Vision

The Oakville and Milton Humane Society is a resource centre that promotes the Human/Animal Bond through education, prevention and protection, emphasizing kindness, compassion and respect for life.

Mission

Educate, Care, Protect

The Oakville and Milton Humane Society:

• Serves the communities and surrounding areas of Oakville and Milton
• Promotes responsible pet ownership through education and public awareness
• Protects all animals, investigating and prosecuting under the authority of the OSPCA Act
• Provides shelter and care for animals in need

Speaking for those that cannot speak for themselves – we can make a difference together

We invite you to read our 2009 Annual Report.

Funding

All Humane Societies are run independently.

The Oakville & Milton Humane Society is an independent, non-profit organization, funded by donations.  We depend on donations from the public and from corporate sponsors. We have donation boxes in various businesses.

Our charitable registration number is 11906 4350 RR0001.

We also depend on...

• memberships
• fundraising events
• sales from "Sophie's Place", our in-house store
• various promotional activities

And we benefit from lowered costs from local veterinarians.

The Animal Protective Services department of the Shelter has a contract with the Town of Oakville.

History

The Shelter began in January 1936, when a group of concerned citizens decided that lost and abandoned animals needed some place to go where they could be safe from the elements.  By 1939, they were not only helping lost or abandoned animals, but were also handling cruelty complaints.

Originally, the building was located on Morrison Road.  The Shelter moved to its present location in May 1951.

In recent years, we have taken on the Animal Control Contract for the Town of Milton as well as Oakville.  The Milton contract was signed in 1987.

We now have a full time staff of 15 people and they are assisted by approximately 140 volunteers. A Board of 12 Directors decide the policies and procedures for our shelter.

Today the Oakville and Milton Humane Society has space for about 200 animals. These animals come to us because their owners can no longer care for them; because they are lost, abandoned or abused. The Pounds Act states that we must keep any incoming stray for a minimum of 72 hours not including the day the animal came in, Sundays or holidays. This is to allow the owner to claim his/her pet. The majority of our stray animals go back to their owners or are placed in new homes.

Throughout the years, the society has retained its primary mission of addressing animal welfare issues as well as providing food, shelter and care for the many stray and unwanted pets in our community. In addition, the society offers an increasingly wide range of support services including 24 hour emergency service, lost and found, animals for adoption, cruelty investigations, by-law enforcement, animal behaviour counselling, and wildlife rehabilitation.

The Oakville and Milton Humane Society is very committed to the community that it serves. We offer pet visits to health facilities, education in the schools and we participate in many community events.

Our funding comes from donors, special fund raising events, internally generated revenue and animal control contracts with the towns of Milton and Oakville. We received one provincial grant in 1994 which helped with our new renovations, but generally we receive no government funding other than our contracts. We are a private, non-profit, charitable organization.

One concern that every shelter faces is public perceptions. Often shelters are viewed as the place where animals go to die. Here at the Oakville Humane Society we are a "low-kill" facility. Our reasons for resorting to euthanasia are three fold. The first is aggression, the second is health which includes psychological problems and the final and most difficult, is overcrowding. We are proud to say that our euthanasia statistics, due to overcrowding, are about one percent. In order to minimize the need for euthanasia we try very hard to ensure that our animals are spayed or neutered and we educate people about responsible ownership. Through education, spay/neuter programs and assisting people to choose appropriate pets we hope to reduce the number of unwanted animals coming into the shelter.

In order to continue to offer these services and maintain the best possible care for our animals we need volunteer help. Volunteers are involved in every aspect of the shelter with the exception of Animal Control. We would not be able to provide wonderful care for our animals without you.

In the News 

The shelter is currently closed for adoption and viewing while we resolve a small ringworm (fungal) outbreak. Most other services are not affected by the closure.  If you have any questions or concerns, please call the shelter 905-845-1551.   Please click on the links below to follow our story in the news:

Shelter closed, but forever homes still being found

Humane society struggles to find animals a place to call home

Ringworm outbreak: one month later

Humane Society still closed due to ringworm outbreak

Editorial: A blatant abuse of power

Ringworm outbreak closes Oakville animal shelter

Humane society needs satellite facility

Oakville & Milton Humane Society Removes 30 Chihuahuas from Home in Oakville

The Oakville & Milton Humane Society removed 30 Chihuahuas from a home in Oakville today.  Agents worked with the owner of the dogs, who had become overwhelmed with their care and surrendered them to the Oakville & Milton Humane Society.

The Chihuahuas, which range in age from young to older dogs, are currently being assessed by veterinarians for any health issues.

The Oakville & Milton Humane Society were alerted to the dogs and the owners’ inability to care for them, by the Halton Police Department, who were alerted by a member of the community.

‘It will take some time to fully assess these dogs’ said Johanne Golder, Executive Director for the Oakville & Milton Humane Society ‘We will know more about them and their adoptability in the days ahead.’

Read about the dogs and watch the video at CityTV.

Watch us on Global News.