While the Weyburn Humane Society's special on spayed and neutered dogs has been seeing some success, the animal shelter has seen an overall decline in volunteers and donations.
"We actually adopted one of our long-term dogs, Betty. She was here for like 720 days," shared Shelter Manager Colleen Morrice. "Lark, that also was adopted, was here for 487 days, and Sadie was here for 270 days. So that was my goal with the $50 dogs is to get these ones that have been here long-term adopted, and they all went to really great families that are really enjoying them."
While the sale will continue until the end of September, Morrice said they are still over capacity.
"They are also getting adopted as well, but it seems like we adopt one out and three more come in," she noted. "Now that it's getting colder, it seems like people are calling more often."
One of the issues they've encountered with the changing temperatures is that feral cats would be fed throughout summer by those not wanting to over-burden the shelter.
"Which is great, but if they would have called us during the summer, it would be a lot easier for us to nip the overpopulation in the bud, because now, of course, all the females are expecting. I know we're overcapacity a lot, so they don't want to call and bother us, but when it comes to mother pregnant cats, or you know that she looks very pregnant, do give us a call so we can pick that cat up."
With inflation likely being the cause of the lower donation numbers, the WHS shelter has only part-time staff.
"We would love to have a full-time, I would love to have that extra help, but it's just not feasible right now," she explained. "The City does give us a stipend each month, and that's for our animal control contract, and we also get $350 for food, which of course doesn't go very far in this economy to feed all the animals that we have."
The lower volunteer numbers also affect their part-time staff, who have been walking dogs and having to leave other regular duties for when there is time.
"Some dog walkers would be great to get. Especially right before winter here, it seems to really get slow. Over the summer we are busier with dog walkers because kids are home from school and stuff, so if we could get more during the winter months, that would be great as well," Morrice said.
She added a welcome to anyone who would like to volunteer with any of their current fundraising efforts. "Or if they have a great idea for our fundraisers, we welcome that as well."
Humane Society Email: weyburnhumanesociety@outlook.com
Humane Society Volunteer Form: Adult Volunteer Form - Click Here
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