The Moose Jaw Humane Society has already taken in their first batch of kittens, and executive director Dana Haukaas expects a few more before the season is over.
Currently, the shelter is home to a few adult cats and dogs, and even a guinea pig, and Haukaas expects traffic to only increase from here. Spring and summer are a busy time for volunteers at the shelter, as it's the most common time for litters of abandoned kittens and calls about strays.
Haukaas finds that summer brings more lost pups to the shelter than cats, but she encourages people to look out for those stray kitties as well. Less stray cats are reported in the summer due to the warm weather — people are more concerned when it's cold outside — but Haukaas says now is actually the best time to bring those strays in.
“[It] gives us a chance to find them their forever home and they can hopefully sleep at the foot of someone's bed next winter instead of trying to fend for themselves out in the cold,” said Haukaas.
She also encourages people to call when they see dogs running loose, as the first thing many pet owners do when their pet is missing is call the Humane Society.
“We might be able to connect the lost pet to their owner without ever having to come to the shelter. So it's really important, if you find a stray, that you bring it to us or you call us,” said Haukaas. “Thankfully for us, the dogs that come in to us as strays, their owners do come looking for them; the cats, that isn't so much the case.”
The Humane Society is also happy to help pet owners rehome pets that, for whatever reason, they find themselves unable to care for any longer — which, in addition to dogs and cats, now includes furry friends of a smaller type.
“We take small animals now as well: hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas. We're not really educated on reptiles just yet, but anything with fur we'll be happy to help out,” said Haukaas.
Spring is a busy time in terms of adoptions, as the influx of animals also brings an influx of visitors to the shelter, but Haukaas welcomes the interest and reminds people to be diligent in keeping their pets safe outside.
“Their best-case scenario is somebody finds them or we go out to pick them up and they end up here, because the alternative is they could be hit by a car, and that's pretty devastating news to deliver to a family that loves their pet,” said Haukaas.
The Humane Society’s regular hours are 12 to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and 12 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. They are closed on Sunday.
