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http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/newsandevents/stories/2008/10-04a.asp#cont

A young puppy was doggone excited to be rescued from the hot back seat of a car in downtown Toronto Monday afternoon, thanks to a concerned citizen.
The small husky was locked in a cage, with a dish of water just out of reach, for about two hours before she was freed by Toronto Police officers and handed over to an Animal Services worker.
“I was on my way home and heard this poor dog yelping,” said Mike Webster, 54, who lives in an apartment building on Spadina Rd. a block north of Bloor St. W.
“I didn’t know if it was in distress, but it was panting and it certainly seemed like it wasn’t happy to be trapped in there.
The husky, believed to be about three months old, was in a silver Chevy Cobalt parked in front of Webster’s building at about 1 p.m., according to a parking meter ticket on the dash.

The ticket showed the dog owner paid for three hours of parking.

Webster said the sun was beating down on the car, prompting him to call Animal Services around 1:40 p.m.
He called Toronto Police 20 minutes later because Animal Services hadn’t shown up yet.
The car’s windows and sunroof were left open a crack and the sun had dropped behind the building, putting the car in shade by the time police officers and an Animal Services staffer arrived at about 2:30 p.m.
"That’s still a long time to leave a pet alone locked in a vehicle, especially a puppy,” Webster said. “I think people need to be reminded now that the warmer weather is here not to leave their pets, or children, locked in a vehicle.”
While it was cool in the shade Monday, it was quite warm in the sun as the temperature reached about 15C.
However, it would have been much warmer in the cage locked inside a car, which is why Animal Services determined at about 3 p.m. that the pooch should be rescued.
A police officer managed to reach inside the car’s sunroof and unlock the doors. The puppy was removed and immediately gulped down some water before expressing her gratitude to her rescuers by licking all involved and rolling over to have her belly rubbed.
At 3:30 p.m., the dog owner still hadn’t returned to the car, so animal care and control officer Kathleen Buchanan took custody of the puppy.
She said Animal Services decides “on a case by case basis” whether charges should be laid.
In this case, the dog’s owner will not be charged because the puppy wasn’t in any real danger.
“But they’ll get a stern warning,” Buchanan said.

It’s the beginning of May.

In Toronto.

In Canada.

Are ANY of you Canadians?

No, it’s NOT too hot right now to have a dog in a car, especially in the shade, especially with the windows down. 15 C is less than 60 F – you’re all telling me you don’t have your dogs in your car at that temperature??

I’m so glad you are all perfect dog owners, and can tell, from one newspaper article (and that in the most SENSATIONAL of Toronto’s newspapers), that the owner was the crappiest on record and should never own a living thing ever again.

Geesh!!

Trying to catch the last few rays of summer, I hopped on my bike on September 12, 2009 to see whats going on in the city. My research had revealed that the Cabbagetown Festival was on, so on a gorgeous day with brilliant blue skies I cycled down the Don Valley bike path and pushed my bike up the steep bridge onto the Riverdale Footbridge.

Moments later I had arrived at Riverdale Farm which was buzzing with people. In addition to the regular visitors to this urban farm there were thousands of other visitors who were here to enjoy the Cabbagetown Festival. Children were participating in various games such as a sunflower seed spitting contest while some time later a country music band was making the young ones dance.

Officially called the Cabbagetown Arts & Craft Sale and Riverdale Farm Fair, this festival has been going for more than 20 years. In Riverdale Park I strolled past dozens of vending booths that were selling all sorts of art and crafts, from paintings to pottery to fine hand-made jewelry and fabric art to hand-made soaps and many other creative products.

The entire Cabbagetown neighbourhood had essentially become a big street sale because local residents were also holding garage sales on their front lawns. Vendor booths and live music were set up on Parliament, the major north-south thoroughfare which had been turned into a pedestrian zone. The entire neighbourhood was abuzz was visitors from near and far.

During the mid-afternoon I happened to come across a group of people that were intently listening to a local volunteer who was taking them on a free walking tour through the neighbourhood. I joined the group and learned many interesting things about one of Torontos most historic neighbourhoods.

Cabbagetowns original name was Don Vale, given that it was located adjacent to the Don River Valley. It was settled in the late 1840s, mainly by poor Irish immigrants that had come to Canada to escape the Great Irish Potato Famine of 1845 to 1852. Many of these settlers grew cabbages and other vegetables in their front yards and over time their neighbourhood acquired the pejorative nickname Cabbagetown.

Although Cabbagetown was originally a poor working class district and underwent a significant decline into the 1970s, today Cabbagetown is one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in Toronto. Gentrification saw many of the beautiful historic homes restored, and the attractive houses, large mature trees and well-tended flower-filled front yards combined with the proximity to downtown Toronto have made Cabbagetown one of the most coveted real estate districts in the city. Indeed, Cabbagetown is the largest continuous Victorian neighbourhood in all of North America.

Our guide also educated us about local building styles and important local personalities, for example the Lamb family whose estate is designated by a historical plaque. This family ran a large industrial business producing stove blackening, a greasy product made from animal fat to be used on Victorian era cooking stoves. This nasty smoke-belching behemoth was sitting right where beautiful Wellesley Park is sitting today.

We also learned that a streetcar was running along Winchester Street which was connected via bridge to the neighbourhoods over the Don Valley. The streetcar also took people to Torontos original zoo which closed in 1977. Today the streetcar tracks are long gone, but one of Cabbagetowns major historical landmarks is still located next to Winchester Avenue: the Toronto Necropolis, Torontos second oldest cemetery. Opened in 1850, it holds famous personalities such as William Lyon Mackenzie (Torontos first mayor), George Brown (founder of the Globe and Mail) and Joseph Bloor, a 19th century Toronto developer who founded the Village of Yorkville and after whom one of Torontos main thoroughfares, Bloor Street, is named.

After my tour I headed back to Riverdale Park to get some food from one of the vendors. After some Jamaican jerk chicken and some sweet ricotta-filled Mexican-style empanadas I was ready to take in the action on Parliament Street where local hip-hop artist Miles Jones was entertaining an enthusiastic crowd. Toronto serves up another great summer festival.

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A glimpse of neighbourhoods in west Toronto. “The Bloor West Village”, “High Park”, “Swansea” and “Sunnylea” Real Estate for buyers and sellers looking to purchase homes or houses in these neighbourhoods. – created at http://animoto.com

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Trying to catch the last few rays of summer, I hopped on my bike on September 12, 2009 to see whats going on in the city. My research had revealed that the Cabbagetown Festival was on, so on a gorgeous day with brilliant blue skies I cycled down the Don Valley bike path and pushed my bike up the steep bridge onto the Riverdale Footbridge.