Keeping an animal shelter running at the best of times requires a lot of community support, even more so in the midst of a global pandemic and at a time when the shelter is over capacity for cats. The Estevan Humane Society got a double dose of that support yesterday. 

Blackbeard's Burgers for a Cause event, where $5 from every bacon cheeseburger combo goes toward one community organization, raised money for the Humane Society yesterday. Joining in on the action was Power Dodge, who agreed to match the donations. 

"It was really good, we got $1710 with Power Dodge's contribution," said Humane Society shelter manager Michaela Pho. "We're always ecstatic to be part of community events like this and seeing the overflowing support, especially so close to our Duck Derby, is always so great to see."

Between this and the Duck Derby, which was held later in the year than usual this year, it's been a pretty good few days for the Humane Society. Between the two events, they raised just over $11,700 for the shelter. 

"For the most part, it's spaying and neutering more pets and being able to take in more pets from the street," said Pho. "Upgrades to the facility, such as the kennels, some of them are kind of falling apart. It'll be good to put that money back into the shelter."

Spaying and neutering and the ability to take in more animals both help solve what has become a common problem for the shelter. Though they often adopt out their dogs quite quickly, they have a constant need for more space for cats. They're over capacity for them at the moment once again. 

"It helps bring a little light toward what exactly we're fighting for and what our current situation is," Pho said. "Sometimes the animal shelters fall under the radar, so it's just good to get that constant reminder that we're here to help you and we're doing our best, and this is what we're kind of faced with."

Pho added that if someone wanted to support the shelter outside of one of these events, they could make a donation on the website or sponsor a pet for spaying or neutering. The Gym Estevan will be hosting another fundraiser for the shelter on Sunday, October 25.