The Estevan Humane Society has seen its resources stretched to the limits and beyond this past month.
The society volunteers and staff were engaged in a large emergency relinquishment of about 30 animals, which the society’s president Theresa Williams said, “pushed our staff and our resources to the limits, along with the vet bills that went through the roof.”
Part of the one farm relinquishment was a herd of 10 horses along with dogs and cats.
“The farmer/owner who sought our assistance can’t be named, but her resources had been exhausted. She had been visited by the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) a number of months ago, but they did not return. I understand there is some kind of transition going on that involves a provincial ministry and them and when we contacted them (SPCA), they said they didn’t have the resources to do anything at this time,” said Williams, referring to the distressed farmer, who had contacted the Estevan shelter in desperation after waiting a number of months for the SPCA.
“We made a lot of phone calls, asking if other shelters could help. We went on our Facebook page about the horses, and I believe one farmer, one man, agreed to take the 10 horses. I don’t know if he adopted them formally or is fostering them for a period of time, but he certainly helped the cause. We picked up four of the 10 dogs that were at risk. Six of them had escaped in the meantime and we also picked up 12 cats. Four of them are now fostered out and two of the dogs have found new homes. Some weren’t in great shape, so they require more attention,” said Williams.
In the meantime, the shelter has been inundated with a stream of young animals, small kittens and puppies who were orphaned well before weaning, which placed another challenge before staff and volunteers.
“These young animals need to be bottle fed every two to three hours, so that really taxed everyone, making sure they were kept healthy. They are all doing fine now, but some are still on a bottle diet,” Williams added. “So, again, this, along with the relinquishment situation, really strained our resources, both financially and physically; we’ve been pushed to the limits.”
But there is always a bright light. “We have lots of choices of some lovable animals right now if anyone is interested in adopting,” she added with a laugh.
The society’s president said the shelter staff and volunteers apologize for sometimes not being able to provide regular visiting and office hours during the past few weeks, but that was due to the demands posed by the recent developments and the additional hours that went into saving these animals.
“We had the DNA test done on the day-old puppies brought in and will be holding a competition shortly on guess the breed strains,” she said.
Potential adopters are encouraged to call the shelter to confirm they are open or to make an appointment to view. Any donations may be made at the shelter or through their Facebook page or by traditional mail at Box 1095, Estevan, S4A 2H7.
