The Thompson Regional Humane Society hosted its annual general meeting May 31. Chairperson Oswald Sawh guided volunteers and past and present board members through the last year’s financial statements, noted achievements and acknowledged the efforts of volunteers throughout the year.
The humane society emerged with a surplus this year, with treasurer Melissa Branconnier noting that the society is in “a very healthy financial position,” with accumulated revenue to contribute towards planned building upgrades. Sawh noted that a healthy financial foundation has been one of the society’s cardinal fortunes: “Over the years there’s been a lot of humane societies that have closed down across the country, and a lot of animal rescues as well. The reality is that you need to always have a strong financial platform built in, and that’s where a lot of operations have failed. We’ve always managed to keep that in balance, either breaking even or having some kind of surplus.”
Sawh had several partners to thank for the society’s solid organizational foundation, beginning with the organizers behind Woofstock; Sawh singled out the festival as the single-largest fundraiser the society hosts, netting $25,000 in 2015. Sawh personally thanked event organizer Carmen Dusecina, Tracy “Smitty” Smith from Music Makers, and the bands that performed at this year’s festival. Sawh also thanked the Royal Canadian Legion’s president Rick Murray, who has helped the THS host its annual poker tournament, another critical society fundraiser.
Equally critical has been the society’s partnership with the City of Thompson, who has contracted the city’s animal facility needs to the society since 2003. “Without having that agreement,” Sawh noted, “We probably wouldn’t have been able to make a business case at the time. It still remains one of the few collaborative facilities in the country.”
Dusecina, Smitty, Murray, and City of Thompson public safety manager Sonya Wiseman received certificates of appreciation for their work with the humane society.
But as Branconnier noted, the THS has always been on fairly stable financial footing. But as Sawh repeatedly noted, the priority of the humane society is the welfare of the animals. In 2015, the shelter took in 226 animals, 55 of which were adopted, 67 that were returned to their owners, and 93 that were transferred to other shelters.
One point Sawh was proud to note was the progress made in the animals which have to be euthanized annually: in 2015, only three animals had to be put down – two from complications during birth, and one due to the contraction of parvovirus – a far cry compared to what the society was coping with in its early years. “In 2003 when we were first formed, over 130 to 150 animals a year were euthanized, a sad reality of the system we had before. Even three to four years ago, we were up about 30-35 animals that had to be put down due to space issues. We’ve no longer had to put down any animals due to space issues, and that’s a huge achievement.”
Sawh attributes much of this success to Calm Air, which has worked with the humane society for years to help affordably transport animals who could not be adopted to alternative shelters with adequate space. “Arnold Morberg was a big animal lover, and he recognized the fact that we were not able to always adopt out an animal in town.”
The Thompson Veterinary Clinic also merited a society thank-you: “You know Bingham: he’s pretty straightforward. If we’re doing something wrong, he’ll tell us, and he’ll have this annoyed look on his face before he even says anything. But the vet office has been critical: they’ve worked with us financially to keep our costs down. Without them in the mix, we wouldn’t be able to do what we’ve been able to do.”
“It’s one of those things that people can always relate to. People have become desensitized to a lot of things, but the things I’ve seen that still make people see red are the abuse of children, and the abuse of animals.”
Along with the society’s “foundational partners,” Sawh also acknowledged the exceptional efforts of several volunteers who have devoted countless consistent hours to the society’s fundraising and operations, like Glenda Weir and June MacTavish, weekend warriors who have devoted countless hours over the years; Ron Dyre, who has taken up the role of the society’s handyman (Sawh noted, “Everyone should have a Ron in their lives”); Karen Agar, who regularly takes the dogs on long walks to maintain good health and low stress. He also acknowledged Gianna Dusecina in particular as a youth volunteer, noting that future generations are critical to the survival of volunteer organizations like the THS: “It’s young people like this that really set the stage for us down the road. We don’t live forever, and we need people to come after us.”
Volunteers received honorary certificates, as did Calm Air sales co-ordinator Brock Weir. A representative of the Thompson Veterinary Clinic was unavailable for the meeting.
For 2017, Sawh stated that the THS would be placing expansion on hold for the time being, while they focused on improving the facilities which they currently used.
“We don’t want to warehouse animals: keeping animals in kennels for long periods of time is in itself an inhumane thing,” said Sawh. “We want to improve our facility where we can have a dedicated quarantine space for animals who just came in, a space for animals up for adoptions, a space for moms with pups or kittens, to improve on what we have now.”
