Community Involvement & Humane Education
Alliston & District Humane Society was awarded the Nottawasaga Futures South Simcoe Business Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Involvement in 2024. This award celebrates a long history of ADHS participation in community events and humane education visits and presentations.
ADHS offers a number of visits and programs to children’s groups and senior communities.
Youth in our community are keen to learn about the animal-human bond and interact with our animals in person. Visits with live animals spark questions, and discussions about animal care, responsibility, and animal welfare issues. Each year groups of Scouts, Guides, Sparks and Embers and other children’s groups invite us to meetings to learn and engage in positive social interactions with our volunteers and animals.
We are also frequently invited to senior living communities to discuss the operation of the humane society, animal welfare issues and provide a hands -on bonding experience with our animals.
ADHS has also run a reading program Pages for Paws in the shelter since 2023 in collaboration with the New Tecumseth library system. This program allows students to rotate through animal groups and read to them, which encourages both literacy skills and animal-human bonding.
Liv’s Library is now open!
What began as one young volunteer’s passion has grown into something truly special at ADHS. For the past three years, 9-year-old Liv has been volunteering at the shelter to read to and socialize our cats—helping them feel calm, loved, and more comfortable as they wait for their forever homes. With the opening of our expanded community room, Liv and her mom brought that idea to life with Liv’s Library—a cozy reading space where children can read to shelter cats.
We were thrilled to host our very first reading session on February 27, 2026, and it was a wonderful success. Liv did an incredible job, and the cats clearly loved the extra attention, gentle voices, and companionship. Reading to shelter cats not only provides enrichment and socialization for our feline friends, but also helps children build confidence and a love of reading—a true win-win!
Upcoming Reading Sessions (limited to 4 children per session):
- Saturday, May 30, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Saturday, June 27, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Sunday, July 12, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Monday, July 27, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM
- Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM
- Monday, August 17, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM
- Saturday, September 26, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Saturday, October 31, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Saturday, November 28, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
If your child is interested in attending a future session, please reach out to Katrina Zaple at knzaple@gmail.com for more information and to reserve your spot.
Thank you to Liv for inspiring this incredible program—our cats are already looking forward to the next story time!