Remember homeless

pets at Christmas

This Christmas please think about what it means to bring a new member into your family.

Do you have the time to give? Will you have patience with their bad habits (like chewing and clawing)?

Are you willing to make a commitment to this new pet for the next 10 years or more? Taking a pet home and then having to bring that animal back to the shelter is incredibly sad for that pet.

If you are generous enough to make these commitments to a dog, cat or rabbit then come on down to the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter.

We are open at 126 Tlingit Road from 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays (we are closed to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday), or you may visit our website at: www.humanesocietyyukon.ca <http://www.humanesocietyyukon.ca/> or phone 633-6019.

The animal shelter is full to the rafters this December!

You can help in the following ways:

By providing  good permanent homes for cats, dogs and rabbits.

By offering a good foster home.

By volunteering to help out with socializing the cats, walking the dogs and working the bingos that support the work of the shelter.

We always welcome the generous donations of money, towels, blankets, animal supplies and time received from everyone.

We desperately need a new van to help transport food, supplies and most importantly, the pets from the shelter.

Christmas is a busy time for all, and a difficult time to help a new animal adjust, so we do not recommend pets be purchased as Christmas presents.

The staff are present, but the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter will be closed for adoptions from December 19th to December 27th inclusive.

Thank you for your generosity and merry Christmas.

The pets and staff of the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter and the board of Humane Society Yukon.

Lights of Life

Hospice Yukon would like to invite everyone to the opening ceremony of our 16th annual Lights of Life event on Friday, December 15, at 12:15 p.m. in the foyer of the Elijah Smith Building.

We will be joined by the Persephone Singers and light refreshments will be served.

Lights of Life has become a significant part of Christmas for many Yukoners by providing them with a simple but meaningful ritual to remember and honour loved ones who have passed on.

Christmas can be a difficult season for people who are grieving whether the loss occurred this year or many years ago.

Christmas is a time to reflect and sometimes loss is part of that reflection.

Those visiting Lights of Life can choose how they wish to honour their loved ones. They may hang a special remembrance tag on a Christmas tree, take one home to hang on their own tree, write in the Memory Book, or just sit for a moment in quiet contemplation.

There will also be a pet tree for those wanting to remember a pet that has died. For many people pets are very significant members of their family and the death of a pet is often the first loss that a child experiences.

By participating in Lights of Life it can provide families and individuals with a way to remember their special pet at Christmas.

We will also have a Creative Expressions of Grief display with samples of some of the creative ways that people have expressed their grief for a loved one.

Some of these will include a quilt, a memory box, and a photo collage.

Hospice tree-sitter volunteers will be at the Elijah Smith Building after the opening ceremony and Monday through Friday, December 18 to 22 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to lend support and to provide information about Hospice Yukon.

We will also have trees at Hospice House, located at 409 Jarvis Street, Macaulay Lodge, Whitehorse General Hospital, Copper Ridge Place, Whitehorse Corrections Centre, Heritage North Funeral Home and the Blue Feather Youth Centre. For information call Hospice Yukon at 667-7429.

Hospice Yukon offers this valuable event to everyone in our community at no charge.

Lights of Life is made possible by the generous contributions of individuals and local businesses, many of whom support this meaningful program every year.

Thank you all once again.

Cathy Routledge, executive director, Hospice Yukon Society, on behalf of our board of directors, volunteers and staff