THUNDER BAY – Shelves and rooms are overflowing with donations at the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society following several dog rescues in the region last week.
Cassandra Nordal, fundraising coordinator with the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society, said they have received thousands of dollars in donations, and their shelves are nearly at capacity with donated goods.
The humane society also received a new washer courtesy of one local couple, as well as a hockey stick used by Pittsburgh Penguin goalie, Matt Murray, to be used in a charity auction.
“I’ve never witnessed something like this,” she said. “We are beyond grateful from myself and the rest of the team here and board of directors. We thank you Thunder Bay, you have changed us and have changed our animal’s lives and we are just honoured.”
Last week, staff and OSPCA agents with the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society, rescued more than 30 dogs throughout the region, including 10 dogs found to be in immediate distress in Longlac.
The dogs were found to be extremely malnourished and the OPP reported that several dogs were found dead when they arrived. The OSPCA and OPP are investigating.
According to humane society staff, the health of the dogs rescued last week is slowly improving, though the 10 dogs rescued from Longlac are closed off to the public.
“Our animal care workers are working tirelessly right now,” Nordal said. “They have to feed the animals every hour on the hour, so it’s just really busy back there right now. We are just asking the public respect us and our wishes when it comes to closing that off right now.”
Staff are also preparing for the national adoption weekend starting Feb. 17. Originally, the humane society was going to hold an adoption drive with partnering PetSmart, but due to the recent influx of rescues, the team is looking into a virtual adoption fair.
“Due to the high stress and everything these animals went through, we just can’t afford to bring them there,” Nordal said. “It’s not good for them at this point in time.”
Nordal understands that there is a lot of excitement from the public who want to see and adopt the new arrivals, but she said it does take some time, especially given the number of dogs they have.
“The community has been very excited about the dogs we have,” she said. “We haven’t put them on social media yet and our hope is to get this virtual adoption fair up and going and then that way we can show off a few other dogs we got from the First Nation reserves at this time.”
The humane society is still looking for help setting up the virtual adoption, including any donations of old TV screens or webcams. For more information on donations, visit the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society website.
