REGINA - The Regina Humane Society (RHS) invited the public on Saturday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the opening of the new Animal Community Centre (ACC) located in the Harbour Landing neighbourhood.
Bill Thorn, RHS director of marketing and public relations, mentioned the organization in the fall decided to mark the occasion because the RHS felt it was "something to celebrate because the community [now] has a facility like this not only for the animals but for people as well."
Dozens of people took part in the First Birthday PAW-ty, which included tours around the facility, writing heartfelt messages to animals, and birthday treats for pets.
With the number of people who turned out, Thorn said. "it's absolutely awesome to see." He added, "In our old location, we weren't even technically in the City of Regina. We were on Armour Road, and it was very hard for people to visit us if they didn't have a vehicle. [Now], We're in Harbour Landing, the biggest and fastest growing area of the city, and we have transit right to our door as well, and I can tell you that our volunteer numbers are up [partially because of that]."
According to Thorn, the number of volunteers with the RHS has increased by 90 per cent year-over-year. Additionally, total volunteer hours are also up by 83 per cent.
As Thorn explained, “they [the volunteers] support many areas of the operation. One of the most important [ones] is what we call caring hands, and that encompasses a variety of activities like dog walking. people [also] come and take the dogs out of their suites and take them outside for a run."
Thorn mentioned the importance of animal enrichment, which helps them socialize better.
Other work volunteers help with are the kitty reader program, office duties, and looking after the outside grounds, transportation, and more.
Adoption & Shelter
During the First Birthday PAW-ty celebration, adoption fees were reduced, which will run until next week. For an adult dog, the fees were reduced to $25. Meanwhile, for a puppy, they went down to $75.
Included in the fees are spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations, a tattoo, a microchip and a post-adoption veterinary exam. Around three to four dogs were taken by a new owner from the shelter at the time of this interview.
One of the main driving force behind the reduced adoption fees is the RHS 小蓝视频 around its capacity, said Thorn.
Recently, the RHS "had a lot of reduced fee events over the past year, and it does hurt us financially. We don't make money on adoptions even at full price, but it has been one tool in our toolbox to help take that [pressure] away."
Thorn referenced studies have shown that reduced adoption fees increase the chances of an owner keeping an animal.
Reduced adoption fees likely played a role in the RHS adoption rate increase from last year. In 2024, the RHS saw 207 more adoptions, which is an 11 per cent increase.
Even with those numbers, the RHS is still facing a limit on the number of spaces available. Thorn pointed out there is an increasing number of animals, dogs in particular, entering shelters throughout North America.
Other animal shelters in Regina have called for a more effective approach to stabilize the growing population of wild animals. One method is the trap-neuter-return (TNR) for cats, where a cat is taken in by a shelter and gets neutered. After 小蓝视频 neutered, the animal is released back to it's home and can no longer reproduce.
When discussing neutering animals, Thorn mentioned, "access to vet care is difficult or can be. That includes spay/neuter surgeries. We've been backed up in our subsidized program. We're hoping to get that back open to new people soon, but again, it's a matter of resources. Our caseload for in-house animals that are in our care that need medical attention has made it very difficult for us to go outside of that."
Thorn also said, "responsible pet ownership is a big part of that equation as well. So we hope that people will be that way and make sure that their pets are not in a position where they're gonna be reproducing."
Programming
The RHS is currently focused on their youth programming for the summer. Thorn said their youth educational programs since COVID were quieter, which the RHS didn't want to see.
He empathized the importance of educating children. "There are things like empathy and respect for living things, and you know we want kids to to be able to embrace that and learn from animals anyone."
Thorn said the RHS is hoping to announce more information about their summer camps over the coming weeks and months.
