Lincoln humane society continues adoption program
St. Catharines animal shelter hopes to find homes for 102 pets
Lincoln County Humane Society is continuing its contactless, virtual adoption program through Ontario’s latest lockdown in hopes of connecting 102 pets with new homes.
The St. Catharines animal shelter has been holding virtual meet and greets during the pandemic so humans can see animals ready to be adopted.
Photos of available pets are posted on the agency’s lchs.ca website, Facebook and Instagram.
“We are doing virtual where we can,” said executive director Kevin Strooband. “They’re doing Zoom appointments, it’s all appointment-based.”
He said the process is contactless, with paperwork and animals passed through doors in the entranceway.
Last spring when COVID-19 first hit and the humane society had reduced staff and volunteers, it put out a call for foster families to help get its animals out of cages.
Within a week, it had an overwhelming 400 responses and had fostered out 60 animals.
“The 60 that were fostered because of that call have all been recalled, had their surgeries and all found homes,” Strooband said, adding some were adopted by their foster families.
The agency is not looking for new foster families right now, but does want families who will give pets a permanent place to call home.
The 102 animals currently in care include 19 dogs, seven of which are now available to adopt. The rest are cats, rabbits and other small animals. Fourteen cats from the humane society in London, Ont., were being processed Tuesday as well and will be available as early as next week.
Last year at this time, the humane society had 150 animals in its care.
It’s seen quite a drop in numbers during the pandemic.
The humane society had more than 600 fewer animals in its shelter in 2020 compared to 2019, down from 2,886 pets to 2,244.
Stray dogs and cats dropped from 1,233 in 2019 to 793 in 2020.
“What that tells me is that people aren’t away from their houses, so their animals are getting away less frequently,” Strooband said.
He said about 80 per cent of strays are reconnected and returned to their owners.
The humane society was unable to bring in dogs from other countries in 2020 because of the pandemic. In the past, it has helped out international animal agencies in Louisiana, Mexico and even the Cayman Islands because there is always a demand for dogs in Niagara.