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OSPCA Gift Catalog

Frequently Asked Questions

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity, established in 1873. The Society and its network of communities facilitate and provide for province-wide leadership on matters relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals and the promotion of animal well-being.

Offering a variety of mission-based programs, including community-based sheltering, animal wellness services, provincial animal transfers, shelter health & wellness, high-volume spay/neuter services, animal rescue, animal advocacy, Indigenous partnership programs and humane education, the Ontario SPCA is Ontario’s animal charity. Learn more at ontariospca.ca.

Paws & Give™ is one of the many ways the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society raises money to fund our programs across Ontario. While administration costs vary from year to year, the Ontario SPCA strives to ensure that our donor's gifts are used effectively and to maximize program effectiveness. In our most recent, audited fiscal year - 2020 - here's how donations were spent:

  • 58.5% - Support to Animals & Communities
    • 57.4% Animal Care, Shelter & Community Medicine, Animal North Network, Humane Education, Animal Protection Services
    • 1.1% - Grants to animal charities
  • 25.2% - General Management and Administration
  • 10.6% - Fundraising & Stewardship Programs
  • 4.7% - Amortization
  • 1.0% - Interest and bank charges

Working closely with our communities to determine need, the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society determines which programs and services to allocate Paws & Give™ gifts. The decision where to direct the gift is determined by community needs and where the gift can do the most good.

Having your purchase support the area of greatest need at that time means that our team can respond to the varying needs of our animals and communities in the most effective way possible.

To maximize the life-changing potential of your purchase, shipping fees are in place for Paws & Give orders. This means that more of your purchase goes towards caring for animals in need.

Return and Exchange Policy
Providing the highest level of service and quality at the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is very important to us. If you are unhappy with your purchase, we will do our best to rectify the situation. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and concerns around safety of returned merchandise, we are suspending all returns and exchanges at this time. Should the need for a refund arise due to extraneous circumstances, all shipping costs incurred are the responsibility of the buyer. If the return is due to our error, we will also refund the shipping costs. We will work do our utmost to ensure you are satisfied with your purchase.

We thank you for your understanding. Questions? Call us at 1-888-668-7722 ext. 360 or email us at pawsandgive@ontariospca.ca

We will issue a tax receipt in your name and send it by email within 24 hours. If you place your order by telephone your receipt will be issued and mailed within 7-10 business days.

In accordance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regulations governing the issue of tax receipts, we can only issue the receipt in the name of the individual or organization making the donation or gift.

Symbolic (virtual) gifts receive a tax receipt for the full amount of the gift.

For merchandise purchases, you will receive a partial tax receipt, depending on the fair market value of the item.

If your gift recipient does not receive your eCard by the specified date, please call 1-888-668-7722 ex.360 or email pawsandgive@ontariospca.ca and we will be happy to assist you.

Providing your email address allows us to reduce our costs, eliminates tax-receipting errors and ensures that you get your electronic tax receipt within 24 hours.

If you do not have an email address, please phone 1-888-668-7722 ex.360 and speak with our donor relations team who will help you with your order and arrange for you to receive your tax receipt by mail.

If an item is visible on our store, it is available for purchase.

We accept credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept payment online by bank account or PayPal at this time.

The Ontario SPCA uses an encryption to protect the transfer of personal and financial information between your browser and our servers. When using the Ontario SPCA's registration and donation pages, a small lock or key symbol in the status bar of your browser indicates that you are connected securely.

Personal information and financial transactions are stored on our secure database server. Stringent security guidelines are in place to protect this data, and its use and release. All other questions regarding privacy and how personal information is governed and managed by the Ontario SPCA and can be answered by our Privacy Policy.

The Ontario SPCA uses the Moneris eSelect Payment Gateway, which processes online payments in real-time.

All transactions are encrypted using 128 bit encryption. Transactions are processed in real time, normally taking between 5 and 15 seconds to obtain authorization.

Credit card details are NOT stored at any time by the Ontario SPCA. Only summary information including the amount of the charge, transaction date and approval code are retained. For this reason, credit card transactions using this service are likely to be more secure than traditional methods of payment where a physical record of the credit card details is made and retained by the merchant.

Overview of the secure payment service used by the Ontario SPCA:

  1. Donor makes a donation using an online donation form (hosted with convio.com).
  2. The order is posted securely across an encrypted link.
  3. The Convio.com system receives, logs and verifies the card number and date - then the valid card number, payment details are sent via a secure encrypted link - the Moneris eSelect payment gateway.
  4. The Moneris eSelect payment gateway receives logs and forwards payment details via a dedicated private link to the Banking System.
  5. The Banking System clears payment.
  6. The Banking System forwards encrypted details and authorization code via a dedicated private link.
  7. The Moneris eSelect payment gateway payment system logs the transaction result, and forwards it encrypted via the internet back to the Convio.com system.
  8. The convio.com system formats, records and forwards the response to the donor, via the internet.
  9. The donor receives the response from the gateway typically in 5 to 15 seconds.

Giving back is as easy as 1-2-3!

1

Shop

Browse Paws & Give™ for gifts and add any items you like to your shopping cart as you go!

2

Check out

Purchase complete? Your gift is on its way!

3

Help animals in need

Feel good knowing proceeds of your order will directly impact animals who are waiting for their forever home.