Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 20, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS Rising cost of kibble makes it difficult for owners to feed fur babies Hamper drive pet project for humane society R ACHELLE St. Cyr has had to scrape together change or go without basic necessities if it means her three cats are happy and healthy. The 49-year-old self-described ani- mal lover has had her two senior cats, named Boots and Mittens, for more than 16 years. The newest addition, seven-month-old Max, was an outdoor stray she couldn’t bring herself to leave behind. But as the cost of living has sky- rocketed, so too has the cost of pet food and litter, and St. Cyr has visited the Winnipeg Humane Society’s pet food bank to fill the gaps. “My cats eat better than I do,” she said Wednesday. “My cats sometimes eat more than I can afford to feed my- self.” The number of appointments at the WHS pet food bank more than tripled last month compared with April, ac- cording to data shared by the organiz- ation. The food bank had 88 appointments in April and 301 in October. The humane society has launched its first-ever pet food holiday hamper drive to support its food bank after the 242 per cent increase in demand. Organizers are hoping to distribute at least 100 hampers for dogs and cats, helping to relieve the financial pres- sure many people face during the holi- day season. St. Cyr spends $150 a month for food recommended by her vet, along with other necessities. It’s particularly dif- ficult for her to manage in her budget, because she has fibromyalgia and re- ceives disability income support. As her cats age, vet visits become more frequent. She said the cost of cat food has risen over the past six months. St. Cyr becomes emotional as she adds up the costs. It’s hard, she said, to think about how expensive taking care of her cats has become, but to her, they are family. “I’m grateful for any help I get with my cats,” she said. “It’s embarrassing, sometimes, that I have to ask online for litter or some- thing because something came out of my account, or extra bills. “It’s like, ‘What do I do? Litter, or this bill?’ and then I get cut off of some- thing. Every month it’s trying to figure out what I can skip this month to help my cats.” The WHS food bank was launched during the height of the COVID-19 pan- demic — then called the “emergency pet food bank” — but when it became clear the need wasn’t going to stop growing, “emergency” was dropped from the name and it became a perma- nent fixture, said Kendra Galbraith, the society’s community outreach man- ager. “I think the more our program gets known out in the community, the more people are starting to access it, because they really are struggling to feed them- selves,” she said. “We don’t want them having to choose between themselves or their animals.” More than 1,300 people have regis- tered for the pet food bank online, which requests proof of income and allows recipients to book appointments, but Galbraith said the agency wants to ensure no one is turned away. “The main goal here of this program is just to keep animals out of the shel- ter, and for them to stay with their fam- ilies,” she said. The humane society has added satel- lite locations at the West End Resource Centre and the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre in the past year to im- prove access to its food bank, and host- ed pop-up food banks. Despite the effort, rising costs have forced some people to part with their animals. At the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter, calls from people surrendering ani- mals because they can no longer afford to care for them have jumped from the occasional call to more than 100 in the past year, said Carla Martinelli-Irvine, the facility’s executive director. “Unfortunately, the animal is suffering in the meantime, because they’re not bringing it to us right away … We hear, ‘Well, if you can’t take it, we’re going to throw it outside, because we haven’t been able to feed it for the last two weeks,’” she said. The winter holidays are when the shelter receives a large number of its donations, Irvine said. They have held their own food drives in the past to keep animals fed. “If we don’t get (donations) at Christ- mas time, we’re kind of up the creek, because our vet bills are getting high- er — our cost of feeding is really high, we go through 500 pounds of cat litter a week at the shelter,” she said. The Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter takes donations online. The WHS pet food bank’s list of de- sired items, including food, toys and treats, can be found at wfp.to/petham- per. Hamper donations will be accepted at 45 Hurst Way until Dec. 3. People can donate funds to the food bank at wfp.to/whsdonate. The hampers will be distributed at the West End Resource Centre, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 16. malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca MALAK ABAS MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Rachelle St. Cyr, who has used the Winnipeg Human Society’s pet food bank to make sure her cats are fed, says she would do anything for her three furry family members. SWIMMERS have been welcomed back to the revamped, more accessible Bonivital Pool, which was closed for more than a year during renovations. The city pool at 1215 Archibald St., which was built in 1975, was shuttered from May 13, 2024 to Nov. 17, 2025 to allow for an extensive upgrade. In a grand reopening event Wednes- day, city officials noted the changes have replaced components near the end of their expected life and added many new accessibility features. “This place is going to offer some things not offered in other parts of the city,” said St. Boniface Coun. Matt Al- lard. That includes the first accessible sauna at a city-operated facility, which is set to open “soon,” as well as a self-contained room with a shower and toilet that is equipped with an access- ible lift. “It’s quite remarkable all of the dif- ferent features that are provided in this pool now for those with accessibility needs,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. New change rooms are in place, along with lighting, ceiling, fire alarm, mech- anical system and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system upgrades. A classroom/multi-purpose area, which can host lessons and birthday parties, was added. The city paid $5.36 million, while the province gave $4.52 million to the $9.88-million project. Meanwhile, the mayor said the city’s plan to extend the life of the Windsor Park outdoor pool will continue until an outdoor aquatic facility being planned for St. Boniface is in place. “(The date is) to be determined, but that’s the plan at this point. Next year, there will be a new council and a multi- year budget that’s established,” said Gillingham. The mayor noted the Windsor Park pool’s future could be reconsidered if the facility suddenly suffers a major failure, depending on the repair cost. The city’s 2024 budget originally pro- posed to close the outdoor pool. Follow- ing community backlash, its life was extended through summer 2025, then extended indefinitely in the city’s pre- liminary 2026 budget. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca X: @joyanne_pursaga JOYANNE PURSAGA PHOTOS BY MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Accessible upgrades unveiled at Bonivital Pool grand reopening City facility was closed for more than a year Mayor Scott Gillingham (above) checks out new accessibility features in the shower room at Bonivital Pool, which reopened after being closed for more than a year for renovations. Below, Gillingham gets a tour of the facility from Chris Brown, admin- istrative co-ordinator with the recreation service division. ;