A local centenarian was thanked for his gift to the London Humane Society by a high-profile guest, Laureen Harper, the prime minister’s wife.
Vincent Wise, a 99-year-old Navy veteran who served during the Second World War, donated $15,000 to the shelter in memory of his wife of 74 years who passed away two years ago.
During her visit on Wednesday Harper told Wise “That’s wonderful to have people like you in our community.”
It seems Wise’s wife Christina and Harper share a love of animals, which prompted the visit to the facility.
Harper toured the shelter, interacted with animals and enjoyed the antics of a show dog, but also shared a serious message about providing stable homes for the animals.
She added that “With fostering you can figure out if an animal is right for your family.”
In fact, she says the Harper family has three pets, and they have fostered 200 cats over the last ten years.
At any given time there can be as many as 150 animals being sheltered at the London Humane Society.
Judy Foster, executive director of the London Humane Society, hopes Wednesday’s visit will help raise awareness.
“It was very special. We help almost 2,000 animals a year and to have someone who is the prime minister’s wife come in and recognize the hard work that goes on to bring animals in and to get them up to health and get them into new homes, it’s amazing and remarkable.”
She adds that the $15,000 donation will go toward spay and neuter surgeries for animals that are getting ready to be adopted.
