Toronto Humane Society reopens June 28

From Toronto Humane Society website:

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Humane Society is pleased to announce that the THS will reopen to the public on June 28th.

“We are all very excited to be reopening the shelter and to begin helping animals in need.” said THS President Michael Downey. “The Board is confident in the revitalization efforts that took place and are eager to resume full operations on June 28th.”

The Toronto Humane Society has been closed to the public to undergo a court approved revitalization effort. During this closure we have renovated parts of our shelter to streamline operations and make it more accessible to the public. THS staff have undergone a comprehensive retraining course to ensure that every animal will receive the best care possible.

“We have worked extremely hard during this revitalization period to strive to meet our goal of being a leader in animal care, adoption and advocacy.” said Garth Jerome, Executive Director. “I am pleased to be able to open the shelter and welcome animals in need back into the THS, and the community to give them loving forever homes.”

The THS is currently booking appointments for owners that need to surrender their animals to the THS. The public can visit the website (www.torontohumanesociety.com) prior to June 28th to see the animals that we have available for adoption.
The Toronto Humane Society is a not‐for‐profit organization solely funded through charitable donations that has been delivering care to animals since 1887. Its mission is to promote the humane care and protection of all animals and to prevent cruelty and suffering.


REMARKS OF TORONTO HUMANE SOCIETY PRESIDENT MICHAEL DOWNEY

It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the new board of directors including Vice–President, Marcie Laking and executive director, Garth Jerome, who are with me this morning ‐to announce that the Toronto Humane Society will officially reopen to the public on Monday, June 28th.

This means that we are “back in business” – helping animals in need.

The decision to re‐open the Toronto Humane Society was made at a board meeting last week after an assessment of the Society’s financial situation and the ongoing revitalization plan. As President, I was the lucky board member who was asked to pose the motion that recommended the re‐opening on June 28th – and if I may say so, it felt pretty darn good.

This institution has gone through some very difficult times. But that is now behind us as we look forward to a compassionate and professional Toronto Humane Society ‐ that provides a vital service to the animals and public of the Greater Toronto Area.
I am very proud to be a member, donor and now President of this great institution. I hope that Torontonians who care as much about animals and animal welfare as we do will also join this organization by volunteering, by becoming a member and/or helping the animals through providing much needed financial support through donation.

It should not come as a surprise that we will need to quickly ramp up fund raising in order for the Toronto Humane Society to provide the level of care that the animals need. And we are confident that the donors will step up ‐ because the animals deserve the best care possible.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the staff and the numerous volunteers at the Toronto Humane Society for their patience in waiting for this re‐opening to be announced. This committed group of professionals has been preparing diligently for this day over the last few weeks and months. They too want to get past the turbulent times, and get on with providing compassionate care for the animals under a fully transparent THS.

And now that we are officially back‐in business, we are booking appointments for owners who unfortunately need to surrender their animals. The public can visit our website to check‐out the beautiful animals that we will have available for adoption. On a personal note, my family is patiently waiting to adopt 2 kittens that will be cared for in the new and improved kitten nursery of the THS!

I invite you all to join us on June 28th as we re‐open this great Toronto institution. With your help we can make the Toronto Humane Society a leader in animal welfare once again. Thank you.