Iqaluit eyes re-opening of animal shelter
“We will have to do something about this”
The Iqaluit Humane Society, Nunavut’s only animal shelter, will closed its doors on Aug. 9. (FILE PHOTO)
Iqaluit’s humane society shut the doors of its animal shelter Aug. 9, but plans are already afoot to get the organization back on its feet.
Society president Janine Budgell told city councillors that the group cannot continue to run its Federal Road shelter because of a shortage of volunteers.
“The board decided this was our best option,” Budgell said. “We can’t do it the way it is now.”
She said the shelter lacks space to quarantine sick animals and perform “temperment assessments”—required before animals can be sent to southern shelters.
Society volunteer Naomi Monkman described the space as “essentially a one-bedroom apartment filled with dogs and cats.”
Ultimately, Monkman said, there were simply too many needy animals for the shelter to handle.
Coun. Stephen Mansell said the humane society “provide[d] an invaluable service” that “lessens the burden on our employees.”
And other councillors worried about what impact the shelter’s closure will have on the number of stray dogs on the loose in the city.
“We will have to do something about this in Iqaluit, because it will not just go away,” said Coun. Mary Wilman.
The city and society board will strike a working group to figure out what to do next.
Society members will hang on to the city-owned shelter, while city workers will have access to the space.
Budgell said she’d like to see the shelter open with at least one full-time, paid staffer, something that’s impossible on the humane society’s shoestring $50,000 budget, which was assembled through local fundraising efforts.
The city donated the shelter space, but didn’t provide and money to operate it.
Budgell said with more space and paid staff, the humane society could generate revenue for the shelter by selling pet food and offering grooming and kennel services.
Six dogs that couldn’t be adopted out locally before the shelter closed were sent to a no-kill shelter in Quebec, Budgell said.
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