Humanely Throwing Rocks at Glass Houses

My last post gave me reason to ponder the Winnipeg Humane Society’s newest shelter. All of the press surrounding the project thus far has been positive. What could be better than a home for downtrodden puppies and kittens?

Thus far, I have heard no mention of a Clean Environment Commission report for THEIR new building. Was an ARM’S LENGTH study by the Commission even undertaken? The WHS currently cares for 9,000 animals per year. I would assume that the new facility will allow for growth in this number.

How will the waste for these animals be handled? Will it be dumped into municipal sewers without any form of treatment? The shelter takes in a lot of stray animals. Many of these animals will likely have kennel cough, Parvo (my dog bias is showing) and other unsavoury diseases arising from owner neglect and/or time on the streets. If the waste of these animals makes it into the Red River during a sewage spill, does this mean a dog going into the Red River by Kildonan Park during his/her nightly walk runs the risk of inadvertently catching one of these diseases?

How will the waste of the animals on the shelter grounds be treated? One would hope that these animals will spend at least part of their time outside frolicking about. Will their feces and urine leach onto adjoining properties? Should the folks at the nearby Tim Horton’s and Cora’s be worried when they step into a food handling establishment? Will the employees be tracking in traces of urine, excrement and e. coli when they walk in through the back door? While solid waste will likely be picked up with some frequency, I can’t see the powers that be picking up urine, even in winter. When all of the snow melts, will the urine of 9,000 animals be running onto the streets, into the stormwater systems and onto adjoining properties?

It looks like OlyWest shouldn’t be the only entity subject to closer scrutiny by the Clean Environment Commission. Perhaps the WHS should expend spend more of its energy on some serious introspection. The fact that puppies and kittens are cuter than pigs on their way to the slaughterhouse shouldn’t affect our critical evaluation of BOTH projects and the pressing need for adjudication by an objective third party…