Animal lovers can help make wishes come true this season by supporting Central Alberta Humane Society’s Giving Tree Campaign.
The campaign focuses on fundraising for essential equipment for the animal shelter that will enhance the well-being and comfort of the animals in care. Items include:
• An ultrasound for the shelter’s in-house veterinary clinic to diagnose conditions promptly and avoid the stress of transporting animals for testing and reduce costs.
• A binocular labscope for more accurate diagnoses, and to enable the shelter’s registered veterinary technicians to analyze cells for illnesses and infections.
• Incubators to ensure warmth and isolation for the critical care needs of sick or injured cats, dogs, and pocket pets, as well as increase the survival rate of orphaned kittens and puppies.
• Pocket pet hutches for bunnies and guinea pigs so potential adopters can easily see and meet the animals and reduce their shelter stay duration.
• Kitty condos to address the growing influx of cats in the shelter and ensure their well-being.
Related:
Central Alberta Humane Society’s fundraising 2024 calendar is now available
Fund development co-ordinator Kelly Richard said usually the end-of-year campaign is focused on raising money for operational funding for the shelter. This year people have the option to donate towards the purchase of these much-needed pieces of equipment that will help the staff to help the animals.
She said it’s just not in the budget to buy new equipment. The shelter’s current lapscope is from the 1980s. The existing ultrasound has not been functioning for a long time, and there have never been pocket pet enclosures, or incubators.
“We do not have incubators. We have heating pads. That’s what we use in a small kennel, and we drape the kennel with a towel or blanket to keep that heat in,” Richard said.
Money raised for each piece of equipment is tracked on the Central Alberta Humane Society’s at cahumane.com/giving-tree-2023 so people see the fundraising progress during the Giving Tree Campaign.
Related:
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Richard said the Central Alberta Humane Society does not receive government funding.
“Everyone assumes since we’ve been here since 1976 that we are government funded, or provincially funded, and we are not. We rely on fundraising efforts and the community for their donations to help us.”
She said the shelter is always busy and typically has about 40 dogs and over 80 cats.
“People still aren’t spaying or neutering their animals. It’s a never-ending cycle.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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