REGINA — The Regina Humane Society (RHS) is dealing with urgent capacity issues for cats.
Despite a recent uptick in adoptions, the RHS’s cat population continues to grow each day.
“We had 156 cats and kittens in our care. That was on June 30. As of the end of the day yesterday, we had 189. So that's despite seeing 67 cats and kittens adopted during that time,” said Bill Thorn, RHS director of marketing and public relations.
This time of year, more cats are roaming outdoors, resulting in an increase in the number being brought to the RHS for a variety of reasons, Thorn said.
“Sometimes people are moving; they can't take them with them, lifestyle change, that kind of thing or they found a mom and kittens under their deck or in their shed or something like that.”
Thorn said having a larger cat intake during this period isn’t unusual, but it’s happening later than normal.
“This year it kind of shifted because of the cool and wet spring that we had.”
In hopes of speeding up adoptions, the RHS is offering $25 cat adoptions for a limited time.
"So adoptions have remained strong, but we're also continuing to see a steady intake," Thorn said.
He added that the number could climb even higher as the warmer weather continues.
“Any time we get severe weather, be it heat like we're having now or extreme cold in the winter months, that's going to be a concern for pets that are outside or are left to spend too much time outside.”
While the RHS continues to manage capacity pressures, Thorn said he does not expect the organization to require a second facility.
“I don't see that happening. The facility we've got right now does, for the most part, meet the demand that we have”
Thorn also noted the RHS has other partners who can help with their capacity.
“We work with satellite organizations across the city where cats can be picked up. There's an organization in Alberta that does the same type of thing for Calgary. There's high demand there, and often, if we're over capacity, we will work with them to transport cats there.”
