Photo: Okanagan Humane Society

Sriracha is looking for his forever home.

The Okanagan Humane Society needs your help, especially at this time of year.

The OHS is a local charity helping lost, abandoned, stray and feral animals from the Shuswap to Osoyoos. Their foster based model allows them to have up to 200 animals in care at any given time and their veterinary partnerships ensure animals receive the medical care needed.

“We are a volunteer run, foster based organization who helped more than 1,500 local animals last year and this year we are trending to go beyond that number. The cost of each animal is approximately $300-$400 so that’s $450,000 to $600,000 a year we need to raise to support our local animals in need,” says Romany Runnalls, president of OHS.

You don't have to look far to find examples of animals in need after an injured kitten was found in Rutland recently.

A good Samaritan heard meowing as she was walking towards her vehicle. When she looked around she found a kitten hiding underneath her truck, struggling to walk on its hind leg.

The kitten was taken to a veterinarian for a check-up and was found to have a broken femur that requires surgery.

The kitten has no microchip, tattoo, or collar to identify it so the staff began calling the injured kitten Sriracha. So far no one has contacted the the OHS to claim the kitten.

Sriracha is scheduled for surgery to repair his broken leg and will recover in a foster home under the care of the OHS until he is cleared to move out of care for adoption.

So far, the cost of care for Sriracha is estimated to be more than $2,700.

“We will continue to answer as many calls as we can, however, we can only do this with funding. OHS does not receive operational funding from the government or municipalities to date. We rely solely on the generosity of community donors, foundations and granting agencies,” Runnalls says.

For those who want to contribute to helping animals like Sriracha, the OHS is running its annual Angels for Animals giving campaign where all donations will be matched up to $25,000.