet food drive for the Parkdale Community Food Bank, Annex Cat Rescue and the Community Veterinary Outreach. We work with our suppliers to match all donations to help alleviate pet hunger in our neighbourhood and beyond. In previous years, we have also hosted many canine blood donor clinics and sent medical teams and donations to remote fly-in communities in Northern Ontario with no local veterinarians to provide free spay-neuter and vaccination clinics.
Pets aren’t just our job, they are our passion, and Giving Back has been at the very core of Roncy Village Veterinary Clinic’s values since the day we opened our doors.