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Humane Society Yukon Supported with Donations and Community Involvement

Wednesday, 27 November 2019 16:49

The Mae Bachur Shelter has many pets available for adoption (Image courtesy of Humane Society Yukon)

The Mae Bachur shelter’s future is looking a little brighter after a fruitful meeting and almost $29,000 in GoFundMe donations, and an anonymous $19,000 donation from a gold miner.

The Mae Bachur shelter’s future is looking a little brighter after a fruitful meeting and almost $29,000 in GoFundMe donations, and an anonymous $19,000 donation from a gold miner.  The Humane Society Yukon held its public meeting Tuesday evening in Whitehorse to discuss the future of the shelter and how best to deal with its ongoing financial woes.  Humane Society Secretary Carol Oberg said she was feeling optimistic based on the attendance and response from the community, and that the shelter does not appear to be shutting its doors this December.

Oberg says there were about 75 in attendance including politicians and community members.  The goal of the meeting was to determine how the community felt about the shelter, and what could be done to save it.  According to Oberg there was an outpouring of eagerness from all in the meeting and a wide variety of different fundraising methods brainstormed.  16 community members also put their names forward to sit on the board.  Currently the board has only one member that is not already retired, and Oberg was pleased to have some fresh energy added into the team.

  Oberg says that although the government funds 25% of the shelter’s budget, the current donations-based model is not sustainable, and she believes it is possible there may be more collaboration with the government, including the city animal shelter, although at this point no plans are official. 

Earlier this month Oberg was concerned the shelter may shut own as soon as December, but following the meeting as well as a successful Go Fund Me account that was set up by the shelter, to pay veterinarian debts, she is feeling a lot more hopeful.  Oberg praised the roll-up your sleeves and get stuff done attitude of the community that came out to the meeting and the verve injected into the team as a whole.

The shelter has a history of community support.  In fact, its namesake, Mae Bachur willed the Humane Society Yukon 300 thousand dollars in its early days to help get the shelter on its feet.  The GoFundMe is still available and can be accessed at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-yukon-strays-get-vet-care.

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