3 a.m. Epiphany – The New Uxbridge/Scugog Animal Shelter

I sit across the table from Ginger Jackson as she nurses a coffee while we chat. Her eyes twinkle with playfulness, but I can tell that she knows how to get things done. She’s a real people-person and as it happens, she’s a real animal-person, too.
In 2010, Jackson visited the Uxbridge/Scugog Animal Shelter to give them a donation. While she was there, she took a look around and couldn’t believe the state of things. The shelter was overcrowded and outdated. Jackson woke up that night at 3 a.m. with the thought that she wanted to build a new animal shelter.
She contacted her friend Art Mathews, who was the owner of Pet Valu in Uxbridge and told him of her plan. “Do you think I’m nuts?” asked Jackson. Assured by Mathews that she wasn’t crazy, Jackson approached Vicky McWhirter, the shelter manager, and she loved the idea.
In 2011, Jackson and Mathews presented the plan for a new animal shelter to the councils in Uxbridge and in Scugog. “We told them we were just a fundraising group,” says Jackson. “We would build and then cut the ribbons, and it would go back to the townships.” Uxbridge Mayor Gerri Lynn O’Connor and then-Scugog Mayor Chuck Mercier wanted to help any way they could.
Jackson and Mathews then learned from Mayor O’Connor that Uxbridge could offer a 10-acre parcel of land at 5500 Lakeridge Road for the new site. “The location where the shelter will be is gorgeous,” says Jackson. “It’s surrounded by trees and backs onto the Trans-Canada Trail.”
The new Uxbridge/Scugog Animal Shelter building fund has a vibrant board. They now have more than 100 enthusiastic volunteers who put together their signature fundraising events: the annual In the Ruff Golf Tournament, Gimme Shelter Gala, the Mutt Strut Walk-a-Thon, and third-party events such as Petissimo, a concert event with a variety of musical genres. “And it’s great to see an increasing number of kids requesting money instead of traditional birthday gifts, which they then donate to the new shelter,” says Jackson.
To date, the building fund sits at just over $800,000, only $200,000 away from their $1.2 million goal. “Plus, both townships set aside $240,000 for when we start building,” says Jackson. Breaking ground for the new shelter by early next year is a real possibility.
The new shelter will have an HVAC system that will prevent the spread of feline respiratory conditions. There will be isolation units for new arrivals and a maternity suite for dogs and cats. “If cats are having their kittens in among the other cats, it’s a big deal and quite often the kittens don’t make it,” says Jackson. There will be pet adoption visitation rooms that can be monitored by staff, a food prep area, running water and offices for the staff.
Earlier this year Jackson went to the present shelter and noticed a little black head poke out of a tunnel. A little black seven-pound cat. “It’s the green eyes that got me,” says Jackson. She adopted the little cat and named her Molly. Then she noticed another cat that she has since adopted and named Max. “You go for a photo op and you end up with two cats,” says Jackson.