Meet the Winnipeg Humane Society, a Pet Valu Companions for Changeᵀᴹ supported charity

For nearly 130 years, the Winnipeg Humane Society has been advocating for animals all across Manitoba. It’s a large-scale organization that undertakes animal welfare work extending far beyond the scope of providing shelter to pets in need.  “We take in about 6000 animals a year,” says CEO Jessica Miller. “We also help about 10,000 [pets] through our diversion programs. What that means is that we can provide someone with a program where they don't have to end up surrendering their animal to the shelter.”  Often it’s financial barriers that force pet parents to give up their animals despite the love and care they are otherwise able to provide. Through pet food banks and subsidized vet care initiatives, the Winnipeg Humane Society works to keep pets together with their families.  “We have all sorts of programs,” says Miller. “We have primary and urgent care programs through our vet clinics, so if someone needs some assistance with primary care, vaccinations, or checkups, we're able to do that. We also provide a ton of low-income, spay and neuter programs to make sure that we're managing the population control as best as we can. We also have a massive behaviour department, a great education department, and even an animal welfare department.” Pet Valu’s Companions for Change™ program teamed up with the Winnipeg Humane Society to help support one of their pet wellness outreach programs.  “It's actually my favourite program that we have,” says Miller. “It's called One Health, a community-led spay and neuter services in Northern Manitoban communities that just do not have the access to the veterinary services that we do in the city. “Pet Valu was instrumental in supporting one of our vehicles that we use for One Health. This is a great big vehicle, we fill it full of really heavy supplies, and drive up to these communities. We would not be able to do what we do — performing these amazing clinics where we're seeing animal after animal being cared for, or spayed and neutered, or being fixed from an injury — without making sure the equipment is there and it's very costly to ship,” she says.  “We also use the vehicle to bring animals back down should they need further care than what we can do in a remote clinic. So it's been absolutely vital. We're trying to grow this program as much as we can to service all of Northern Manitoba. There's all sorts of areas all over Manitoba that just do not have these services. And so we're very thankful for [Pet Valu] and for that vehicle.” Pet Valu stores also serve as adoption locations for some of the thousands of animals the Winnipeg Humane Society takes in each year, housing and caring for these pets while they wait to meet new pet parents and leave for their forever homes.  “Pet Valu is a satellite location for us,” says Miller. “We're able to extend areas beyond just our shelter walls for animals to be available, which is great … It enables us to do so many more adoptions than we would likely do just in-house, on our own.”