Megan Barrett, executive director of the Central Alberta Humane Society, with her three dogs. (Supplied)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

FOCUSING ON ANIMAL QUALITY OF LIFE

Humane Society’s new executive director is paw-sitively fit for the role

Aug 7, 2024 | 6:36 PM

The Central Alberta Humane Society (CAHS) has fetched itself a new executive director, Megan Barrett, a passionate animal lover with years of experience in the veterinary field.

“I’m honoured to lead the Central Alberta Humane Society and I take this responsibility very seriously. I’m committed to building with the strong foundation that has already been established,” said Barrett. “With my vision and strategic plans, the support of our community, and the support of our staff and volunteers, I think we’ll be able to achieve great things for the animals and people that we serve here.”

Barrett became executive director on July 31, 2024, and has been serving as a board member since 2022.

Before working with the CAHS, she was a veterinary technical assistant and worked with animals for about 12 years.

“It’s helped me be able to make informed decisions about animal health, their welfare. Also clients and potential owners, it just makes it easier for me to step in and help educate these people because I have that animal knowledge,” she said.

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While an experienced executive director is a treat for the non-profit, she’s come into the role at a difficult time.

“With the wildfires happening, we have rescues and organizations reaching out for help. Even though we are at capacity, we are still going to open for some — as much as we can take in and help,” said Barrett.

Along with added capacity pressures from wildfires, Barrett addressed that capacity has been at a maximum for cats in particular.

“It’s been a really slow summer for adoptions,” she said. “Whether that’s the times – everything just seems to be going up and up in pricing – the care that people have to provide is also costly. We’re just not seeing a lot of movement and we are trying to do what we can.”

Moving forward, she hopes to increase that adoption rate through continuing practices like discounts on animals with long-term stays and highlighting the animals’ personalities.

Barrett also stressed that the society is not government funded and all income is from donors, fundraising efforts, and community programs they offer in the summer, which can make times like this particularly tight.

“We do need the support of our people here. I know that there’s a lot of organizations looking for support, but in order for us to keep giving the top tier care I feel like our staff are providing, we need just a little bit of help and support from our community,” she said.

On August 24 the organization will hold its Pancakes for Paws fundraiser, one of the events Barrett hopes will deepen the non-profit’s connections to the community. She added that wet or dry food donations at this event would be greatly appreciated.

Read more: Pancakes for Paws

In addition to strengthening community connections, Barrett is committed to maintaining and improving shelter animal quality of life.

In the next year, this could include recruiting more volunteers for things like cat cuddling and dog walking, completing facility improvements, and restructuring the dog runs, which Barrett said need care.

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