70 families found new best friends last year, thanks to the Portage Animal Welfare Society.

The PAWS AGM was held last night at the Regional Library in Portage la Prairie. Board Chair Michelle Johnson says 2015 was a very positive year.

"2015 has been a really great year for PAWS. We've seen almost double the number of adoption for our cats, largely due to the fact that it's our first full year being in a cat shelter. So that's been going very well. We were able to adopt out more animals, it's been good for fostering, we've had good turnover of our dogs. Just overall a really good year with fun fundraising events."

38 cats and 32 dogs were able to find forever homes in 2015, with only 14 cats being adopted over 2013-14. Johnson says the new cat shelter's been a big part of that number doubling over the years.

"Yeah, about a year and a half ago we had purchased a building that was adjacent to some land that we owned already. It was the old City Pound building, so it fit in perfectly with our plans for an animal adoption centre."

PAWS' Board L to R - Director of Marketing Carla Jackson, Treasurer Staci Creighton, Director of Volunteers Catherine Aller-Brooke, Board Chair Michelle Johnson, Director of Intake/Foster Care Judy Hughes, Director of Adoptions Anita Miles

PAWS' largest expense continues to be vet bills, while their main income comes in the form of monetary donations. PAWS is a no kill shelter, but 4 cats did have to be euthanized due to serious diseases.

5 dogs and 8 cats were in PAWS' care on March 31st, and with 26 foster families on the list, they're in very good shape for care. Johnson says they couldn't do what they do without the support from the community.

"No we couldn't. The community is just great! They do everything from supporting our events, to giving us donations, to volunteering at the shelter, and just helping us out."

Three new board members were appointed last night. Liz Anderson is the new Director of Fundraising, which has been split between all the board members until now, along with two Members at Large, Sonya Brasseur and Angela Bradford, which are entry level training positions. 

PAWS' Director of Marketing Carla Jackson says thanks to the emergence of social media they've been able to target an even wider audience, crediting things like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with helping out their adoptathons. 

Follow PAWS on Twitter, and Facebook.