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Iqaluit Humane Society receives grant

The Iqaluit Humane Society will be able to renovate its animal shelter in the capital thanks to an $11,900 grant from PetSmart Charities of Canada.

The society is in dire need of more and better organized space.

Michele LeTourneau/NNSL photo
An $11.9K grant from PetSmart Charities of Canada will allow the Iqaluit Humane Society to improve its space and continue to increase service to communities.

"These new cages and pens that we're going to have can hold a lot more animals. The kennels (the animals from other communities) are shipped in kind of get a lot of wear and tear, and it's not ideal to hold them in those pens," said society board member and co-chair of grants and fundraising Heather Crowley, adding there will also be more cat-specific cages and an improved outdoor space.

"It's big for us because we can increase our capacity to help other communities. Five years ago we weren't doing that so much and now we're moving in the direction of trying to help the entire territory," said Crowley.

Having more space is even more important now, as the SPCA shelter in Gatineau that took many Iqaluit animals for rehoming burned in a tragic fire July 2. Only six dogs survived, with 70 dying, it has been reported.

"It's been a rough couple of days for us. A lot of the ones that didn't make it were from our shelter so we're not only dealing with that but we've worked with them over five, six years. We're currently trying to find new locations," said Crowley.

The society's hopes for the future include a new, larger location to which these new cages and pens can be moved, and expanding into community wellness, with programming for elders and youth, for example.

"Over the past two years, we're proud to have provided more than $25,000 in funding to support the Iqaluit Humane Society's efforts to help pets in need in Nunavut," stated regional relationship manager for PetSmart Charities of Canada Dani LaGiglia.