Fire at the Durham Humane Society (Ontario)

[Diamondsmum]

what a face

bailey is just beautiful!! I sooo want him he was tied to a tree outside that night & brought inside then 2 hours later the fire broke out.

[Chris21711]

I saw that little guy in the Toronto Star

[NoahGrey]

RIP to all of the animals that passed.

ACO22

[Diamondsmum]

New home for Humane Society

OSHAWA -- The Humane Society will soon have a solid footing to stand on as local businesses pull together in a mighty effort to rebuild the shelter.

At least 22 businesses from across the region have agreed to chip in to provide time, materials and labour toward the project after last Wednesday's fireresulted in about $250,000 in damages.

"We've got a talented workforce and plenty of businesses that support the community so I thought we could just build it for them rather than have them go through all the aggravation of trying to find the money," said Oshawa resident Melissa Godley-Kingdon, who laid the foundation for the plans by putting a request out to the companies.

Ms. Godley-Kingdon and her husband, Don, owner of DK Contracting in Oshawa, have captured the interest of various businesses -- Millwork, Osso Electric and United Lumber Home Hardware among them -- offering plumbing, roofing, painting and other means of support for the cause.

The couple currently own two cats they rescued from ending up on the streets and felt the situation was dire enough to request community assistance.

"In times of need, especially now when Oshawa is going through such uncertainty, donations are hard to come by so it's nice that we can just pitch in and work together," Ms. Godley-Kingdon said. "The building needs to be put back up as soon as possible obviously. There's never not a need for animals to go to a shelter."

The next step will be to secure land for the project and officials from the City of Oshawa and Town of Whitby are currently looking into available properties.

"The one thing that's holding us up right now is the land but it's great to know that we have the people in place willing to help when we have it," said shelter manager Ruby Richards, adding that staff and volunteers have agreed not to return to the original building at 199 Waterloo St., where more than 150 cats, three dogs and other small animals perished in the blaze.

"None of us could ever handle going back to the place where all these animals died."

Ms. Richards said many of the workers are struggling to cope with the loss but the support from the community has contributed immensely to the healing process.

"We 're grieving just as if it were our pets that passed away," she said. "It's been harder for some than others but all we can do is focus on getting through the pain and make a fresh start."

All but two of the animals that survived the fire -- 10 dogs, two cats and one rat -- have been adopted and staff are busy arranging for temporary accommodations until the new building goes up.

The Humane Society will start the new year by functioning out of three different locations with its office headquarters based at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium and animals receiving care at either the animal services site or in warehouse space offered by a former board member.

If any businesses are interested in joining the construction effort, please contact Ms. Godley at 905-240-2073 or by e-mail at mgodley1972@yahoo.com.

i think this is awesome news!

[NoahGrey]

Great article. It is nice to see people supporting animal issues as well. Usually it is the animals that are forgotten.

I was watching BT televison a few weeks ago and they were going on and on about the Salvation Army. I emailed the show, asking if they could get it out that animal shelters need support too during the holiday season. Sadly, they didn't mention it.

ACO22

[chico2]

DM,that's great news,thank's for the update,at least something good came out of this terrible tragedy

[Chris21711]

Thanks for the update DM.

I hope that the authorities don't take forever in sorting out the formalities.

[dbg10]

What fantastic news It is very good to hear that at this time of year and with all the talk of recession especially for Oshawa that these businesses have found it in their hearts to help the animals in Durham Region. We can only hope that the politicians in Oshawa and Whitby also can help with passing the zoning regulations for a new piece of land.

Merry Christmas to all especially to the animals who are defenseless inhabitants of this planet.

[shinydog]

so tragic news

[dbg10]

I listened to "Animal Housecalls" last night on CP24 and a representatibve from the Durham Humane Society was on. Apparently they have had an incredible response to their request for help from the community to help build a new shelter. Many tradesmen have responded with promises of free building materials and labour once they have found a place for a new shelter. She also said there have been many donations received some from as far away as England. Ruby Richards called in to say that the one thing holding up the project is they have not found a property that is suitable and zoned properly. They have been looking primarily in Whitby and Ajax. The municipal governments of Whitby and Ajax are dragging their feet on rezoning any property that might be suitable. grrr

I am not usually an activist but I wonder if the public got involved in a targeted email campaign/petition to get these politicians to seriously consider the problem and pass the zoning bylaws that would be necessary for a new suitable shelter property. I am not sure who these politicians are, but maybe someone here knows the names. If we get the names, we should be able to find the email addresses. Ruby mentioned that they had found a few suitable properties but they were not zoned properly and rezoning them was a problem.