Ontario animal shelter ‘bursting at the seams,’ taking care of pets in hallways
The Georgian Triangle Humane Society reports that pet surrenders have increased by 144 per cent over the last couple of years, with the high cost of living the main reason people are struggling to take care of their furry friends.
The society’s executive director, Karen Marsh, says the demand for its services has been overwhelming, coming from all different angles.
Marsh told Global News the Collingwood, Ont., shelter has a waiting list for people needing to surrender their pets and that the demand for its veterinary care services, pet food and basics is also pretty high.
“People are experiencing dire challenges around the cost of veterinary care, the cost of housing, trying to find housing that accepts pets that are pet-friendly for them. We are experiencing people who are in a temporary crisis,” she said.
The humane society was built to house 500 animals a year but has outgrown the space, currently servicing 4,000 animals a year.
“We are bursting at the seams. We have dogs and cats who are recovering in the hallways after their spay and neuter surgeries. We have all kinds of youth programs that we offer, and they’re very popular, but we don’t have the space to house those kids to come in and experience the beauty of the human-animal bond,” Marsh said.
Pets are recovering in hallways after surgery at the Georgian Triangle Humane Society due to a lack of space.
Supplied by Georgian Triangle Humane Society
Unlike most shelters, where people need to surrender their pets permanently, the Georgian Triangle offers people the opportunity to temporarily surrender their animals for three months.
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The shelter also offers clients who can’t afford pet food access to its pet food bank to ensure they can feed their pets and keep them in their homes.
Marsh said this is to help in situations where someone lands on hard times financially or is having medical issues and can’t care for their pet.
“We believe … that everyone deserves a pet. We don’t believe that because you are experiencing perhaps temporary challenges in your life, that you necessarily have to surrender your pet,” she said.
She says the bond between people and their pets is strange and important, not only for the animals but also for their owners.
The issue is the current cost of living, which is causing more people to struggle.
“We are at really a crisis in terms of our capacity and we’re trying everything that we can do (to) think outside the box,” she said.
To cope, many shelter staff take animals to their own homes temporarily until space becomes available.
“Sometimes the emergency is so dire that we just take the animal. We don’t have anywhere to put that animal at that given moment, but we find a solution,” Marsh said.
Despite the pressure of the demand for their help, Marsh says it’s better than the alternative.
“There’s lots of different ways that people traditionally have dealt with an unwanted animal, so we’re happy that people come to us, but what we are not happy about is having to turn them away because of our capacity,” Marsh said.
To keep up with the growing demand for its services, the shelter is planning to build a new state-of-the-art facility.
Georgian Triangle Humane Society rendering of the new Regional Centre for Pets and People that is soon to be under construction.
Supplied by Georgian Triangle Humane Society
Georgian Triangle Humane Society rendering of the new Regional Centre for Pets and People that is soon to be under construction.
Supplied by Georgian Triangle Humane Society
The 19,000-square-foot animal centre will be built on five acres of secured land, enabling the humane society to dramatically expand its ability to care for and help people connect with the animals it serves.
With the ability to provide more critical services, the organization says it will finally have the space to offer genuine hope for the pets and people who come to it for support.
Construction on the Regional Centre for Pets and People, which is designed to amplify the impact of the GTHS in the years to come, will start in early July.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.
The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.
New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.
Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.
Montreal finished second in the category.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”
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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.
In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.
“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”
Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.
In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.
Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.
Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”
To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.
Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.
Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.
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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.
Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.
A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.
Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.
At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.
“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
Provided
Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.
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By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.
“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.
After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.
“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.
Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.
“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.
The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.
“I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.
“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.
“I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”
In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.
Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.
Provided
Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.
“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.
“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”
She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.
“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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