Kitchener man donates $50K toward puppy care at KW Humane Society

A Kitchener man says dogs have had a huge impact on his life and it inspired him to pay it forward to the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth

A 78-year-old decided to make a generous donation towards something near and dear to his heart — dogs.

Wayne Addison has had multiple pets throughout his life, although when speaking about them to CTV News, he focuses on a few of his pet dogs he had growing up.

“I took Joey for a motorcycle ride… the way I took him for a ride, I went out and bought for him… a carrier. I loved him when he [sat in it],” Addison reminisced. “...[Also] my first animal was a little Pomeranian. She was a present, a life’s present.”

Addison added despite the variety of pets, his dogs were the ones that really pulled at his heart strings.

“...Most of [my pets were dogs]. I had quite a number of cats but I still like the dogs. The dogs were still my love.”

He displayed his love on Friday by donating a generous $50,000 towards the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth’s behavioural training and enrichment for dogs in their care.

“I wanted to make sure [the money] went to the right place… I wasn’t raised wealthy but when I got [to] sort of the middle of my life, I wanted to have a little bit of extra dollars… I didn’t really care about giving money away,” Addison said.

It’s a donation that means a lot to the organization’s CEO Victoria Baby.

“We are very grateful for Wayne’s very generous donation to support the Humane Society of KWSP,” said Baby in an email. “As a lifetime owner and lover of dogs it is wonderful that he wanted to support dogs in our care.”

Jordan Baker, the organization’s director of development, added that his donation showed the generosity of the community.

“We’re so thankful to Wayne for his incredibly generous gift to the Humane Society. It will have a long lasting legacy helping us provide care and support to dogs in need,” said Baker in the same email.

Addison handed over the cheque to the organization on Friday, alongside his dog Brisket.

“If you need to give money away to a dog, do it. Just do it,” Addison said.