THE BATTLEFORDS - The Battlefords Humane Society are fundraising during the Christmas season with a number of initiatives.
One of those initiatives happened on Sunday ] at the Armory, where are they raised just under $1,100 towards the society’s new building to be built north of North Battleford. At the event, participants paid to come in and learn how to make Christmas decorations.
There are also plans for a Winter Wonderland for dads and their daughters under 12 years old Jan. 15 at Chapel Gallery. Details on tickets are still to come.
The hope is still to start building the new shelter sometime in spring or summer 2022 and then be up and operational as soon as it is built.
In support of ongoing shelter operations, this weekend at the Territorial Place Mall is a Fun Day with Santa, from noon to 5 p.m. where people can get pet photos taken with Santa for $15 each.
Dec. 17, the North Battleford Community Safety Officers will be hosting a fundraiser at Nofrills and Walmart titled Pack the Patrol Unit. The CSOs will have their patrol cars at both locations. The goal is to fill two of their patrol units with pet supplies. Those could include dog or cat food or other items such as toys, blankets, dog beds, cat litter, cat scratching posts and treats.
A Christmas auction runs Dec. 1 to 15, and can be found at the Battlefords Humane Society Fundraising page on Facebook.
This week, the Humane Society announced that nurses at Battlefords Union Hospital Local 33 made a donation to the Humane Society of $500.
The animal shelter currently has an over-supply of cats and there is a big need for people interested in fostering cats. Anyone interested can go to their website at battlefordshumanesociety.com, fill out an application and contact the shelter.
With Christmas coming up some might even consider the idea of having animals adopted as a Christmas gift, but the shelter is urging people to be careful.
According to Michelle Spark, shelter manager, while they would never discourage people from adopting pets at Christmas, they caution that having a pet is a long-term commitment of 10-15 years.
“It’s not just a Christmas present where you can trade it off in a few years,” said Spark. “We don’t want those animals returned back to us. We want them to be in their ‘forever’ homes.”
What might be easier for people who are considering Christmas gift ideas might be pet food, or perhaps sponsoring an adoption for someone who is ready to have a pet where the adoption fee would be paid for. Or they could sponsor spay and neuter fees that are also paid for.
Another gift item is paw prints. Spark said paw prints are available for sale at the shelter, with all of the proceeds going to their capital campaign.
“There’s lots of ways people can contribute or buy somebody a Christmas present, and still help the shelter out without necessarily adopting an animal,” said Spark.
