2020: The Year of Coming Together

2020 has been an extraordinary year. But what stands out amongst all the change and uncertainty, is how remarkable Toronto Humane Society’s community is.

As the year comes to an end, we want to thank you for your constant support, especially during difficult times like these, as you continue to help improve the lives of animals and build a more humane society. Here are some key highlights that we accomplished this year, together:

Supporting Front Line Workers: At the beginning of the pandemic there was a shortage of PPE. We donated unused medical to St. Michaels. Then the call went out to our community for handmade PPE. You promptly responded and the PPE came flowing in. We have enough to last us for a long time, and our staff members look more stylish than ever.

Keeping Pets in Loving Homes: We were unsure if we would be considered an essential service at the beginning of the pandemic. So, we planned for minimal human presence in our facility and reached out to our community for help. You responded, quickly, and opened your homes as foster parents and adoptive parents. In the meantime, we rallied to ensure our voice was heard so that we can continue to care for animals at Toronto Humane Society. We want to thank all of the people who opened their homes to animals in need and supported us during this transitional period.

Increasing Community Support: During this time of uncertainty, Toronto Humane Society has been able to increase our community support thanks to the help of our donors. We doubled, even tripled, our efforts in community programs such as the Pet Food Bank, which provides food to humans and their pets during this time of economic hardship, and the Urgent Foster Care program, which lovingly provides a temporary solution for people who need help caring for their pets instead of relinquishing them. Thanks to your support we can go the extra mile to keep families in our community, and beyond, together. For example, cats had been going missing in Smiths Falls, Ontario. A few of these missing cats ended up in our care and we were able to reunite two of them with their guardians – including Bandit, who was so happy to see his human Peggy again. Although Bandit was in bad shape, when he finally saw his human, he started to meow like crazy – it was truly a beautiful moment.

Although a challenging year, COVID-19 has validated our belief in developing strong community ties. We’re grateful for every single one of you. For those of you who answered our calls for help, for those of you who stood by us even as you may have struggled, and for those of you who kept us going through it all. Together we were able to overcome obstacles and continue to help animals, and their guardians, in new ways.

Thank you for continuing to inspire us and may we all continue to love and support each other in 2021 and beyond.

Wishing your family safety, peace, and happiness.

– Everyone at Toronto Humane Society