Central Alberta's largest animal shelter has changed their name, and are going with a new look.

The Red Deer & District SPCA has rebranded, and now goes by the Central Alberta Humane Society.

Executive Director Tara Hellewell says the biggest reason for the change is to better represent what they do.

"We didn't feel that Red Deer & District really gave a true impression of the area that we serve. When we attended events in different communities around the region, a lot of folks would come ask us why we'd be there being the Red Deer SPCA. So we'd have to continuously explain that just because Red Deer's our name, we're actually a Central Alberta charity."

Hellewell says their Humane Society operates a region from as far South as Olds to as North as Camrose, and from Rocky Mountain House all the way East to the Alberta/Saskatchewan border.

Hellewell says they've always served Central Alberta, but with the rebrand, they're hoping more people will now realize their impact, and potentially donate.

"We have struggled to get enough money to fund our operations for sure. We really need to step up and find different sources of revenue. So we'd hope that we would find more individual donors in those outlying communities, and that perhaps we'd appeal to the municipalities we're serving."

Hellewell says they're also hoping to dispel the myth that they receive government funding, or are connected to other SPCA's.