Adoptions at the Moose Jaw Humane Society have been slow as of late, but that is expected to turn around in the coming weeks.

"There's a little lull between Christmas and New Year's, which is understandable," explained Executive Director Dana Haukaas. "People are super busy and it's not always the best time to add a pet to your family. In the new year, we're starting to do adoptions again."

She notes space remains limited for cats.

"Every winter we have an increase in the number of cats coming in. It seems that somebody finds a stray cat in August and they feed it and then when the temperature gets down to below zero, everybody wants to bring that stray cat in at the same time. We do try really hard to accommodate everybody, but obviously, we wouldn't have room for every stray cat in the City of Moose Jaw on the same day. We ask that if you find that stray cat, give us a call right away, don't wait until the weather gets cold."

The issue at this time of year is that most of the cats are adults which means only one per kennel.

Haukaas says space for dogs is also running out.

"For dogs, we've had an increase in people surrendering dogs, which thankfully, very few of them have been adopted from us. They're probably people who got dogs during COVID and now that life is returning to normal and people are starting to travel, they aren't having enough time for the dogs. We are having to put people on a waitlist for surrendering their dog because we just don't have the space."

In terms of fundraising, the Moose Jaw Humane Society is planning to launch a 50/50 Valentine's Day raffle in the coming days. There is also a bookstore at the shelter with all of the proceeds going towards the care of the animals.