THUNDER BAY – The city is looking for up to 12 residents with experience in animal welfare to join its animal services taskforce.
It’s important for the city and stakeholders to work together to fill in the gaps in animal services, Kristyn Lovato-Day, a policy and research analyst for the city, told Newswatch in an interview Thursday.
“Our community is very pet-centric. We want to make sure that dogs and cats are well taken care of, and we are a part of that system, and so are the rescues and other organizations. We need to be able to collaborate,” Lovato-Day said.
The taskforce will be a collective of people interested in the well-being of animals. The city is interested in formalizing a partnership with rescue groups, the humane society, animal adoption agencies, and veterinarians.
Lovato-Day said the city wants their expertise and input on how the city should improve animal services.
The animal services taskforce is part of the larger plan to get the city back on track in taking in stray pets.
The city has limited resources to operate its shelter services; therefore, reconnecting with community partners will help the city provide care to stray animals and find them their forever home.
“There were relationships in that plan that were supposed to be nurtured, and really they have fallen off, so we're attempting to start those back up again and get the community back on board,” Lovato-Day said.
“There were some issues with strays not being picked up, and now they are, so we have made some positive changes in that area. But we're looking for more gaps and where we can help more, what kind of recommendations that the community actually wants to see council implement.”
The city has already established a process for re-homing animals through its website, with a list of dogs that are currently in care. Accompanying each dog is a photo and the location where they were found.
