By Sandeep Kaur [1]
BELLEVILLE – It’s a Tuesday afternoon in March at the Humane Society of Hastings Prince Edward. In the reception area of the society’s relatively new offices on Wallbridge-Loyalist Road, you can hear the dogs barking in the back. Volunteers are making themselves noticed around the place as they are busy walking dogs, cleaning, and helping people adopt pets. Families come in looking for new furry friends. Volunteers talk to them, showing them different animals. Some families leave with pets, while others keep looking.
QNet News recently spent an afternoon at the Humane Society and spoke to people who work there, volunteers and ordinary citizens to get a sense of why the society matters.
Brittany Kippen. Photo by Sandeep Kaur.
One of the people hanging around the offices of the society is Brittany Kippen. She’s at the society to gather information about a recently adopted pet. She says she enjoys visiting humane societies for the knowledge they offer about animals and the care they provide.
Kippen’s story starts with her adopting a dog from the Toronto Humane Society. She knew right away that the dog was meant to be part of her family.
“When I met my dog, it was, I knew right away that that was the one I was looking for,” says Kippen.
She loves having a pet because they give her constant love and affection. She believes that rescued pets appreciate their owners even more. However, it wasn’t always simple. Kippen had to spend some time training her dog because she was a stray who loved to make trouble.
She also admires the work done by humane societies. She believes they play an important role in giving animals a second chance at a happy life. She knows it’s not always easy for shelters. Finding good homes for animals and raising enough money to care for them can be tough challenges.
“It’s good. I’ve always enjoyed coming to the humane societies, whether it be for just the information that they’re able to share on animals or even just the care that they provide to the animals,” said Kippen.
“I would say their main goal is to make sure that the animals are well taken care of and finding proper homes for them.”
Kippen sees the Humane Society as a place of hope. She believes every animal deserves a loving home and praises the shelter for helping both animals and people in need.
“This is what the Humane Society is for, is to help these animals have a second chance.”
Anne Munro is the marketing and communications manager at the Humane Society. She’s the one who helps tell the stories of the animals and the people who adopt them.
Anne Munro, the marketing and communications manager at the Humane Society. Photo by Sandeep Kaur.
Munro loves her job because she gets to help animals every day. Even though she doesn’t work directly with them, she still enjoys being around them.
She says her favorite part of the job is helping animals like Cornelius, a cat born with a cleft palate. Munro helped raise $17,000 through a fundraiser to help pay for Cornelius’s surgery.
“I created a Go Fund Me campaign and did posters and postcards and Facebook and people donated 17,000,” said Munro.
The shelter’s main job is to care for animals in need and find them new homes. But there are challenges, like making sure pets are spayed or neutered to control the number of animals without homes.
“I think there’s a lot of animals who who get into trouble. Some of them get lost, some of them have owners who can no longer look after them. And so, the shelter provides a really valuable service by taking care of these animals and helping them find new homes,” said Munro.
The shelter doesn’t get much help from the government, so they rely on donations and support from the community to keep running.
“We get very little support from the government. We do, we do get money from the cities to look after the lost and stray animals that are brought in from that city,” said Munro.
“There’s a lot of unwanted kittens and some dogs, and that’s a huge problem. So I think that’s something that we need to continue to work on, to encourage people to spay-neuter and to help by raising funds to spend it,” she said.
Shawna Bette is the administration supervisor at the Humane Society.
Bette’s job is to make sure everything at the shelter goes well. She helps families who can’t afford to keep their pets by taking them in and providing food and supplies to those who need them.
“So, we help the community by taking in animals from families that cannot afford their animals, or we take in. We also help the community by giving the community food and supplies for their animals when they can’t afford to supply it for them,” said Bette.
The most important thing at the shelter is the animals. Bette and her team make sure they have a safe place to stay and get the medical care they need like vaccines and spaying/neutering to control the number of pets.
“The shelter provides them with a safe place. We also vaccinate spay and neuter our animals so that controls the pet population” said Bette.
Running a shelter is not easy. They rely on donations and help from the community to keep going. Bette says every little bit of help counts, whether it’s giving money, time, or supplies.
“While we are nonprofit, so basically the the challenge is that we rely on our fundraising and donors and etcetera so that we can keep going to help the animals,” she said.
The shelter doesn’t stop there. Even after an animal finds a new home, they’re there to help. They offer classes to teach owners how to take care of their new pets and help with any problems they might have.
Volunteers are a big part of the shelter too. They help take care of the animals, play with them, and help find them new homes. They give their time to make sure every animal feels loved.
Usman Ali, a second-year general arts and science student at Loyalist College, started a placement at the Humane Society because he’s always enjoyed taking care of animals since he was a kid. He thought it would be a good experience for him, so he decided to help out.
“Since childhood, I like to care for the animals. That’s why I thought like it will be a good experience for me if I do my placement at Humane Society,” said Ali.
On his placement, Ali went to the shelter twice a week to help out with the animals. He liked looking after cats, dogs, and even rabbits. He says if people love animals like he does, volunteering at the Humane Society is a great idea.
“It is a very good like there is a very good environment and it gives us like it gives me positive vibes when I go there.” said Ali.
The best part of volunteering is spending time with the animals and knowing he’s making a difference in their lives. He’s learned that it’s important to take good care of animals and be responsible for them.
“Yeah, I would definitely recommend anybody who wants to care for the animals or who love animals. I would definitely recommend them to go there and volunteer” says Ali.
One special moment for Ali was when he became friends with some shy cats at the shelter. They were scared at first, but with time, they got used to him and became friendly.
Volunteering has also helped Ali improve his communication skills and his English. He thinks it’s made him better at talking to people and working with others.
“The thing is that you feel good when you care for the animals. It gives you positive lives and on the other hand the staff there is very good and they will teach you everything and they will teach you that how to take care of the animals” said Ali.
The Humane Society faces plenty of challenges, like not having enough money. But it keeps going because the people who work there believe every animal deserves love and care. In a world where things can be uncertain, the Humane Society can highlight the power of love and compassion. It’s a place where animals and people come together to make a difference and spread happiness. It’s a reminder of kindness and hope. Even when life gets busy, there’s always time to help others, especially animals in need.