No Bones About It: Rock & Rescue is an Event You Don’t Want to Miss!

On Friday May 5^th, one of the biggest annual animal rescue events in Ottawa is happening at the Lone Star Loft! Now in it’s 5^th year, Rock & Rescue is a fantastic show featuring live music, fun auctions, and incredible people!

Each year, local rescues benefit from the money raised at this event. This year’s beneficiaries are two amazing dog rescues: Ottawa Dog Rescue and Freedom Dog Rescue. Both are 100% volunteer run and rely solely on donations to pay for veterinary costs and any other costs associated with caring for their dogs. All of their dogs are placed in foster families to help them adjust from their previous lives, whether they were from a shelter, or previously living on the street before being adopted into a loving forever family. Last year alone, over $20,000.00 was raised towards helping rescues continue this amazing work!

While money raised from the show always goes towards the hard-working local rescues, the main goal of the event is to emphasize the importance of responsible pet ownership and to get more people to consider adoption instead of turning to pet stores. Ottawa, like many Canadian cities, has problems with stray animals, though our strays are primarily in the form of feral cat colonies. Responsible pet ownership includes sterilizing your pets, which can reduce adding more animals to an overpopulated community in case they ever get loose. No matter what species you are, safe sex is incredibly important!

The event also aims to bring awareness to the amount of work volunteers and shelter workers put in to helping bring down the stray population, as well as helping these animals find a home. Each year, hundreds of animals are taken in by rescues, who volunteer countless hours and dollars to ensure their animals are taken care of medically and mentally before finding them the perfect home. Many of these rescues help support shelters by taking in animals that don’t handle shelter life too well, or even take in animals from other countries where their quality of life can be very poor. Promoting pet adoption is a huge way to help reduce the number of homeless animals in Canada, and Rock & Rescue sparks this conversation in a fun and memorable way- and what is more fun and memorable than a party?!

This year’s show will bring a little bit of the country to the Lone Star Loft with Kingston-based band Ambush, The Awesome Brothers, and Ottawa’s own Braden Folks with Forest Creek! Attendees can also bid on both live and silent auctions, generously donated by local businesses, with all proceeds from each item going toward the beneficiaries. Some of the live auction prizes include Sens tickets for the next season, a Stray Dog Brewing Company keg party, and La Maison D’or earrings! Live Auction items can only be bid on at the event, so be sure to grab your tickets and come with your bidding hat on!

Tickets can be purchased online on the Rock & Rescue website or on PurplePass via this link, so be sure to get yours before they sell out (which they are bound to do)! Can’t make it to the event, but still want to support the cause? Bid on the online auction that runs concurrent with the event at links found on the Rock & Rescue Facebook page or make a donation directly to the rescues involved via their websites.