Workers at the Ontario SPCA Barrie Animal Centre were overwhelmed with the Christmas spirit when members from Hartmann Controls came in to drop off a large basket of food and pet necessities to help fill local Christmas hampers for people with pets who are struggling.
Then the company presented a $5,000 cheque to the nonprofit organization, a surprise donation to help the SPCA with its ongoing efforts.
“We’ve always been animal lovers. So this year the company is doing well and we’re in the position to make a substantial donation, we wanted to support the SPCA because what they do for the animals is just fabulous,” says company co-founder Glenda Hartmann.
While there they fell in love with a German Shepard puppy that was discovered in a ditch. Hartmann promptly took the dog home.
“I’ve never seen such an instant connection,” said Shannon Laflamme, community outreach coordinator with the Ontario SPCA Barrie Animal Centre. “They just absolutely loved her from the moment they saw her.
“It was just a heart-warming, incredible moment for all of us in the centre.”
The basket and its contents went to Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions to help families with pets. The SPCA has been collecting pet supplies such as toys, treats, leashes, collars as well as pet food, having created an Amazon wish list, as well as donations
The campaign continues until the end of the month. Much of what has been collected has been distributed to the Barrie Food Bank, Barrie Housing as well as homeless people with pets.
The SPCA stocks a pet food pantry throughout the year with supplies for people with pets who are struggling to make ends meet.
The SPCA is also running the iAdopt for the Holidays campaign to have 40 animals adopted by Christmas. Already there have been 25 adoptions.
The Barrie shelter has been experiencing an increase in the number of animals being surrendered and is operating at capacity. Workers are getting more animals prepared for adoption following a visit to a veterinarian where they receive all their vaccinations.
The idea, says Laflamme, is that the holidays are a perfect time to bring a pet home. That extra time away from work allows the families to spend quality time getting to know their new pet.
Members of the pet-friendly security systems company later returned with more employees for a tour and another employee took home a 13-year-old cat to give it a nice place to spend the rest of its life.
And Hartmann, who founded Hartmann Controls with her husband, Andy, says there may well be yet another adoption.
“Every year we give… we’ve always been animal lovers,” says Hartmann. “I had no intention to bring home an extra dog… but they made it easy for us. And the rest is history.
“And we want to inspire other people to give back.”
Hartmann Controls has long supported animal initiatives and family members over the three generations have rescued several pets over the years. The locally-based, family-run, multi-generational tech company employs about 30 people and designs and manufactures scalable access control systems where the Hartmanns routinely bring their pets.
The intent was to simply to share the company’s success with the SPCA through a $5,000 cheque by bringing some of the company’s workforce. The resulting pet adoptions, she adds, was just bonus.
Barrie’s SPCA said their response for pet supplies has been “absolutely incredible” and Laflamme wanted to extend a big thank you to the community for its support.
