Birthday Parties

Birthday party bookings are made online right on this page! You can scroll up to find our booking calendar.

Payment for the birthday party is to be made online and is required in order to confirm the booking.

Included in each birthday party are the following: 

• A Birthday Party Facilitator to lead the event 

• Private room for the 2-hour party  

• Animal-themed presentation 

• Shelter tour 

• Animal interaction 

• Craft 

• Decorations 

• Room set-up and clean-up 

Our availability is listed on our website’s Birthday Party page. We typically update our availability 4-5 months in advance (ie., May dates would be posted in January).  

We host birthday parties on most Saturdays, and the occasional Sunday, from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm.  

Typically, our website is up-to-date on our availability. If you do not see a birthday party time slot on a particular Saturday, you can reach out to programs@guelphhumane.ca to see if we are able to accommodate your group. 

10:45 – 11:00 / 1:45 – 2:00 

• Early arrival time to set up decorations (if needed) 

11:00 – 11:05 / 2:00 – 2:05 

• Guests arrival 

11:05 – 11:20 / 2:05 – 2:20 

• Presentation on chosen animal theme (led by GHS Birthday Party Facilitator) 

11:20 – 11:45 / 2:20 – 2:45 

• Craft making (led by GHS Birthday Party Facilitator) 

11:45 – 12:15 / 2:45 – 3:15 

• Tour and animal interaction (led by GHS Birthday Party Facilitator) 

12:15 – 1:00 / 3:15 – 4:00  

• Time allocated for snacks, presents, etc. (led by parents/guardians) 

Yes! You can arrive a maximum of 15 minutes early to set up additional decorations. Please note that if you arrive more than 15 minutes in advance of your party start time that the room may not be ready as we do run other programs on Saturdays and need time to set up the room for your event. Thank you for your understanding.  

Yes! An animal interaction is included at each birthday party! 

When you book a birthday party, you will indicate what your top two animals would be for the interaction and we do our very best to accommodate one of these choices.  

Please note that the animal that will be brought in for an interaction is dependent on the animals that are in the shelter the day of the party, their overall demeanor that day, and many other factors. Our staff may make the decision that we do not have any appropriate animals of your choice to bring in for an interaction. These decisions are made to keep everyone safe. In these situations, we will discuss what other animals we can bring in for the interaction on the day of the birthday party, before the Birthday Party Facilitator starts the presentation.  

Thank you for your understanding.  

The craft choices are: 

• Clay Animal & Adoption Certificate 

• Pet Bookmark 

• Pet Finger Puppets 

• Pom-Pom Dog Keychain 

• Cat Headband 

Please feel free to bring whatever snacks you would like! We kindly ask that all food and drink remain unopened or covered until the end of the animal interaction.  

You are more than welcome to have food delivered to the shelter for your party! Please see the schedule below to determine what time you should have the food delivered for.  

Yes! We will set up the room with decorations (birthday sign, tablecloths, balloons, etc.) and have reusable plates, cutlery, etc. that will be set out for your group. 

We have digital invitations that you can print off and distribute. Please see below for the invitation links. 

Dog Invitation 

Cat Invitation 

Rabbit Invitation 

No! Our staff will take care of all of the clean up at the end! 

Parents of party guests are permitted to stay, as long as the total number of guests does not exceed 15 people. Thank you for your understanding.  

Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate more than 10 guests at our birthday parties. During each animal interaction our goal is to provide each participant with an engaging and positive experience while keeping the stress to a minimum for the animal. We have found that when the guest size exceeds 10 these goals are hard to obtain. Thank you for your understanding.  

When you arrive for your birthday party, please enter through our Main Entrance. All guests should also enter through our Main Entrance.  

Our facility is NOT a nut-free facility.  

For any unanswered questions, please email programs@guelphhumane.ca.