Humane Society says community outreach is at the centre of its latest campaign

The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth has launched a new campaign, saying it hopes to raise donations to better support the needs of families and pets across the community.

The Better Together Capital Campaign is hoping to raise $6 million to build a new community outreach centre for the Humane Society.

It currently lays out a three phase plan, consisting of constructing the new centre, renovating existing sites, and finally maximizing the potential of the new and existing facilities. Phase one began on Aug. 28, already working to establish the infrastructure needed to support the new site as well as ongoing programs.

Chief Executive Officer with the Humane Society of Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford-Perth, Victoria Baby, says the needs for this new development stems from the conditions that families in the region and across the country are enduring.

“The economy, the ability to purchase food and affordable housing, having pets just adds to that strain,” she said. “I think that’s part of the trend that we’re seeing across our communities.”

She goes on to say this increased need in the region can directly be seen in the increased use of ongoing programs being offered by the Humane Society.

“The reason it’s called the Community Outreach Center, is because it will be focused on just that; reaching out to the community,” Baby said. “The demand for many of our programs and services has grown exponentially over the last couple years. For example, our Pet Pantry, the need and demand for people to receive food, for cats and dogs, litter, etc., has grown 206 per cent since 2023.”

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The primary focus for the campaign is the construction of a new community outreach centre, which will not only offer various services for the community in the region, but it is also said to ease pressure off the current site, allowing the main building to focus on more urgent and ongoing cases. Along with the installation, the Humane Society says it plans to develop a mobile veterinary clinic in order to further aid its ongoing work and create additional ways for families to seek care for their pets.

“We’re planning on traveling about 18,000 kilometres in a year to go out to different municipalities and cities, to areas where people can’t get up and provide wellness checks, vaccinations for rabies, and minor treatments.”

The organization says donations toward the campaign will be a powerful investment in the future of the community’s animal welfare, adding that it will help to create a brighter tomorrow where both pets and people can flourish.

“The whole idea, the reason it’s called the Community Outreach Center, is because it will be focused on just that; reaching out to the community. We want to keep pets and families together.”

More information on the campaign as well as where to donate, can be found on the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth website.