The Cochrane & Area Humane Society are opening their doors tomorrow (Saturday) for their annual Christmas Open House. 

“We have a bake sale and a small market happening at the shelter, which is going to be in our rehabilitation and education centre.” explains Lisa Kedian, Communications Coordinator for the Cochrane & Area Humane Society “We have loads of goodies for sale with our bake sale, so load up. We have a couple of vendors on site so you could do some shopping. It's going to be fantastic.”

“We have a lot of volunteers that come forward and do just incredible baked goods. I mean, you should see some of the photos from last year. They are so good.”

Holiday pet portraits will also be available during the event.

Happening simultaneously with the Christmas Open House is also ‘Stuff The Van’ in front of Pet Valu Cochrane. The Humane Society is hoping to load their vehicle with supplies, food, and toys for the animals that currently call the shelter home.

van2020's 'Stuff The Van' event (The Cochrane & Area Humane Society Facebook page)

“We've tried to make it as easy as possible for people to help us stuff the van with donations. We do rely heavily on donations. Things like dog, puppy, kitten food, cat food, dog treats, toys, there are all kinds of things.”

“We also are in need of just regular shelter supplies, things like bleach, dish soap, garbage bags, toilet paper, just daily items like that go a long way for us.”

The Christmas Open House begins at noon on Saturday and the Humane Society has extended the hours of Stuff The Van. The van will be in front of Pet Valu Cochrane starting at 11 a.m until 5 p.m. Want to shop and donate online? Cochranites can buy and donate items with the online storefront, and the shelter will stuff the van on your behalf.

To ensure the safety of everyone coming to the event, The Cochrane & Area Humane Society's Christmas Open House will require masks, social distancing and will be limiting the capacity.