THUNDER BAY – Management and staff at the city’s two Canadian Tire outlets have challenged other big box and grocery stores to help the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society out of dire financial straits.
The animal shelter this week was forced to temporarily shut its doors to the public because of a kennel cough outbreak that overwhelmed the 43 dogs being housed there, the vast majority surrendered to the facility from a home in Greenstone.
Officials with the Humane Society issued a plea in the aftermath, saying they needed $50,000 in the next two months to care for the dogs, which for the first time in the shelter’s history outnumber cats at the Rosslyn Road facility.
The alternative could force the doors closed permanently.
Logan Hebert, general manager of the Arthur Street Canadian Tire location, on Friday said most of the staff has pets of their own and news of the situation at the Humane Society tugged at their heartstrings.
There are a number of ways they are helping out, he added.
“They’re in a major crisis right now and we’re in the business of selling pet food and pet supplies and we definitely thought it would be fitting that we not only take cash donations and product donations from customers at our tills, but we also wanted to step up and offer a $5,000 donation to the Humane Society,” Hebert said.
The campaign, which includes providing literature about recurring donations to the shelter, will go on indefinitely.
Brenda Everts, chairwoman of the TBDHS’s board of directors, said the impact will be felt immediately and she’s hopeful it catches on city-wide.
“They’ve also got shopping carts placed at the front of the store where you can donate cat food, litter, dog food. Any little bit helps us at this time,” Everts said.
“They’ve got an extreme amount of support for us at this time. This can make a tremendous impact because we’re hoping that this will multiply right across the city and the district.”
