COLD LAKE - During this year’s holiday season, animals were given some extra snuggles as the Lakeland Humane Society reignited the heartwarming initiative 'Home for the Howlidays.'
Danielle Donovan, the manager at the Cold Lake-based Lakeland Humane Society, explained what the program was about and what the goal was.
“People can submit foster applications to find out which animal they would like to foster over the holidays. So our animals get to get out of the shelter, get to spend Christmas in a home rather than being here in a kennel, and if we’re lucky, the fosters do end up adopting them over the holidays, so less animals get to come back, and lots will get their Christmas wishes."
The program invites individuals and families to become temporary foster parents for the animals. The fosters could keep them for the holidays and then bring them back early in January.
The program not only helps the animals, but also helps the humane society as well, as the foster homes can provide feedback on the animal when it’s returned to the shelter.
“It helped us adopt the animals out because, [for example] a dog that was a little bit of a behaviour case spent a week in a foster home, then that foster home could report back to us and say, I think this home will better suit this dog, or this dog needs work on this training,” added Donovan.
This relatively new initiative has been successful in finding loving homes for numerous animals. “It’s something we've had great success with over the past couple of years, so it was something we continued to do and tried to get the word out there more, and get more fosters,” says Donovan.
During the holiday season, the Humane Society has observed a notable uptick in adoptions, but they have implemented additional measures to ensure the validity and appropriateness of each adoption. Donovan emphasized their approach, stating, “Definitely around Christmas time, it does pick up a little bit more, we do take some extra steps when adopting around Christmas, we don’t like giving pets as gifts.”
While gifting animals during the holidays is discouraged, Donovan highlighted an alternative perspective - the festive season offers a unique window to acquaint oneself with a new pet and introduce them to their new environment.
“A lot of people had time off over Christmas, so it was a good time over Christmas to introduce a new pet to their home while they were off for a couple of days.”
Foster families picked up their furry companions between Dec. 18 and the Dec. 23, and are scheduled to return them to the humane society on Jan. 2, unless they wish to adopt them and make them a permanent member of the family.
