New Brunswick brew helps find homes for shelter animals

The SPCA in Moncton is raising a glass to a local brewery that has come up with a rather refreshing way to help the animals find homes.

Pumphouse Brewery in Moncton has teamed up with the SPCA and launched a line of what it calls Adoption Ale.

Scott MacLeod is director of sales and marketing at the local brewery and says he came up with the idea after working with the SPCA on other fundraising projects.

“We all tend to love animals. I actually adopted my dog Lucy at the SPCA here in Moncton about 15 and a half years ago,” he said.

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Pictures of animals up for adoption at the shelter are placed on the beer bottles, which are being sold as singles at liquor stores throughout the province.

This is the third time the company has launched a batch of Adoption Ale and so far, more than 75 per cent of this year’s batch has been sold.

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“If it gives somebody the idea to adopt a pet from the SPCA, then you know we take great pride in that,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If it gives somebody the idea to adopt a pet from the SPCA, then you know we take great pride in that," he said.

The labels on the pale ale feature not just conventional dogs and cats. This year, there’s a turtle named Flash, hamsters and even more exotic pets like Goose the degu featured on the bottles.

“A degu is something that looks like a tiny little cross between a rat and a kangaroo. They are adorable,” said Nanette Pearl from the Moncton SPCA.

She says so far, only six of the 24 animals featured are still looking for homes.

“Unfortunately, we always receive more animals than we have homes for animals. So any awareness we can get and any adoption that we can have is a celebration,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Unfortunately, we always receive more animals than we have homes for animals. So any awareness we can get and any adoption that we can have is a celebration," she said.

Fifty per cent of the profits from the beer sales are also being donated to the shelter.

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“If more people are aware of responsible pet adoption, that is a good thing” said MacLeod.

MacLeod said the company is considering launching a line of Adoption Ale in Nova Scotia and is encouraging craft beer companies across the country to go ahead and copy the idea and brew up a batch of their own. That way, homeless animals right across the country have a better chance of finding a way out of the cages.

“If you actually adopt Kevin the kitten, then you have a bottle of beer with Kevin on it. It is pretty cool!” he said.