A new animal shelter is the biggest dream for the Weyburn Humane Society, as many of their fundraisers throughout the year put money aside for a new animal shelter. A new animal shelter, and the aging and deteriorating current shelter, were among conversations held during the Humane Society’s annual general meeting, held on January 9.
“Our existing shelter is slowly deteriorating with consistent repairs and our space is very limited,” said Pam Arndt-Schick, president of the Humane Society board. “We will continue to fund raise until we get to the point where a new shelter is possible.”
Arndt-Schick felt that the Humane Society had great success with all the fundraisers that were hosted during 2016. “We held a large spring garage sale, smaller garage sales, various bake sales, trade shows, hot-dog sales, a booth at the Outdoor Market, a food booth at the Car Show, and other ventures.”
“Our biggest fundraiser is Raise the Woof, which brings in the most revenue,” said Arndt-Schick. “Our volunteers have played a huge part in being able to host all these fundraisers, we appreciate all their dedication and hard work. The board is a crew of people who dedicate time in making decisions and assisting in various events.”
“Our shelter manager Colleen, along with the staff, keep the shelter in shape. Colleen overlooks staffing, vet trips, vaccinations, animal control calls during the day, vehicle and building repairs, as well as many other tasks.”
“We have been at maximum capacity for cats for months,” said Arndt-Schick. “An unfortunate illness had the shelter under quarantine for a month, and we lost four cats during this time.”
According to their statistics for 216, there were 527 animals that entered the Weyburn shelter. The Humane Society had 151 cat adoptions and 65 dog adoptions. There were 17 cats and 23 dogs relinquished to the shelter. During the year, the Humane Society handled 398 animal control calls.
During the annual general meeting, there was discussion about the city-portion funding for the Humane Society and how to request more funding, interest in creating promotional brochures to promote the fact that those interested in planned giving in their wills that the Humane Society is an option, and general interest about the animals under the care of the animal shelter.
For more information on the Humane Society, residents can go online to www.weyburnhumanesociety.com, or find the group on Facebook.
