ERIN – There’s not a ton of space in the building that sits at Trafalgar Road and Wellington Road 124, but just about every inch of the Upper Credit Humane Society (UCHS) is dedicated to animals and their care.
After decades serving the Erin, Halton Hills and Guelph/Eramosa area — and taking in overflow animals from other shelters — from their location on 5383 Trafalgar Rd. outside Erin, the not-for-profit has to find a new home by October 2024.
Lisa Pietras, chair of UCHS, explained in an interview the property was leased to them for 30 years by the Town of Erin, which she described as very generous, including the rent.
That lease is now up.
“With all the development and everything in the area and the way land and real estate is going up, we’re sitting on an extremely valuable piece of property,” Pietras said, later noting the location is right between Hillsburgh, Erin and Ballinafad.
The Town of Erin has asked for the property back but has given the group until October 2024 after some negotiation. Pietras said there’s no hard feelings there and they don’t blame the town for wanting to take the high-value land back although she wasn’t sure what the town had planned for it.
Lavina Dixit, Town of Erin spokesperson, said in a phone call there is no current plan because the UCHS could be there until well into 2024 but staff will have a report at some point on what they want to do with the property.
The current spot is used to nearly its maximum capacity. The UCHS building features countless areas and rooms with cats, dogs, cages, play structures and countless shelves filled with supplies in just about any empty wall space you can find.
Pietras said the site takes in well over 200 cats per year. The site takes on dogs too but there is less space available to take them.
“We don’t have a lot of space but we use every inch of it,” Pietras said.
The non-profit would be unable to get a mortgage, according to Pietras, and couldn’t take on a loan. Pietras’ said the ideal situation for a new space would be to build off an existing structure on a farm that would be donated so any funds raised can be dedicated to renovating rather than building.
“A barn would be ideal because we can, you know, mess that up and try to make different rooms and stuff,” Pietras said.
“A lot of these properties I drive by, the farms have these bungalows on them, which would be fine because we could just put two trailers on the other ends, make one for cats, one for dogs and put the middle section for intake and office admin.”
Either way, Pietras sees an opportunity to expand the site to help more animals.
“I think we under serve this community, not by choice but by our limitation to how many animals we can possibly have in here,” Pietras said.
Pietras said they have been working with the Town of Erin, Guelph/Eramosa and a Halton Hills councillor to find a space. For now, the next focus is on fundraising with an open house event on Saturday, June 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pietras invited all out to see the shelter and take part in other activities or to donate to the shelter.
More information on the UCHS can be found here.
