'It warms my heart': What day-to-day life is like inside an animal shelter

The Moncton animal shelter People for Animal Wellbeing has started its fundraising campaign, called Big Draw for Paw lottery, which they hope will help all the dogs, cats and other animals have what they need until a forever home can be found for them.

The People for Animal Wellbeing in Moncton, N.B., formerly known as the Greater Moncton SPCA, has launched their big fundraising campaign for 2023.

The Big Draw for Paw lottery will hopefully make sure all the dogs, cats and other animals have what they need until a forever home can be found for them.

Three destination getaway packages are up for grabs and every ticket purchased will go toward animal care.

Todd Merrill, the director of development People for Animal Wellbeing, said raising funds can be difficult.

"These are challenging times for everyone right now in the community. With inflation costs, people are experiencing a lot of financial hardship, which obviously directly impacts non-profits when they are trying to fundraise."

Merrill said a lot of people aren't aware of the number of medical procedures conducted at the shelter when animals are surrendered.

"We've had animals come in with severe breaks that we have covered the cost for. We also have had a lot of cats come in with eye infections or URIs [Upper Respiratory Infections] and a lot of different medical issues. I don't think a lot of people are aware of the magnitude of the veterinary costs involved," said Merrill.

The shifts are long and busy for the staff at PAW, but at the end of the day, it's all about the animals.

Executive director Heather Smith said at their very core of who they are is the care provided to the animals.

"It's ensuring that they are fed, that their needs are met. That they're clean, that their medical needs are being met," said Smith.

"But we're also trying to meet the needs of the community. Ensuring we are there for them to help, be it through animal control, if they've lost a pet, if they want to adopt a pet or if they need help in some way."

Working with a team at the shelter can be a rewarding job, but it's not without its challenges.

For Smith, her biggest challenge is funding.

"It's the end of the year, we're trying to do our budget for next year," she said. "Worrying about where those funds are going to come from. How are we going to pay the vet bills? How are we going to keep the building open? How are we going to pay the staff?"

Merrill said the staff can occasionally suffer from compassion fatigue.

"It's seeing animals that have been mistreated come in through our doors. It really plays on your emotions," he said.

But there are a lot of great things too.

Adoption counsellor Katelyn Martin said she really likes seeing the animals go home with the perfect fit.

She says animals can become like family. She's sad to see them go, but happy they have a new home.

"The best part of my day is looking out the window and seeing the dog that we found the perfect fit for go into the car with its new owner. It really warms my heart," said Martin.

Lottery tickets for the travel packages are on sale now and available on the People for Animal Wellbeing website.