If you’re feeling less than excited about Valentine’s Day this year, an animal shelter in Dartmouth, N.S., has a fundraiser that may help warm your heart. Bide Awhile is bringing back their popular ‘Love Stinks’ fundraiser to help Maritimers bury a relationship and throw it in the trash, all while supporting adorable adoptables. Last month, the shelter announced it has no pets available to adopt due to a huge increase in demand. Marketing coordinator Sam Cole says an empty shelter doesn’t necessarily mean there are no animals there. “We’re often seeing no animals available for adoption as everyone has a home, but just because we have no animals for adoption doesn’t mean we’re empty. At any time, we’re caring for 50 to 60 animals in the shelter, so that’s looking like our intake being at full capacity, every kennel in there having an animal in it,” she says. The Love Stinks fundraiser is just one of the ways supporters can help out those animals. Bide Awhile simply needs a small donation and the name of a former partner. “You can give us the name of your most unliked ex, or your most loved ex, and we will put it in the bottom of the litter pan, fill it with litter and let the cats take care of… sending a message,” says executive director Liesje Somers-Blonde. The fundraiser began three years ago and was a huge hit, says Cole. “With everyone in the city and across the province. I think that first year we hit about 60 names, and we we’ve continued doing it. We get messages usually every January, people looking to put those ex’s names,” she says. The donations will go toward various shelter operations, as it receives no government funding. “It does go to care for the pets, for vet care, food, water, the heat for the building, it pays for the staff that are in the building to care for the pets as well as the volunteer operation,” says Somers-Blonde. For those who are happily in a relationship, there are other ways to take part in supporting the shelter. “We’re always open for financial donations or donations of pet food to support our pet food pantry,” Cole says. “We also have a Pours for Paws fundraiser coming up in April, it’s our signature event, it’s happening at Casino Nova Scotia on April 18, tickets are on sale now, so you can come have a fun East Coast party night with us at the casino, test out some local favourite drinks and help support the animals.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
