The Gimli Humane Society

For Immediate Release

A home of their own
Shelter provides temprorary home for dogs

By Jim Mosher
Sunday May 09, 2004

Interlake Spectator — Charlotte Marks first saw the diminutive Milton in a newspaper story about Gimli’s fledgling animal shelter. That was about 18 months ago.
“All I knew was that a little grey dog was at the shelter,” Marks said of the dog named Milton.
“They said he was blind and deaf. Well, he’s not blind and he’s not deaf,” chuckles Marks. “He’s just kind of dumb. He’s just totally oblivious.”
Marks met Milton after she brought some treats for the animals at the shelter, which is located on Tudor Lane in Gimli Industrial Park. There she met Gail Kreutzer, one of the driving forces behind the transformation of what once served as a simple dog pound into what would become a true animal shelter.
“Milton went running up to Gail,” recalls Marks. “I thought right then and there that I’d have to have him.”
That was October 2002.
Kreutzer says Marks’s experience has been mirrored many times since a small group of volunteers decided to transform a dog pound into a sort of orphanage.
“It’s really come a long way,” Kreutzer said of the shelter. “Since we changed to a shelter concept in the fall of 2002, all our dogs have been adopted. That’s over 50 dogs that would have been potentially destroyed. It is so heartwarming.”
An animal lover all her life, Kreutzer took up the challenge of creating a shelter after a former student working at the Gimli municipal office suggested she would be interested in a ‘pet’ project.
“Kelly Cosgrove, at the municipality, asked me to consider taking the dogs at the then-pound out for a walk. It evolved from there,” said Kreutzer.
And Kreutzer isn’t alone. A handful of individuals and couples visit the shelter each day to walk the up to eight dogs housed there.
Ron Coleman and his wife Christine are among the committed.
The Colemans’ experience began when they found a blind dog at Gimli Harbour. They contacted animal control officer Rene Granger, who told them about the shelter.
“At that time, the dogs just didn’t get out too much,” said Ron. “We got involved and realized we couldn’t stop.”
The Colemans spend about an hour five days a week walking the dogs at the Gimli Animal Shelter.
“It’s great,” says Kreutzer. “What a great way to get out for a walk.”
Ron Coleman says matching dogs with new owners may take time. “Some of the dogs we get, you’d think nobody would have them. But there’s a perfect home for every one of these dogs,” he said.
It’s finding that match, partly by raising the profile of the shelter, that simply takes time.
Though the shelter volunteers have acheieved a lot in a few short years, Kreutzer says more people are needed to ensure animals find homes and are walked daily. Walkers are particulalrly needed for evenings.
The shelter needs volunteers in other capacities, as well.
“People who are skilled at writing proposals; those who have ideas for fundraisers -- anything that anybody feels will help in any capacity,” said Kreutzer.
And money doesn’t hurt.
“Everything we do -- with the exception of the animal control officer and the facility itself -- is all run by donations,” said Kreutzer.
Volunteers conduct fundraisers to pay for newspaper advertising of dogs for adoption and purchase food.
“And we are really low on food,” said Kreutzer, who adds financial contributiions are preferred because the shelter wants to ensure high-quality food is given to the animals.
The animal shelter has proved itself.
“The best part of the story,” concludes Kreutzer, “is that all the dogs have been adopted.”
She singles out animal control officer Granger. “I can’t say enough about Rene. I see in him a person who really cares about animals.”
For more about the shelter, contact Granger at 389-3301. To volunteer, contact Kreutzer at 642-4452.

For More Information Contact:

Gimli Animal Shelter
Gimli Industrial Park
Tel: 204-642-4775
FAX:
Internet: gimlianimalshelter@mts.net