Animal Health Week was recognized last week as the Prairie Animal Health Centre hosted an event on Oct. 2 with a petting zoo and baked goods, inviting the community to bring their pets. All donations went to the Estevan Humane Society.
The Humane Society is now preparing for the winter months and always ensuring the animals at the shelter are in good health.
Judy Martin, a volunteer at the Humane Society, reminded pet owners that all pets need annual check ups just like people do.
"All pets need a regular check up, like we do as human beings, as well as yearly vaccinations," said Martin.
Another important thing for pet owners to keep in mind is the environment their pets live in.
"Have your home safe for your pet, depending on what age they are. If they're puppies, they're going to get into trouble. If they're kitties, they're going to get into trouble. Pet-proof your house," she said. "Make sure they have a safe yard to run in. Make sure the fences are all the way to the ground and the gates have good latches on them, so they don't get out. This is the most common reason why pets get out. They find that little hole in the fence."
Most of the animals that first come to the Humane Society show up in fairly good health. Martin said many of the cats have ear mites and the dogs are sometimes neglected, requiring a shampoo and grooming.
"Most of the time the animals that are coming in here are maybe lacking a good diet, but they're doing fine."
All new animals are vaccinated after 72 hours and staff make sure the animals are fit to be in the general population while they are at the shelter.
"It spreads so very quickly when something is brought in so you have to be so very careful with that. Cats aren't as strong as we think they are. We seem to see a lot more (issues) in the cats than the dogs," said Martin. "We do vaccinations each December for the cats and dogs and de-worm them. This is something that you have to do every year."
The Humane Society is housing seven dogs and 29 cats, which Martin said is low for them after being recently overwhelmed with felines. She said their annual farm program, which markets cats at the shelter to farmers, helped them get their numbers down.
"A lot of the cats that had been here for a year or reaching a year have been adopted out to a farm for hopefully a quality life. They also help the farmers out with rodent control," said Martin.
The farm program is an adoption initiative the local Humane Society has done for the past five or six years.
"We've had a lot of success stories with their lives out at the farms," she added.
With the arrival of fall, Martin said they have already seen a slight influx in cats coming into the shelter. She said this is a time when their numbers typically increase.
She said a four-day old kitten was recently brought in after it was found in a front-end loader.
"It took two and a half hours for the guys to find the little squeak. They ripped the thing apart to find the little kitten, so hats off to them. There's a lot of good people in the world, and when you're working with animals and children you see them."
