Our Mission

The Windsor/Essex County Humane Society is a safe refuge offering rescue and relief for animals in need – providing compassionate care, treatment, and rehabilitation. By reuniting lost animals with their families, adopting animals into forever homes, and providing assistance with spay/neuter we offer them a second chance at life. We are leaders in the community working with others to eliminate all forms of animal suffering caused by overpopulation, neglect, ignorance, and abuse.

Our Vision

We look forward to the day when Windsor and Essex County is a community that values and respects all animals, and cares for them responsibly. Until then, we will use our position of leadership on animal welfare to help work towards that day. We will be the voice for animals in our community – speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.

History and About Us

The Windsor/Essex County Humane Society was founded in 1926 and incorporated in 1949. Since its humble beginnings in a citizen’s backyard, it has been promoting responsible pet ownership, compassion for all living things and a commitment to be involved and make a difference. The Humane Society is not a government organization. It is a registered not for profit charity devoted to the prevention of cruelty to animals.

The Humane Society has a publicly-tendered contract with the City of Windsor to provide animal control and basic shelter services in the City. This is only a portion of the work done by our organization, and the Humane Society provides these services to the citizens of Windsor on a cost-recovery basis. The scope of animal control services in each municipality are determined by the municipal government, and not by the Humane Society.

We rely on public and corporate donations and fundraising campaigns to support our humane operations. The generosity of the community we serve helps us support the animals in our care and allows us to offer a wide range of programs and services. These services include cruelty investigations, humane education, assisting distressed and abused animals (domestic and wild), pet food bank, and our spay and neuter program. In 2013 more than 8,500 animals came through our doors in addition to the thousands who have received surgery at our spay/neuter clinic. We can’t help them without your support.