NORTH BATTLEFORD — The Battlefords Humane Society broke ground Monday morning on a new multipurpose facility to better serve the citizens, both human and furry, of the community.
Operating locally for more than 40 years, the organization has long since outgrown its current facility located on Territorial Drive. As a result, for the past six years the charity has been actively fundraising in the local community to raise the money to begin phase one of constructing a new home for the society just north of the city of North Battleford.
Michelle Spark, director of the Battlefords Humane Society, stated the first phase of the project will be a new “Doggy Daycare” boarding and grooming facility. The revenue generated by this will help augment existing fundraising to build phase two, a new, larger and more functional animal shelter to better serve the Battlefords and area.
“With more offered, and more services available to the community,“ Sparks states, “we really hope to be able to offer that lifetime support for the animals that we adopt out. This would allow us to take them from adoption to end of life.” Sparks went on to say that it’s very important for people who adopt animals from a shelter to know that they have access to that kind of lifetime support for their pets.”
She explained, “They can adopt the animal from us. They can get all of their training from us. We can groom them. We can board the animals with us when they go on holidays. And we’re hoping that, eventually, we will also have a crematorium service to offer to the community.”
That, she said, would allow the Battlefords Humane Society to truly offer a lifetime of care and support for the animals that they adopt out, as well as the “Fur-Parents” who adopt them.
The start of phase one, the boarding and grooming facility, was made possible by Barb Heno who made a $100,000 donation towards the purchase of the land, in the memory of her parents Bill and Betty Heno of Cochin. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed near the end of October or November of this year.
For more information on the project, to donate or volunteer some of your time, feel free to contact the Battlefords Humane Society. All efforts do make a difference.
