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Save Old Souls shutting down due to lack of volunteers

Sep 13, 2017 | 8:54 AM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A regional dog rescue is shutting their doors.

Save Old Souls Senior K-9 Rescue, which focuses on the care and adoption of senior dogs, has announced they are closing down due to a lack of volunteers to continue their operations.

The shelter, which is based in Redcliff, has been in operation since 2001.

“At that time it was a pet rescue,” said president Trudy McKinnon. “They did cats, dogs, gerbils, you name it.”

Over the years, the shelter turned its focus to older dogs.

A statement released on Wednesday said “With four board members, all finishing their terms this fall, it leaves a huge vacancy as they take 30 years of combined experience with them. The decision to close was not easy, however the Board of Directors unanimously agreed that this was the most feasible option. Save Old Souls will no longer be accepting any new dogs, and those remaining in our care will continue to be SOS dogs until their adoption.”

“We can only hope that other rescues, the SPCA, APRC, can help pick up the slack,” McKinnon said.

“I feel confident that we’ll be able to continue to manage the surrenders that they were taking and we’re going to try and work with them really closely in transitioning over their foster program,” said Katie Ayres with the SPCA.

McKinnon said many people from the community are reaching out now, wishing they’d known the situation the rescue was in, saying they’d offer their time. She said board members worked to recruit volunteers at every event the rescue attended, but nothing seemed to work.

“The people we need now, for the executive, we needed them in the organization a year or two or three ago so that they could learn SOS,” she said.

McKinnon hopes someone else can start a similar operation, or that the people wishing to help now volunteer with other animal rescues in the city.