MOOSE JAW - In a creative effort to address the urgent need to promote cat adoptions during the Humane Society’s ongoing intake freeze, Megan Weiland, owner of Spike Grooming — who was scheduled to take holidays this June and wouldn’t be able to run the usual nail trimming workshop — knew she had to do something unique to help the shelter’s feline residents.
Her spontaneous project came to be known as “Karma is a Cat.”
“It was a spur of the moment event that Megan had created, and we just… jumped in and the staff (at the Humane Society) backed her,” explained Dana Haukaas, the shelter’s executive director. “It was a really fun day.”
The Moose Jaw Humane Society works closely with the team at Spike Grooming for the monthly pet nail trimming events, so the partnership wasn’t something new to either party.
This July, however, Weiland had scheduled time off for a family vacation so she knew that she wouldn’t be able to attend the monthly event. Instead of simply cancelling this month, she decided to do something a little bit different.
“She’s a huge Taylor Swift fan and scored some tickets to her Toronto concert… this fall,” Haukaas explained. “She knows how much Taylor likes cats, and we are on an intake freeze, so she wanted to help promote cat adoptions and create some space for us.”
The July 10 project took shape by Weiland creating “amazing packages,” Haukaas said, including six small baskets with an assortment of goods in each one. Weiland also guided the shelter’s younger guests through a Taylor Swift friendship bracelet craft.
The event also featured a door prize where anyone who visited the shelter to adopt a cat or donate on that day was entered.
“It was a great success,” Haukaas said. “We raised over $300 with donations from that weekend, and we also found six cats a home.”
The Karma is a Cat project came at just the right time, Haukaas added.
“Six cats don’t sound like a huge number, but that’s six spaces that we can now (use to) move our isolation cats into the main room, and that creates space in our isolation area,” she said.
When the shelter takes on a new stray cat, the animal is kept in an isolated space for the first five days. This allows staff to complete a full medical checkup including a vaccination, deworming shot, and any other treatments they may require.
Once this quarantine period has concluded, the cats are then moved into the main adoption area at the shelter where visitors can meet their potential future companions.
“When the main adoption area is clogged with animals that aren’t moving (and being adopted out), then we aren’t able to move anybody out of our isolation area,” she explained.
When this happens, the shelter is forced to declare an intake freeze, as was the case this month.
“We’ve never done anything like (Karma is a Cat) before,” Haukaas said. “It’s always nice for us if we can find something that includes the kids, because kids love animals and they love to be involved.
“The kids really had a great time that day,” she concluded.
For more information about the shelter, visit MJHS.ca or ‘Moose Jaw Humane Society’ on Facebook.
The Moose Jaw Humane Society is located at 1755 Stadacona Street West and can be reached at 306-692-1517.
