Protecting Those Who Cannot Protect Themselves

By Bill McDonald, CEO

As many of you will recall The WHS dealt with one of the worst hoarding situations in a decade when we took in the Gull Lake dogs in the summer of 2010. We could not have done this without the assistance of the Provincial Veterinarian's Office. Over this past year we have also participated in a number of seizures and hoarding situations that did not make it into the media spotlight like the Gull Lake dogs. The number of hoarding cases involving cats is increasing as well. The issues surrounding hoarding and animals are being discussed on many levels, from reality TV shows to animal sheltering magazines. What this means for a shelter like The Winnipeg Humane Society is that more and more people are reporting cases of hoarding. Also, with the issue of hoarding now being reported more often we are also seeing an increase in our investigation numbers. For 2010 alone we are up 14% in the number of investigations conducted compared to 2009.

With such an increase we have re-organized our emergency response, Animal Protection Officers and dispatch personnel. In mid-2010 we created a new department called Investigations and Emergency Response and brought the Animal Protection Officers, our Emergency Responders and the dispatch personnel under the direction of one manager. Our Senior Animal Protection Officer has been appointed the manager of the Department of Investigations and Emergency Response. We have also increased the staff component and now have four Animal Protection Officers licensed by the Province of Manitoba through the Provincial Veterinarian's Office. The WHS is now more closely involved with hoarding situations both within the city and outside the city at the bequest of the province. We are the only facility in Manitoba that has the capability to handle a large influx of animals, often in dire condition, on extremely short notice.

We are only able to accomplish this necessary work because of our unique partnership with the Provincial Veterinarian's Office. During the Gull Lake seizure both veterinarian's from the Province and our own veterinarian team worked side by side to assess and treat the Gull Lake dogs. People often think that it is The Winnipeg Humane Society that will lay any charges during such investigations and seizures. The reality is that the Province of Manitoba's Justice Department is the government entity that lays charges in abuse and cruelty cases. The WHS assists the Provincial Vet's Office in gathering evidence during the initial intake and provides eyewitness accounts of what we saw when the animals arrived here at the shelter.

Coping with these situations is taxing on our organization when we have to suddenly take in many sick animals. Will we have the space? Will we have the staff? We needed to have the inter-agency relationships in place before the animals arrived. Over this past year The WHS has worked closely with The Provincial Vet's Office to develop an approach to these complex cases that works towards what is best for the animals. I am very proud of the staff at The WHS who have worked at developing an action plan for hoarding and seizure incidents that works! We are meeting the challenges being presented by these major seizures and will continue to do so.