Native animal shelter or sanctuary

How do you start your Canadian native animal sanctuary or shelter?

Can you commit to the long term?

Running an animal shelter or sanctuary is different from most jobs, or even businesses, in that you can’t just quit or close up store when you get tired or bored. It’s a long-term commitment. Kind of like the commitment you made to your beloved pets except that with shelter work, you will have many more lives to consider and many more responsibilities. Very importantly, do you have a network of trusted people who can take your place in case you can no longer take charge?

Do you enjoy your free time? Do you need a lot of sleep?

This is not a 9 to 5 job. It’s not even a 7 to 5 job. When you manage a shelter or sanctuary, the animals are ultimately your responsibility, so you are on call at all times. While having trusted staff, volunteers and supporters does allow you to enjoy some free time, this is not always the case. If you become like most rehabbers – and especially if you are just starting out – it is more likely that your free time will be limited. From administrative tasks, damage control, taking sick animals to the vet, following medication schedules, feeding the animals twice a day, cleaning or building pens and fundraising. . . plan full days.

How do you get along with people?

Learning to communicate with a variety of personalities is essential to managing an animal welfare operation. One of the benefits of this line of work is that you’ll probably meet some of the nicest people this planet has to offer. But you’ll probably also encounter your share of critics and nasty people. And you’ll have to negotiate with donors, neighbors, members and supporters . . .with grace and professionalism.

Are you good at fundraising or are you ready to learn?

Finding funding is a constant challenge for shelters. In addition to your other responsibilities, you will be constantly scrambling to raise money for food, shelter, veterinary expenses, toys, bedding, cages and other expenses. You may be able to find veterinarians and other providers willing to donate their time or services, but you can’t count on them.

Can you write grant proposals, organize special events, run membership campaigns – all while executing a rescue? Or are there people who can commit to helping you with this?

How do you deal with burn-out?

If you’ve read this far, you’ll hopefully realize that managing a rescue is not for those who are afraid of hard work and commitment. The heartbreaking stories, the criticism, the stress of lack of funding. . . total exhaustion. These aspects can all be detrimental to your health and well-being, and a burned-out rehabber could end up making the wrong decisions or being negligent about the animals in their care. That’s why it’s essential to know how to take care of yourself, which includes maintaining a network of care, trusting people to be part of your circle and knowing when to say no when you are asked to take in other injured or orphaned animals but can’t and are stretched to the limit.

Do you have a plan?

Running an animal rescue requires more than just acquiring a few homeless animals. If you wish to operate a shelter or sanctuary, there are rules to follow.

If you decide that running a shelter or sanctuary is not for you, don’t let your talents and dedication go to waste. Consider working or volunteering for one. If you care about animals and are committed to the cause, you are absolutely necessary.

Find the ideal site

Providing shelter for animals means you need land and buildings. It is helpful at this point to decide what type of animals you are going to save. This will determine the size of the land you will need and what you will need to house the animals.

Zoning

Once you have selected a suitable lot, find out the zoning laws for that lot. Depending on where you are trying to build, you will need to contact the city or county offices. If there are existing buildings on the property, a building inspector may be able to advise you on zoning.

Zoning laws regulate the use of land, the number of animals allowed and the species you can have on the land. Agricultural zoning is the most open to animals. But even this type of zoning does not cover exotic animals.

Zoning is just one of the issues to consider when buying land. You must also take into account the rights of your neighbors. How close are they? Hosting dogs can be noisy, and if you don’t have a buffer zone, such as dirt or trees to dissipate the noise, your neighbors can legally file a complaint and possibly force you to close your operation.

Leasing land does not offer any stability to the animals. You don’t want to be in the position of having to move a large number of animals if a lease is not renewed. It is therefore important that the shrine itself has its own grounds. Problems can arise when an individual owns the land. If there is a falling out between this person and other sanctuary staff, the animals could be in danger.

The terrain must also be taken into account. Is the land subject to flooding? Is the property accessible to the public? Is there water and electricity on the site? If not, can it be brought in easily? Or can we offer alternatives in the form of solar units and water storage tanks? Are the access roads passable all year round? There are many questions to ask yourself about a piece of land you are considering. It is best to refer to a real estate brokerage professional. You will be able to discuss your project with him and he will be able to help you make the best choice.

Construction of buildings and enclosures

You might find a lot that has one or more buildings on it. You may be able to adapt the buildings to your uses, but it is likely that you will have to start from scratch. Think about the type of facilities animals need to have a good quality of life.

For sanctuaries, you will need to think in terms of lifetime care. It is not satisfactory, for example, to house animals in individual pens for years. To have a satisfying life, they need the company of other animals.

