Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter Director is named Manitoba hero

Every dog has his day — or so says Carla Martinelli-Irvine, Director and Founder of Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter and one of this year’s Manitoba Heroes.



Martinelli-Irvine manages the St. James-based shelter, which is the first and oldest no-kill pet shelter in the city. It takes in up to 1,000 animals a year.

Formerly a correctional officer at the Remand Centre, Martinelli-Irvine would come home and feel at peace when she was with her pets. This led her to leave behind law enforcement in favour of a job at the Winnipeg Humane Society, but the animal advocate never agreed with euthanization as a means of population control.

How do they find room for all the animals?



Some animals that come to the shelter are young and require bottle-feeding; others are in recovery from surgery or abuse. The majority of the animals that end up at the shelter are unwanted, or the owners are unable to care for them anymore.

Since they’ve opened, the shelter has seen a huge number of animals come and go. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for Martinelli-Irvine and her staff to come to work and see that animals have been left by the door or behind the building.

This Orphaned Baby Sloth Has To Have His Teddy Bear

This little guy, named after Edward Scissorhands, was born at the London Zoo only seven weeks ago.

Sadly, his mother stopped producing milk and couldn’t take care of him anymore.
But zookeepers were able to start bottle-feeding him many times a day!



He gets “goat’s milk, topped up with some vitamins,” said zookeeper Kelly-Anne Kelleher.

He’s still learning how to grow into a big and strong sloth, so he gets to “train” on this sloth-like teddy bear.

This is to “help build up the muscles that Edward would normally use holding on to mum.”



With some regular exercise…

All that hard work can be pretty tiring for a baby sloth.


Just keep hanging in there, Edward!