We rescue animals from high-kill shelters and place them into foster homes until a forever home is found. www.ladybirdanimalsanctuary.com

Ladybird Animal Sanctuary is a unified voice for abandoned, abused and neglected animals in our community. Together, through a system of volunteers, foster homes, educators, animal lovers and exceptionally generous people, we aim to eliminate the unnecessary suffering of domestic animals in our local high­-kill shelters. Ladybird rescues cats, dogs, small animals and even farm animals­ and we never shy away from rescuing senior animals, those with costly medical issues and the so­-called ‘hard to adopt’. Through our success stories, we know that every life is worth saving and that a loving home is just around the corner for these deserving creatures.

We are the Ladybirds - Melissa McClelland, Lisa Winn and Janine Stoll; best friends who have spent over a decade sharing in each other’s music. Through recording as the Ladybird Sideshow Project, touring Canada or simply singing three ­part harmonies in each other’s living rooms over a bottle of wine, our collective passion for music has always been the glue to our friendship. As our music careers veered in different directions over the years, our friendship held strong and our shared ‘other’ passion for animal welfare eventually helped us conceive of Ladybird Animal Sanctuary, bonding the three of us even closer.

It all started with a cat named Oliver who had been abandoned at a local shelter. After spending a year in a cage, and some time not being able to shake what seemed like a cold, he was diagnosed with feline leukaemia. In some shelters, this is a death sentence, even though FeLV cats can live long, healthy lives, despite the diagnosis. Oliver was snuggly, affectionate, full of life and certainly not deserving of death just because of his diagnoses. Lisa brought him home and spent months trying to find him a suitable home, as she already had her share of rescue animals. It was sweet Oliver who sparked our idea for Ladybird Animal Sanctuary.

With one foster home, one rescue cat, a website design from our extraordinary web genius Janine and some serious word of mouth, we watched Ladybird grow from one simple idea to a registered Canadian charity with a system of 30 plus volunteer foster homes, and hundreds of domestic animals rescued from high-­kill shelters. Each animal eventually adopted out to a loving forever home, or becoming “Permanent Resident” when they are not suitable for adoption.

We are only five years in as a rescue operation, but our long­term goals are lofty! We are working hard towards our dream of opening a physical sanctuary in the Southern Ontario region. This will be a safe haven for animals, where we can continue with our rescue/foster team, and we can also house permanent resident animals; like seniors, hospice cases, FIV, FeLV and feral cats, and farm animals. This will also be a place for our Ladybird community to gather and grow. We will welcome anyone who is willing to help, learn, engage and celebrate the lives of these wonderful creatures.

As three full­time musicians and Ladybird volunteers, we find ourselves as the co-­founders of a fully functioning charity. There are steep learning curves at every turn, but we are up for the challenge because there is an important task at hand. With every success story, every rescue mission, every grateful furry little face, we know we are doing our jobs as animal defenders.

We could not, and cannot possibly do this alone, so please join us on our Ladybird journey!