You will also need to create intake isolation facilities. To protect your resident population from exposure to disease, you will need a place to house all incoming animals for a period of time. During this time, you will be able to assess the health and temperament of each animal. These facilities can be smaller, as they will not be the permanent homes of the animals.

If you already have a complete history of the health and temperament of an animal in your care, you may waive the two-week isolation period. However, we found it helpful to keep the animals in a separate area until they got used to the new routine, diet and staff. This facilitates their merging into the general population.

Finally, each species has specific housing needs. Doing research early on will help you plan effectively.

Obtaining the permit

Wildlife rehabilitation may be performed by the holder of a permit to keep native animals in rehabilitation, but also by the holder of a permit that authorizes the keeping of the species of animal that is to be rehabilitated. In addition to licensees, veterinarians are also allowed to keep animals in captivity for rehabilitation. However, the veterinarian may not transfer or delegate this authorization to other persons.

Rehabilitation conditions for animals

Animals in rehabilitation must be kept according to the following requirements:

every animal must receive the necessary health care when it is injured or ill;
all reasonable means shall be taken to prevent the taming of an animal in rehabilitation or its conditioning for human food, including avoiding eye contact with the public;
an animal kept in rehabilitation must be released as soon as it is able to survive on its own;
once it is determined that an animal is not rehabilitable, it shall be euthanized or turned over to a person designated by a wildlife officer or departmental official.

Conditions and obligations specific to certain species:

only wildlife officers may capture a white-tailed deer, bear or other reportable animal and take it to a rehabilitation center;
a raccoon, striped skunk, fox, wolf or coyote must be vaccinated against rabies within one week of arrival at the rehabilitation site;
a fox, coyote, raccoon, striped skunk or white-tailed deer may not be transferred from the south shore of the St. Lawrence River to the north shore for rehabilitation or for release following rehabilitation;
a fox, coyote, raccoon, striped skunk or white-tailed deer may not be moved more than 75 km from the place of capture for rehabilitation, or for release following rehabilitation (this distance is increased to 150 km for an animal originating from certain areas in the northern part of the province, i.e., hunting zones 12 to 14, 16 to 19, 22 to 24, 28 and 29)
Before being released, a black bear must be identified by an ear tag.

Obligations of the rehabilitation center

In order to ensure that proper care is given to animals in rehabilitation, licensees must have a service agreement with a veterinarian. As needed, the veterinarian will be able to validate animal care protocols, assess injured or sick animals, recommend and prescribe appropriate treatments. To find a veterinarian, you can use the search tool on theOrdre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec website .

***Visit the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks’ Captive Animal Care Permits and Forms page for information on the various permits and to access the forms.

Laws and regulations

the Captive Animal Care Licensing Regulation sets out the types of custody licences, the species that may be kept by licensees, and the conditions for issuing and renewing licences.
The Captive Animals Regulation sets out the conditions for capturing and importing an animal, the standards and conditions for keeping an animal in captivity, selling and disposing of an animal, and the species that may be kept without a license;
The federal Health of Animals Act manages the consequences of certain diseases and toxic substances that can harm animals or be transmitted to humans across Canada.

How to make yourself known

Cultivating partnerships with other rescue organizations is a wonderful opportunity to work together for the good of animals and to raise your profile. Contact us via Facebook so we can connect you with other shelters, sanctuaries or organizations like you!

Platforms like Wix allow you to create your website easily and for free. Once your website is complete, learn about the importance of backlinks (other sites referencing your web page). Specialized sites such as Fiverr put you in contact with web services professionals at more affordable prices.

Use of e-mails (see converkit for mass mailings) and social networks. These are effective and inexpensive ways to stay in touch with people, so it makes sense to use these communication methods to inform your members about your work and solicit their support.

Use direct mail. Direct mail programs can help increase membership, and soliciting donations through direct mail is the backbone of fundraising for many nonprofit organizations. However, direct mail outreach can be costly. Consider finding a local business to donate the printing and someone to sponsor the shipping costs. While the initial investment may be high, the long-term benefits of direct mail are well worth it.

Publicize your cause. On the other hand, there are many ways to get the word out in your area. Heartwarming stories about animals are always welcome on television and in local newspapers. Most newscasts end with a light-hearted story about children, animals or some other human interest topic.

If you can get your story on television, make sure you have materials available so that if people call or email you, you can send them more information.

How to care for an orphan

How to care for an injured animal

Other resources and mentoring

For more resources, advice and mentoring contact us via FacebookMessenger and one of the admins will take the time to get back to you.

We wish you good luck in your projects and hope to count you soon among our association of Quebec shelters, sanctuaries and animal welfare organizations!