Quinte Humane Society is opening a new animal shelter

By Mallory Day

BELLEVILLE – After 45 years in the same building, the Quinte Humane Society is opening a new animal shelter.

Frank Rockett, the society’s executive director, said the organization is just waiting for the final purchase of the land. “After we have the land, the capital fundraising campaign will be launched,” Rockett said.

The campaign will help with the purchase of cages and other necessities for the shelter.

“A new shelter is definitely needed” because the current building on Avonlough Road is in poor condition, Rockett said.

The new shelter is planned to be Wallbridge-Loyalist Road and Dundas Street.

Three-quarters of the animals at the current shelter are cats, and the rest are dogs “with a few other animals thrown in there,” Rockett said.

“Since we cover Hastings-Prince Edward County and Belleville, we have to cover a big region,” he added.

The society is teaming up with the Loyalist Veterinary Hospital to host a microchipping clinic – in which a microchip is inserted under a pet’s skin for identification – on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 to 11 a.m. The clinic will take place at the Veterinary Hospital on Bell Boulevard.