Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 9, 2026

The Kitimat Community Humane Society respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect through this website and at the shelter, why we collect it, and how we protect it. We follow British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which sets the rules for how non-profit organizations in BC handle personal information.

Who we are

The Kitimat Community Humane Society (KCHS) is a non-profit society that runs the animal shelter at 1000 Eurocan Way in Kitimat, BC, and provides animal control services for the District of Kitimat.

What we collect

We only collect the information we need. Depending on how you deal with us, this may include:

• Contact details such as your name, address, phone number and email.
• Adoption and foster applications, including details about your home, household, other pets and veterinarian.
• Animal surrender information, including the animal's history, health and behaviour.
• Incident reports, including what you saw, where and when it happened, and your contact details if you choose to give them.
• Volunteer applications, including your availability, interests and any certificates you hold.
• Dog licence records, including the owner's contact details and information about the dog.
• Newsletter sign ups, including your name and email.

We do not ask for more than we need, and you can choose not to give us information. In some cases, such as an adoption, we may not be able to help you without it.

How we use it

We use your personal information to:

• Review adoption, foster and volunteer applications and contact you about them.
• Care for animals that are surrendered to us and find them suitable homes.
• Look into reports of animals or people at risk.
• Issue dog licences and return lost dogs to their owners.
• Send our newsletter and updates, if you have signed up. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• Meet our legal and reporting obligations.

We will not use your information for any other purpose without asking you first, unless the law allows or requires it.

When we share it

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We only share it when we need to, for example:

• With the District of Kitimat, as part of our animal control and dog licensing services.
• With veterinarians caring for an animal you are adopting, fostering or surrendering.
• With police, the BC SPCA or other authorities when an animal or person may be at risk, or when the law requires it.
• With service providers who help us run our website, forms and adoption listings. They may only use your information to provide that service.

When you report an incident, we keep your identity confidential and do not share it with the person you are reporting.

Donations

Donations to KCHS are handled by our partner, the Northwest Animal Foundation, which issues tax receipts. When you donate, the information you give is collected by the Northwest Animal Foundation and handled under its own privacy policy. We do not collect or store payment card details on this website.

Cookies and outside services

This website uses a small number of cookies so that it works properly. Some pages show content from outside services, such as our adoption listings from Animals First and videos from Vimeo. These services may set their own cookies and collect information under their own privacy policies. Links to other websites, such as Kitimat Local, are also covered by those sites' own policies.

Keeping it safe

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from loss, theft and unauthorized access. Paper records are kept in secure areas at the shelter, and electronic records are protected with passwords and limited to the staff and volunteers who need them. We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or as long as the law requires, and then destroy it securely.

Your rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to ask us to correct anything that is wrong. You can also withdraw your consent to us using your information, subject to legal limits. To make a request, contact us using the details below. We will respond within 30 days.

If you are not happy with how we have handled your request, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your information, please get in touch.

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed.