The Winnipeg Humane Society is excited to open their doors once more to the public, helping people find and make good homes for their rescued pets. 

"The pandemic was a huge time of pivot," says Lenore Hume, the Director of Communications and Marketing with the Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS). "We are almost 100 per cent donor funded so we rely on the support of the community to operate in the way that we do."

The WHS has been helping place animals for 128 years, making it one of Winnipeg's longest-running charities. 

"When COVID hit we had to lock our doors and that was really challenging for the community that was so used to be able to come to the WHS and walk around, visit the animals," says Hume. "We went to the appointment-only model for serious adopters."

The charity takes in and then adopts out dogs, cats, as well as bunnies, guinea pigs, birds, hedgehogs, and rodents. 

"The biggest thing that we saw throughout the pandemic was that the community continued to support us, which was absolutely phenomenal."

During the pandemic, the WHS also helped people with pets by offering an emergency food bank for pets. They started offering temporary housing for people with pets who were fleeing domestic violence. They also offer free behavioural training.

"We're now seeing the reopening of adoptions and an influx of visitors which is fantastic. We're seeing the return of some events, allowing people to come in and celebrate the joint work we and the community do together to make the WHS happen."

For people interested in adopting an animal, there are three things the WHS want them to consider before adoption

  1. What is your lifestyle?
  2. What’s your space like? 
  3. What’s your budget? 

"Our adoption counsellors here at the WHS work with everybody individually to find that right match because we do believe that everybody deserves animal companionship."