The LCTaylor staff was invited to take a tour of the facility on October 2nd. This was an easy partnership (Debt Rescue- Pet Rescue) for us as we appreciate The Winnipeg Humane Society’s Work.
LCTaylor has recently become a sponsor of the Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS) monthly donor program “Humane Heroes“.
Since many of our LCTaylor team are animal lovers we took them up on the invitation.
Here are some photos from that day. Also please see Teddy, our Client Support Services Specialist‘s report about the day.
A Dog’s Eye View of the Winnipeg Humane Society
Hi! I’m Teddy, LCTaylor’s emotional support dog. Last week my friends from the office and I got to take a tour of the neatest place! Apparently, it is called the Winnipeg Humane Society. I just think of it as the place with lots of interesting animals.
We got there early and had to spend some (boring!) time getting pictures taken. I don’t know why humans do that so much – I just don’t get it. Why take pictures when you could be exploring a new place?
After the pictures, we finally got to go inside and check out the building full of animals. Wow! There were a lot of dogs and cats, even some rabbits and other small animals I’d have liked to chase if they were in my yard. The place was full of interesting smells. Apparently, my friends from the office couldn’t smell what I could smell – I’ve noticed that about them before. They kept saying how clean everything smelled. I thought it just smelled fascinating.
I was surprised that there are so many animals that don’t have forever homes. They apparently go to this place to wait for someone to come and love them. It made me feel really lucky to have my Mom and Dad and so many other friends to love me. I’d be sad if I didn’t have a forever home, but the animals at WHS seemed pretty happy. The dogs get walked in the neatest park – I really liked that part of the tour – and all the animals (even the cats!) have people who come to visit and give them cuddles. I was really relieved to see that happening.
We found out that there is an animal protection program at WHS. This is so awesome! Now I know that if anything was to happen to myself or one of my friends from school, the WHS will be there to help and protect us and keep us safe.
I asked some of my fellow staff members to let me know what they thought of the tour, so I wouldn’t leave anything out. I may have been a bit distracted by all the other animals there. Here’s what some of the staff said:
Serena said: “I thought the tour at WHS was informative, heartwarming, and fun! My favourite part of the trip was seeing the cats, and getting the opportunity to meet some of the friendliest cats I have ever seen (shout out to Benny, Binx, and Fizzle). I’m considering going back every so often to visit them and the other adorable animals they have at their facility.”
Really? She liked the CATS the best? Sigh….
Jo-Anne, our receptionist, said: “There is a whole room filled with cats and a statue of the Cat Lady that lived in Winnipeg who looked after cats who were homeless. Did you know if you want to adopt a cat the whole family has to come in to see if you are all compatible with each other? There are also volunteers who will cuddle with cats that have not been adopted yet… that’s so sweet.”
What’s with the cats? I’m shaking my head!
One of my other friends, Katherine, said: “I loved the fact that even though a lot of these fur babies didn’t have a home yet, they were getting lots of love and amazing care. I loved meeting and holding the cute little Rat! I didn’t think it would be so calm but when I held him and petted him he was so chill!!
I can’t believe she handled one of those rodents!!! I didn’t see her doing that. Why didn’t she chase him?
Sel said: “They do a fantastic job in caring for the animals.”
Well, I have to agree with him there. Sel would know. He looks after a LOT of animals!
Daniel said: “It’s a fantastic physical facility, with lots of natural light and good-sized spaces for the animals. It wasn’t at all like what I remember animal shelters being in the past. The people seemed to really care about every animal in the facility and I got the feeling that they knew each one on a personal level.
They gave the impression that they appreciate each and every donor. They were proud of their donor wall and often talked about how funding from certain people or groups allowed them to build specific spaces and/or offer specific programs.”
Those are all things that I didn’t really notice, so I really like Daniel’s comments. But, what’s a “donor”? I’m sure all the humans will know.
Jasmine said: “Thanks, Teddy, for considering my thoughts to add to your blog. I really enjoyed the tour at the humane society. It was so wonderful to see how well taken care of the animals are. I expected to be sad for the animals but I wasn’t so much, as they seemed happy and hopeful they will be carefully placed into their forever home soon.”
That about describes about how I felt! Jasmine and I must think a lot alike.
Lastly, here’s what Yelena said: “What I learned and appreciated is the amount of work the humane society does outside of just helping animals. How they help pet owners of all kinds who truly want to care for their pets but sometimes just cannot afford it. They will assist with vet bills, food, etc. in any way they can.
They also help other shelters and protect animals that are in bad housing situations, which I thought was incredible seeing as there are a lot of horror stories about how some animals can be treated.
You can seriously see how much they love and care for the animals from their rules and procedures for adopting the animals to how they house them in the facility and treat them on a day-to-day basis.
I also was amazed by the size of the facility. There is so much more than the main adoption area that people do not see, where a lot of other work is being contributed by the volunteers which is truly amazing. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour!”
I’d forgotten about all that, so I’m really glad that Yelena brought it up. It sounds like the WHS does a lot of the same kind of work we do at LCTaylor – they help people (and, of course, their animals) who have run into tough times and need some help to get over it. They do Pet Rescue, while here at LCTaylor, we do Debt Rescue! Is that great or what?
Jillian Taylor-Mancusi, LIT
