2015 Summit Award Winner - Wellness

The Summit for Health and Wellness Provider of the Year recognizes the efforts of an organization to improve the overall levels of health and wellness for urban animals in a specific community, area of intervention or industry sector. Our winner this year is…

City of Edmonton Animal Care & Control Centre (ACCC)

The City of Edmonton received 83.2% of the votes for their on-site surgery suite which allows the Animal Care and Control Centre to help fix animals that are in immediate distress from wounds, broken bones, or other issues needing surgical intervention and spay/neuter animals that can be accepted by rescues.

The ACCC is responsible for caring for the 6,500 stray animals each year. Animals are held for 3-10 days in hopes that an owner will come forward and claim the animal. If the animal is not claimed, staff assess the animal for transfer out to the Edmonton Humane Society or a rescue group. Over the years the Vet staff has received great feedback from the rescue network. The concern from the network was always money and lack of support for spay and neuters of animals, or dentals. This reduces the number of animals that the rescues can take, thus increasing the ACCC’s euthanasia numbers. Recently staff were mandated by Council to reduce euthanasia numbers of adoptable animals. Armed with a small budget, the vet staff went on a mission to get a surgery suite built in the facility. This would allow the ACCC to A) help fix animals that are in immediate distress from wounds, broken bones, or other issues needing surgical intervention and B) spay/neuter animals that can be accepted by rescues.

100% of adoptable animals have been saved largely due to this new surgical suite. Without the surgical suite, animals that went to rescue most likely would have been euthanized, or would have been held in the Centre for an indefinite amount of time waiting for some room at the Edmonton Humane Society. Also, animals that came in with broken bones, infected uteruses, unable to urinate, or with severe wounds or injuries, would have been euthanized to end their suffering.

Urban Animal is grateful to Pets Plus Us for sponsoring the Summit Awards.