Petition made to ask WHS to become a no-kill shelter

Some in the animal rescue community are questioning why animals are being put down at the Winnipeg Humane Society.

The Winnipeg Humane Society is updating the forms people must fill out when surrendering an animal. They said it isn’t about a change in policy, but rather to clear up some potential confusion about which animals may end up being euthanized.

Starlight the cat was brought to Craig Street Cats with a broken leg. Lynne Scott, the organization’s founder, said that the WHS would have killed her.

Craig Street Cats is a no-kill shelter, according to Scott.

“Every forward-thinking animal welfare organization in the world is moving towards a no-kill society,” she said.

But the Winnipeg Humane Society said when it comes to the stray cat population, the issue is more complicated.

"We are an open door, high volume shelter,” said Bill McDonald, CEO of the WHS. “We took in over 8,500 animals last year and the sad reality of that situation is not everybody makes it through to adoptions.”

The WHS euthanized more than 2,000 cats last year. They said there has been some confusion about their policies and that is why they updated their animal surrender conditions.

The document now states:

“The Winnipeg Humane Society makes no guarantee that the animal or animals you have surrendered today will be adopted or that it/they will not be euthanized.”

The shelter said they try to only put down animals with health or adoptability issues, but sometimes overcrowding also plays a factor. McDonald said, "We are euthanizing perfectly healthy, adoptable, presentable cats, simply because there are so many. There's too many and not enough adopters."

Back at Craig Street Cats, Scott has a petition calling for the WHS to become a no-kill shelter. She thinks it is a reasonable request.

“It costs the humane society a great deal of money to kill an animal. It costs them nothing to make a phone call,” she said.

She’s hoping to present the petition at the WHS’s annual general meeting.

Officials with the Winnipeg Humane Society said they are working with the city to develop policies to try and control the cat population. One measure may be the implementation of a cat licensing program.

That idea will come before the community services committee in May.

- with a report by CTV’s Ben Miljure