The Winnipeg Humane Society is encouraging pet owners to seek help during business hours after 10 animals were found abandoned outside the shelter on Saturday morning.
The WHS said staff came in on Saturday morning to discover a dog tied to a tree, an adult cat and two kittens, and a box containing six rats on the property. The animals appear to have been left sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.
“We do have animals abandoned here once or twice a month. So regularly, but not usually in that many places overnight,” said the shelter’s CEO, Jessica Miller.
She said there was a note from the woman that left them behind, expressing she was fleeing domestic violence.
“We’d like to hold on to those animals to see if she’s willing to, you know, see this and come forward, and maybe we can reunite her with these animals. That’s normally what we would do. The program is called Safe Pet. So we would hold those animals until that person is in a more stable state,” Miller said.
She said taking pets in right now is difficult, as the shelter is completely full.
“I want to say, you know ‘Bring your animals here, that’s what we’re here for.’ But unfortunately, when we’re full, we’re full,” she said.
According to the organization’s stats, the society’s investigation and emergency response department has received an average of seven calls a day over the last year and has taken in 117 animals, not including the almost 70 dogs rescued from a Winnipeg home after being discovered by police last month.
“It’s exhausting for us and for everyone else who needs our help,” she said, adding she would like to see people research the shelter’s programs and talk to the intake department during the day.
“Tell us what your instance is. If we can deem this an emergency, we will bring the animals in. We also have a ton of rescue partners and other resources, so if we’re able to have a conversation with someone on the phone, maybe there’s somewhere else we can suggest that they go in the meantime,” Miller said.
She said the WHS has a scheduled intake process in order to best take care of animals who come in.
“We understand the owners were likely trying to help their pets by bringing them to the shelter, but abandoning animals outside or overnight puts them at risk of being harmed by other wildlife or taken,” Miller said.
“We’re here to help and the best way we can do that is by receiving these animals when we’re open.”