With less than a month until Christmas, the Timmins and District Humane Society is hoping to get you and your pet into the Christmas spirit and raise some much needed funds in the process.
Starting this weekend, November 29 and 30 and continuing for the next two weekends, December 6 and 7 and December 13 and 14 respectively, the Timmins and District Humane Society (TDHS) will be hosting Santa Paws at the 101 Mall where you can get your pets’ portrait done with Santa.
“Santa Paws will be set up on the main floor of the mall, where Pick of the Crop used to be,” said Christine Bradshaw, Manager of TDHS. “We will be open from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. each day of the event.”
For a $10 donation to the TDHS, anyone who brings their pet to have photos taken with Santa will receive a CD of images that are ready for upload to social media, printing or any use.
In previous years, people have been known to use the photos to have custom Christmas cards made by a variety of print shops.
“The number of photos you get may vary from pet to pet, depending on how patient the animal is during the photo session and how comfortable the animal is around new people. You never know how your pet is going to react to Santa and all the excitement that is going on around them,” says Chelsey Romain of the Humane Society.
The Timmins and District Humane Society is a donation driven organization, so the money raised from the Santa Paws event will help fund the day to day operations as well as the emergency cases that come through the door.
“The bulk of the money that we raise goes toward animal care. That’s what we do here, day to day,” says Bradshaw.
“Whether it’s a stray that might just need its vaccines or a puppy that comes in with a broken leg, any money we raise allows us to continue to save these lives and ensure that these animals can go on to find their forever home.”
“This year has been an exceptionally busy year with special cases that needed to go to Guelph because they couldn’t be taken care of here,” said Romain. “We are criticized for the financial decisions that we make, with some people questioning the dollar value of an animal’s life when compared to the other things that money could go to support within the shelter.
“It’s hard to understand the decisions that we make when you don’t see the day to day impact of those decisions,” she said. “It’s not just about the lives that we save, like Douglas and Diesel; it’s also about the lives that we couldn’t save.
“People don’t realize how heart breaking it can be and there’s got to be a bright side. Once in a while we get the opportunity to save a life and really do something good for the animals that we love so much, so I think that’s a big factor in why we keep putting these pleas out and hoping that people will help us.”
“Fund raisers are part of what we have to do here to continue helping animals in need,” said Romain.
“I just hope that people come out and continue to help us do what we do, and take the opportunity to get into the Christmas spirit and bring their furry friends into it too.”
