The Regina Humane Society (RHS) continuously strives to improve and maximize its ability to care for animals in need. The Society has practiced managed admissions, a shelter management model followed by shelters across North America, for some time in order to operate within its capacity for care including physical space as well as financial, veterinary and human resources.
Managed admissions allow the Society to plan and match its capacity to provide humane care with animal intake. If any shelter exceeds its capacity for care, disease caused by overcrowding results in unnecessary euthanasia and reduced adoption rates. By operating within its capacity for care, disease levels are reduced, euthanasia declines and shelter animals are adopted more quickly into new homes ultimately increasing the organization’s capacity to help even more animals in need.
The RHS is contracted as the Municipal Impound Facility for the City of Regina and also serves as the City’s Animal Shelter. Due to the high number of stray and unwanted felines in the City of Regina, the Regina Humane Society is often at full capacity for cats. Openly admitting cats from anywhere else in the province affects the Society’s capacity to deliver the sheltering services it is obligated to provide to the Regina community.
To ensure the best outcomes for animals in its care, the RHS must control how and when animals are admitted based on its capacity to provide care. At this time, the RHS is unable to accept cats from outside the City of Regina. Alternatively, caregivers can be added to a waiting list and will be contacted when capacity allows.
The RHS accepts critically ill or injured animals from anywhere inside or outside the City of Regina at any time.
Any concerns regarding stray or unwanted animals in in your community should be directed towards the Rural Municipality or town within which the feline lives or is found. A resource kit regarding humane community companion animal management has also been developed and forwarded to rural communities, and is also available at https://reginahumanesociety.ca/programs-services/municipal-services/community-based-solutions-to-managing-companion-animal-populations/
What to Do With Stray or Unwanted Felines from Rural Areas:
- If safe to do so, determine if the cat or kitten has any form of identification such as an ID tag that may include owner or veterinarian information or an ear tattoo that may help identify it and its owner. If possible, have the cat or kitten scanned for a microchip by a local Veterinary Clinic or animal shelter. If the animal has identification, the Regina Humane Society or the local Veterinary Clinic will be able to provide guidance on the best way to contact the owner.
- Contact the Rural Municipality (R.M.) Office of the Municipality within which the cat or kitten lived or was found in order to determine the appropriate action. The R.M. may have a facility or arrangement with a shelter facility to care for the animal. If you would prefer not to relinquish the cat or kitten to the R.M, your information and information describing the animal should still be provided to the R.M. as they may have knowledge of any missing pets within the area with owners looking for them. If you’re unsure which R.M. the animal was found in, or what R.M. you live in, the following website is the Rural Municipality Directory website. This will help to identify which municipality you should contact, and will also provide the contact information. http://www.mds.gov.sk.ca/apps/Pub/MDS/welcome.aspx
- Post the animal on social media (i.e. Facebook) and other local sites as this may help locate an owner. Including photos, descriptions and genders is helpful. It’s also important to post in the Town Office as it is often the first place a person with a lost pet may look. You may also complete a Found Pet Report on the RHS website under “Lost and Found”
- If an owner cannot be located, contact rescue or animal shelter organizations within your area to determine if they have capacity to take the animal in.
- For unwanted felines or ones where no owner can be found, you may attempt to rehome cats or kittens. Information on how to successfully do this can be found at http://reginahumanesociety.ca/lost-found/found-a-pet/
What Else Can Be Done To Reduce Unwanted Felines in my Municipality?
Ensure all owned pets are spayed or neutered and restrict the ability of any unsterilized cats to roam.
It’s well known that farmers have cats for pest control, but often don’t want to burden of kittens. The RHS Working Cat Program provides free, sterilized, vaccinated working cats, which are otherwise unsuitable as house cats, to farms, shops, acreages and warehouses.
To register for this program, or to get more information, please visit the Regina Humane Society website at: https://reginahumanesociety.ca/adoptions/working-cats/