January 2026 Newsletter
A message from the President
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Greetings everyone! Here we are at the end of another year and although we are already into winter, we are prepared for it. We have continued to do lots of work on the shelter building and grounds over the past year to ensure the animals will be comfortable. Inside, some painting was done in the cat rooms to freshen things up, plus the use of a new industrial vacuum has done wonders at removing the water used to clean the dog kennels. A second water heater was added this year to facilitate cleaning. High speed fibre is finally coming down the road to the shelter and will enable us to get faster, more reliable Internet. Outside, the dogs are still enjoying a large section of our grounds that was enclosed by chain link fencing two years ago. We have now installed high efficiency outdoor lighting in that area so volunteers can more easily see when they are exercising the dogs at night. Other details, including widening the driveway, are included in the list below.
Our staff and volunteers continue to do an excellent job of meeting safety and health requirements while caring for our animals. They have found loving homes for 160 cats, including 87 kittens, and 72 dogs, including 22 puppies, in 2025. We are very fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers as well as our hard working office staff who all go the extra mile to look after our animals and find them caring forever homes. A huge thank you to everyone for your help! Once again, we’ve had a number of generous donations from individuals, bequests and corporate partners this year and we are truly grateful for their help as well. Covid is not quite as much of a concern now, so while being careful, we did carry on with our previous fundraisers. We had our large yearly yard sale on July 5th plus several smaller fundraisers and the revenue from our Cat’s Meow shop on Boucher Street in Meaford, all of which keep us going. On behalf of the animals, thank you! |
*We are also looking for people who would like to join our organization as members and/or serve on our Board of Directors. Memberships only cost $20 and you get the benefit of receiving our updates and newsletters as well as being able to vote at our AGM each year.
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Richard Banks, Board President |
Some of our Activities This Year
Many thanks to the Haunted Farm for so many lovely donations and for putting on such a fun community event! Our pets will love all the goodies! Thanks Cari-Lynn!
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Holiday Craft and Vendor Show at Owen Sound Legion. Thanks Margie for your support!
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Pet Photos with Santa was a great success too! Many thanks to Adam at Global Pet Foods Owen Sound for organizing the event and arranging for donations to the shelter. Thanks to everyone who brought their furry friends for a holiday visit!
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Our 2026 calendar/fundraiser, featuring many of our 2025 adoptees. We still have some available. Get yours at the Shelter or the Cat’s Meow store in Meaford. Thanks to Sam for organizing it and various volunteers who took the great photos of our animals to go in it!
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Happy Faces - Some 2025 Adoptees!
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Some Special Challenges in 2025:
In addition to our regular surrendered cats and dogs, we’ve had a few special needs animals brought to our shelter for care and hopefully, adoption. These included 3 adorable blind deaf puppies, a half starved dog and some sick and/or orphaned kittens. Fortunately, because of the dedication of our foster volunteers, staff and the generosity of the community, we were able to help these pets find homes and get the care they needed. We encourage everyone to spay and/or neuter their pets and any feral cat colonies. |
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Premises Project Updates
* Outside LED Floodlighting*
Outside powerful LED floodlights were installed on the building's east side gable and south side gable. This was much needed for the late fall/winter/ early spring time frames to provide lighting for our evening dog walkers as they use the walking trails in the field to the south and east areas of the shelter building.
*Driveway Entrance Widening*
The old entrance has always been too narrow for larger service vehicles especially, and general ease of access/egress for all vehicles.
This fall the driveway entrance was substantially widened and is now much safer for all vehicles coming/going.
*Other projects are getting approved and will be completed in the near future. See our President’s message above for details.
Outside powerful LED floodlights were installed on the building's east side gable and south side gable. This was much needed for the late fall/winter/ early spring time frames to provide lighting for our evening dog walkers as they use the walking trails in the field to the south and east areas of the shelter building.
*Driveway Entrance Widening*
The old entrance has always been too narrow for larger service vehicles especially, and general ease of access/egress for all vehicles.
This fall the driveway entrance was substantially widened and is now much safer for all vehicles coming/going.
*Other projects are getting approved and will be completed in the near future. See our President’s message above for details.
Meet Our Staff
We have had some updates in the 2025 shelter staff as follows:
- Laurie continues in her more specialized role as in-house vet tech.
- Natasha, is a professional handler of dogs in dog shows, runs her own grooming salon, and is also a CKC registered breeder and handler of Cocker Spaniels. She continues to do a great job grooming our pets, especially some that come in to us heavily matted.
- Marie has experience working with other rescues as well as coordinating volunteers in a hospital setting.
- Jenna has training as a clinic cleaner, vet assistant and has also assisted in managing a stable.
- Trevor owns and runs the Markdale Pet Valu and fosters animals for rescues, so brings business and animal care expertise.
Fundraising and Upcoming Events
- Bosch & Roxy’s Gourmet Dog Cookies ongoing fundraiser sale
- West Coast Seeds ongoing fundraiser
- A clothing fundraiser in April with GBAS logo
- Trivia night fundraiser May 22 at Heartwood Hall, Owen Sound, with Trivia by Ross
- A nail trim & microchip fundraiser on May 31
- A fundraiser BBQ at Pet Valu Owen Sound on June 7. Thanks for sponsoring this event!
- GBAS annual yard sale July 5th - well attended with plenty of sales
- Participation in the Meaford Pet Expo in July
- Our second annual Dog Jog, held in October at Harrison Park in Owen Sound. We had 61 puppers register for the event, along with their human companions. It was a glorious sunny day and everyone had a great time.
- Deadly Grounds Coffee fundraiser
- The Holiday Craft Show at the Owen Sound Legion on November 29, organized by long-time supporter Margie Doman.
- A 2026 calendar fundraiser
Thank you for helping us help our animals!
The Cat's Meow
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Our Cat’s Meow store in Meaford is a charity shop that sells donated small household goods such as lamps, tables, chairs, books, decor items and kitchen implements, among other things and is totally volunteer run.
We are now open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm. A combination of fantastic donations of goods and steady sales provide a welcome source of income for the shelter! Thanks to all who have donated items to sell and to our hard working volunteers who run the store! The store entrance is on Boucher Street just off Sykes - come and visit! |
Thanks for your ongoing support everyone! |
