Humane society pet outreach program seeing unprecedented demand

The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Peth (HSKWSP) claims to be on track for a record-breaking year, albeit not the kind of record it’d like to be setting.

In a press release, HSKWSP revealed in the first two months of 2025, the dedicated team in its Pet Outreach program had provided medical care for 120 animals in need, and provided over $16,000 worth of essential veterinary services and vaccinations. Through the program, it has also helped 1,510 pets whose families are struggling financially.

Beverly Martin, HSKWSP, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show and said a core mission to ensure pets stay with their families.

“We are big advocates for keeping people and pets together, if that’s possible,” she said. “So, we do offer a Pet Pantry as our food bank for pets. It runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Kitchener and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Stratford, every Friday.”

By providing supplemental support, HSKWSP believes that will help prevent families from having to make heartbreaking decisions, like having to surrender their pet.

In turn, it helps keeps animals out of the shelter. Martin said there are quite a few pets ready right now to find their forever home.

“Currently we have 40 of them (pets) ready for adoption. They are ready to go.”

She added that while the majority are cats and dogs, they also have a turtle and snake who need new families. It’s not just pets being surrendered that’s the problem; it’s also that fewer people are looking to adopt right now.

“We can understand that there are many different barriers for people not wanting to adopt; financial concerns is a big one. Cost of living is going up so we can assume that pets are being impacted as well,” Martin said.

HSKWSP is currently running its Better Together capital fundraising campaign in support of the Pet Outreach program.