The Humane Society Yukon received a $10,000 donation over the weekend.
It’s from Cheeky Monkey’s Daycare in Riverdale. The owners, Andi Barlow and her husband Michael Worden, decided in December they wanted to donate to the struggling organization.
The couple has a cat, Fiona, they adopted from the shelter in October 2011. The couple also purchased society memberships at its Dec. 20 annual general meeting.
This donation is another sign the society is moving in a positive direction, said president Seann Springford. This money will help pay off some of the organization’s debts. He estimates the society owes between $50,000 and $60,000.
The shelter has also struggled to pay its staff and maintain its building. “Because if we don’t have that, we don’t have a shelter,” said Springford.
Right now, the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter is accepting animals from the Whitehorse pound. Animals from the community are being accepted on a case-by-case basis, said manager Amanda Farrell. As of Monday morning, there were nine dogs and five cats at the Tlingit Street facility. Most of them came from the city pound, she said.
In November, the shelter stopped accepting animals because it didn’t have enough money. It also laid off staff it couldn’t afford to pay. Six staff are working at the shelter.
Springford was elected president last month after the Yukon Supreme Court ordered the society to hold its annual general meeting to elect a new board and review financial statements. The territory had ordered the society to hold this meeting in October after a government investigation revealed it had broken the Societies Act. But the board of the day had refused.
The Yukon government is still withholding nearly $40,000 in funding for the charity. The registrar’s office is still waiting to receive all of the society’s approved financial statements, said Matt King, spokesperson for Corporate Affairs.
Springford hopes to have this paperwork prepared this week. Once it’s received, the society can be brought back in good standing and the government’s withheld funds should flow.