GUELPH, ON (March 18, 2021) – After being in operation for only 10 days in their new home at 190 Hanlon Creek Boulevard, the Guelph Humane Society (GHS) has welcomed its first farm animal into the building. The 18,000 sq ft building has a dedicated farm animal room, and a chicken became its first occupant on Wednesday. The hen was wandering around off of Clairfields Drive W in Guelph, and was brought in as a stray by two GHS Animal Services officers.
“This isn’t that odd in Guelph,” says Sonia Maiorano, GHS Animal Care Coordinator and a Registered Veterinary Technician. “I’ve been working here for a year, and I think this is the seventh stray chicken or rooster that has been brought in.”
Maiorano was excited to bring the hen into the dedicated farm animal room. She set the space up to mimic a real chicken coop, with wood chippings and elevated climbing structures.
“It will be even better this spring when we can build the outdoor pen, so the chickens and roosters in our care can come inside or out as they please,” says Maiorano. “But for now, the chicken looks quite happy.”
Maiorano adds that bringing in farm animals is now much easier at the new facility.
“At the old building, we would have to set up a dog crate at night to keep roosters or chickens contained. One of those large wire crates,” says Maiorano. “If the weather was nice, we would let them go outside during the day – but we were always running back and forth to set up safe spaces. Now the space is already here. And we don’t have to worry about outdoor wildlife approaching them. They are safe inside with us.”
The chicken will remain at GHS for what is known as the stray period – which gives owners five business days to come and get their animal. If no owner comes forward in those five days, the GHS team will start the rehoming process for her.
The Grand River Agricultural Society is a proud supporter of the GHS Farm Animal Program which will include a new outdoor pen named in their honour.
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About the Guelph Humane Society
The Guelph Humane Society advocates for all animals, and in particular those animals whose lives it can influence, through care, education, community support, protection, and leadership. Founded in 1893, the Guelph Humane Society provides care and shelter for approximately 3,000 homeless, stray, injured and abused animals each year in Guelph and Wellington County. GHS is a registered charitable, non-profit organization that does not receive government funding. Visit www.guelphhumane.ca to discover more.
Follow GHS:
Facebook: @guelphhumanesociety
Twitter: @guelphhumane
Instagram: @the_ghs
Media Contact
Natalie Thomas
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Guelph Humane Society
519-824-3091
nthomas@guelphhumane.ca