Statement from EHS re; cat transport incident

June 4, 2018

As professionals who dedicate their lives to advancing animal welfare and who serve
thousands of animals each year through our mission, we are disheartened about an incident
that recently happened when transporting animals. A series of unintentional events occurred
that resulted in an internal review and a subsequent update to our transfer policies and
procedures.

On March 27, a team from the Edmonton Humane Society travelled to another agency to
transport animals back to our shelter in Edmonton. Upon return to Edmonton, during the
unloading of the animals, three cats were unknowingly left in the vehicle. The cats were
discovered when staff began preparing for another transfer on April 18. The cats were
immediately assessed by our medical team and veterinarians who reported the cats as being
alert and responsive, although dehydrated and hungry. Thankfully, we have no major injuries
or illnesses to report other than mild urine burns on some of their feet. The cats were
rehydrated with fluids and provided with food and a bath in our veterinary hospital. The EHS
medical team continued to closely monitor the cats to ensure a full recovery. Once they were
medically cleared, the cats were transferred to a partner agency, which is a common
practice in the animal welfare sector.

Following this incident, EHS conducted a full internal review of team members involved and of
our internal processes and procedures to ensure that this does not happen again. Given the
sensitive nature of this incident and to respect the privacy of the employees involved and
impacted, further information cannot be disclosed. We are incredibly grateful that the cats
made a full recovery.

Transfers are an integral part of animal management for EHS. As a result of this incident,
additional checks and balances have been put into place to make sure a situation such as
this does not occur again and to minimize the risk of human error. Heightened requirements
have already been implemented.

We can confirm that the animals have now been rehomed through the receiving agency’s
regular adoption process. We thank all of those who made their complete recovery possible.

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