Lort Smith March e-newsletter

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Hello and welcome to the March edition of the Lort Smith e-newsletter, we hope you enjoy your reading. In this issue we are pleased to introduce our new CEO, David Herman!  You can also read poor Ruby's story, information on the fast approaching Melbourne Dog Lovers Show, find out how you can help us by becoming a special foster carer or donate goods that we can use to help the homeless and their pets at the upcoming Where the Heart Is Festival and find out how we did at our Valentine's Day Fundraiser. Pictured left are two of our current animals waiting to be adopted.  Maxis a 3 year old domestic short hair andTam is a 1 yr old Australian Cattle dog cross.  Click on their pictures to view their adoption profiles.

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Introducing Lort Smith's new CEO -David Herman... The CEO role at Lort Smith is a great privilege and honour.  Having been in the role for close to a month now, I am excited at the prospect of what we can do together to achieve our vision. By way of introduction, I thought it worthwhile to briefly explain my journey that led me to Lort Smith. I originally came from Sydney but have lived in Victoria for the last twenty five years.  A lawyer by profession, my career journey has crossed a number of wonderful crossroads from Merchant and Corporate Banking, Property and Project Finance, Global Entertainment and Leisure with the Village Roadshow Group, international retail development and investment to most recently; tourism development and management in the Australian Alps. I have had a deep love of animals all my life. Thanks to my wonderful wife Debbie, our home has been a menagerie of loving animals since she immigrated to Australia from the US.  This included a Newfoundland and Newfie cross we brought out from Philadelphia in 1997. Our home has been blessed by so many wonderful animals, not the least of which is “Pearl” who we lovingly adopted from Lort Smith in 2009.  This event was followed up in 2012, when Debbie flew to Noosa in Queensland to rescue our second dog “Hazel” through the RSPCA.  Our children Bree and Aaron are also strong “animal advocates”. Indeed, Aaron is becoming quite the authority in reptile care!  I have to admit, being CEO of Lort Smith has made me “the coolest dad in school”.  I am not afraid to say, this makes me feel pretty great. My love of animals and passion for animal welfare brought me together with Lort Smith back in 2008.  Having had limited exposure to Lort Smith whilst living in the High Country over the last 5 years, it was invigorating to see the positive change that has transpired in recent years.  I want to publicly compliment the hard work and efforts of Dr. Liz Walker who has taken Lort Smith to a new level of professionalism. My challenge is to build on this wonderful momentum and to articulate the new vision and mission endorsed by the Board in 2014. I believe the future for Lort Smith is truly exciting. Inherent in this future is the opportunity for us to collectively strive to establish leadership in Australia for animal health and wellbeing. I look forward to sharing these plans and ideas with you in the coming months.  Your support is the cornerstone to achieving our goals.  Together we can improve the health and happiness of animals and the people who care for them.  I am confident this is going to be a fulfilling and rewarding journey for us all. David

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Can you help poor little Ruby? Woof!  I’m Ruby and I am a 5 month old Toy Poodle.  I get told all the time that I am very cute; but try living in this climate with hair like mine!  My foster carer spent hours trying to get my face fuzz under control for this photo shoot, but just look at me! You can barely see my adorable puppy dog eyes, and this unsightly cone is really not helping my image…  Anyway, the reason for my photo shoot is because Lort Smith are trying to raise some money to help pay for my medical care, which unfortunately is going to cost over $2,000.  Just imagine how many hair products I could buy with that!

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Biggest ever dog lovers show bounds back to Melbourne Now in its third year, the award winning Melbourne Dog Lovers Show will return to the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton with around 25,000 visitors expected to attend again to cuddle, learn and connect with more canines under one roof than ever before in Australia! Lort Smith will be in attendance with a stall filled with goodies, free vet advice as well as some of our very special Pet Therapy dogs. A 25% discount is available for tickets purchased in advance via the website.

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Pet donations needed for the homeless Lort Smith will once again be joining forces with the Royal District Nursing Service Homeless Persons Program for the Where the Heart IsCommunity Festival. The festival provides a variety of services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.  And Lort Smith Veterinary and Adoption Centre staff will be providing vet checks, vaccination, microchipping, worming and flea treatment.      Lort Smith is hoping to round up plenty of donations of pet food, leads, collars and toys to distribute on the day.  If you have any spare items that you wish to donate please either post in or drop off at our Reception at 24 Villiers St, North Melbourne, 3051.

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Special foster carers urgently needed We have an urgent need for some very special foster carers as we have cats and kittens with ringworm who need foster care volunteers to temporarily look after them. Ringworm is a treatable condition that can sometimes be a death sentence for young animals in shelters. However, Lort Smith is committed to treatment and with the right foster carers, these animals can go on to live a normal healthy life.     Are you willing to welcome these kittens into your home?  If so, there is some specific criteria you will need to meet: • A home visit (if you aren't already a foster carer) • Have an enclosed, tiled area, free from fabrics (like a bathroom or laundry) • Have no other pets in the home • Have the capacity and willingness to follow procedures to prevent cross-contamination We will of course provide all the usual things you need, including the extra things for this role such as gloves, gowns and chemicals. If you are interested, please contact Simone by email or by phoning her on 9321 7273.

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Valentine's Day Success On Friday the 13th of Feb, Lort Smith held it's annual 'Share the Love' fundraiser at various CBD Train Stations.  With a team of nearly 40 volunteers and 20 dogs, the day was a great success, raising $10,336 in only 2.5 hrs!   A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered their time and a very special thanks to all of the furry friends, who were the real draw cards on the day, helping us to exceed our target! Pictured below from left to right is little Cooper, only 14 weeks old and already working hard for Lort Smith; Britnee, who was exhausted from getting so many pats and cuddles and beautiful Boris who takes his fundraising very seriously.

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