A Sherwood Park animal rescue group hopes St. Albert residents will get designer tattoos next month to support pets in need.
The Northern Alberta Society for Animal Protection (NASAP) is holding a flash tattoo fundraiser this March 9 at six locations in and around Edmonton, including St. Albert’s Maximum Colour Ink.
NASAP is one of the oldest animal rescue groups in the Edmonton region and is based out of Sherwood Park. It hosts unwanted or homeless pets in foster homes for adoption.
NASAP spokesperson Susan Woo said the society is holding this fundraiser to raise operating funds and attract volunteers so it can support more abandoned pets.
Woo said the society gets pets from owners and pounds that aren’t able to support them anymore because of costs, allergies, improper training, or other reasons. Many are unwanted offspring from pets that weren’t spayed or neutered.
“People have to realize that when they take on pet ownership, it is a commitment to the pet’s lifetime,” she said.
Woo said this fundraiser will see donors sign up to get pet-themed flash tattoos designed by artists at six Edmonton-area tattoo parlours. (A flash tattoo is a simple, pre-designed tattoo that can be implemented in less than an hour.) Each tattoo costs $100, $50 of which will go toward NASAP.
In an email, NASAP president Cherise Frederick said her group hopes to raise $5,000 through this event to fund dental surgery for two cats and provide medical care for animals in its partner pounds. All donations will go directly toward medical care for rescue animals.
Maximum Colour Ink owner Marina Volk said she agreed to take part in this event because of her memories of seeing hundreds of stray dogs in her former country, the Dominican Republic.
“It’s always heartbreaking to see the animals who are suffering,” she said.
Colleen Montgomery was getting a tattoo dedicated to her late rescue pet, Shadow the dog, done when the Gazette visited Volk’s parlour. She said she has participated in many flash-tattoo fundraisers for animal rescue groups — the results of which were on her left arm — and planned to get another tattoo done to support NASAP.
Montgomery, who guessed she had about 20 tattoos, said fundraisers like this one give animal and tattoo fans a chance to support both their loves at once.
“I know my pets are not going to be around forever, so having something that’s on me forever of them? Yeah, I’ll get more.”
The flash tattoo drive happens March 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants must book a time to get tattooed by March. 7. Visit www.nasap.ca for details.
