Last year was incredibly challenging for many animal guardians across British Columbia. Rising costs left more people struggling to afford emergency veterinary care for the animals they love. At the same time, shelters and rescues were stretched beyond capacity.
For guardians with nowhere else to turn, the Vancouver Humane Society’s McVitie Fund was a vital lifeline.
In 2025, 1,372 animals received urgent, life-saving veterinary care through the McVitie Fund, nearly double the number helped the year before. Demand has grown dramatically, with more than eleven times as many applications compared to 2020.
Thanks to caring people like you, the program was able to remain open until mid-December and distribute a record-breaking $642,000 in emergency funds.
1,372
animals received life-saving veterinary care through the McVitie Fund in 2025
Your support makes stories like Rafiki’s possible.
After repeated attempts to treat painful urinary crystals, Rafiki needed emergency surgery. With help from the McVitie Fund, he received the care he needed and is now back home with his guardian, Sarah. “If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what I would have done. Thank you so much!” Sarah told the VHS. “He’s my baby boy. He means everything to me.”
Rafiki at the vet
Rafiki back home safe
Every dollar makes a difference for families in need of urgent support. Can you donate today to help animals come home safe?
When Hannah noticed that her beloved dog George had stopped eating and drinking and had developed a large, hard bump on his lip, she was terrified. Firm lumps that cause behaviour changes like this can be a sign of cancer.
George is a rescued dog from Mexico, found abandoned in a dumpster with his brothers as a puppy. Today, he is a 70-pound lap dog at heart who wants nothing more than to snuggle close to his mom. “He’s the most cuddly boy and always wanting to sleep with mom,” Hannah shared.
Living in a recovery house and doing her best to rebuild her life, Hannah was distraught when she realized she could not afford to have George examined. Hannah reached out to the McVitie Fund for help.
Thanks to support from our wonderful community, George was able to see a veterinarian. He received an exam, medication for allergies, and antibiotics to treat the concerning bump. George is now on the road to recovery and back where he belongs, curled up beside Hannah.
“Thank you so much for your help, I seriously appreciate it,” Hannah told the VHS’s McVitie team. She now looks forward to reaching a point in her life when she can give back to help other animals like George.
George’s recovery would not have been possible without the support of generous donors to the McVitie Fund. Could you make a small gift today to help us say yes to more beloved companion animals?
Across North America, we’re seeing meaningful progress to protect animals from medically unnecessary procedures. This is a great sign that awareness and compassion are driving real change.
More governments moving away from harmful procedures
Ontario appears set to push ahead with a ban on declawing cats and debarking and ear cropping dogs, a move animal welfare advocates say is years overdue and doesn’t go far enough.
The Province of Ontario is currently considering a ban on procedures such as declawing, debarking, and ear cropping when they are not medically necessary.
These surgeries, often performed for human convenience rather than animal health, can cause lasting physical and behavioural harm. For instance, debarking removes an important way that dogs communicate, while declawing can cause lasting pain, nerve damage, increased aggression, and difficulties walking normally.
The state of California also recently took action to protect companion animals. A statewide ban on medically unecessary declawing came into effect at the beginning of 2026, reinforcing the growing recognition that removing a cat’s claws—which involves amputating part of each toe—is not a humane solution to scratching.. The state joins others such as New York, Maryland, and Virginia, which have passed similar laws.
Where B.C. stands on medically unecessary procedures for pets
For more than a decade, the College of Veterinarians of B.C. (CVBC) has prohibited cosmetic procedures such as tail docking and ear cropping. In 2023, the CVBC strengthened its protections by also banning declawing and debarking when not medically necessary.
Ontario remains the only province without restrictions on cosmetic procedures for pets; but that could soon change. These developments reflect a broader shift away from practices rooted in convenience and toward policies grounded in the science of animal well-being.
Scientists hope understanding coyote widowhood will someday help humans in their own grief.
New research around coyote bonds and behaviours shows that coyotes experience grief over the loss of a partner.
A 2012 study previously found that coyotes select one mate for life, offering more evidence of complex social relationships between these animals.
A new study from Rachel Tong and Sara Freeman finds even more evidence of complex emotions tied to these social bonds: coyotes who experience the loss of a partner show the same stress signals in their brains that we see in human grief.
Though it may seem clear to many through common sense and observation that animals experience strong bonds, scientific research like this helps to grow public awareness of animal sentience, which can in turn support stronger protections for animals.
According to the National Geographic article on the study, “Freeman hopes her work can help build compassion for coyotes, which are often regarded as pests and targeted in wildlife killing contests and by frustrated landowners.”
Parrots are one of the most popular pets in Canada, but animal rescues say there aren’t enough resources to support the birds that can often outlive their owners.
Experts are warning of a growing crisis around the care of aging parrots in Canada, a recent CTV News story warns.
Parrots are exotic, undomesticated animals with complex needs who can live up to 80 years or longer. This means they often outlive their original guardians, or the circumstances that enabled a family to care for them.
A rescue in Ontario is pointing to a large demand for rescue services for birds who were bred and sold in the 70’s and 80’s. Still, parrots continue to be bred and imported for the pet trade, exacerbating the long-term strain on a system that is already struggling to keep up.
The VHS and animal allies are calling on the B.C. government to update the Controlled Alien Species regulation to prioritize animal welfare when determining which species can be kept, bred, and traded, and supporting a ban on the import of exotic species whose complex needs cannot be fully met in human care.
This new year brings new opportunities to make meaningful change for animals! As we prepare to build on last year’s momentum in 2026, here is a look back on how your support saved lives and built progress for a kinder world.
Delilah received support through the McVitie Fund in 2025
Keeping pets safe and healthy
More than 1,300 pets received life-saving care
Last year was tough for many animal guardians. A growing number of British Columbians struggled to keep up with the cost of living and save for emergencies for their animal family members. Meanwhile, shelters and rescues in Canada saw more rescued and surrendered animals flooding through their doors, leaving many organizations at or over capacity. For guardians who had nowhere else to turn, the VHS’s McVitie Fund was a lifeline offering emergency financial assistance for veterinary care.
Last year, 1,372 animals received life-saving care through the McVitie Fund. That’s nearly double the number of animals helped in 2024!
Demand for the program has exploded, with more than eleven times as many applications in 2025 compared to 2020. The surge in demand was featured on CTV News Vancouver in November. Still, despite demand outpacing all expectations, the support of generous animal lovers enabled the program to stay open until mid-December and distribute a record-breaking $642,000 in emergency funds.
Rafiki at the vet
Rafiki back home safe
Thanks to caring people like you, beloved companion animals like Rafiki were able to get the urgent veterinary care they needed to return home to their loving families. After several attempts to resolve an issue with urinary crystals, Rafiki needed life-saving surgery. Thanks to the McVitie Fund, Rafiki was able to get his surgery and return to recover his adoring guardian, Sarah. “If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what I would have done. Thank you SO much!” Sarah told the VHS. “He’s my baby boy. He means everything to me.”
The VHS’s Executive Director, Amy Morris, spoke to Vancouver City Council in support of two motions to create a kinder city for companion animals, both of which were passed unanimously.
Vancouver City Council voted to push for more pet-friendly housing by asking the Province to eliminate no-pet clauses, and reviewing local housing policies to make sure renters aren’t punished for having a companion animal.
Council also passed a motion to formally consider funding for essential stray cat services, which have been pioneered by the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association (VOKRA).
Outreach helped pets in Vancouver’s vulnerable communities
At the VHS’s annual Because They Matter event, staff and volunteers met in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside community to share veterinary support resources, pet toys, leashes, harnesses, and more essential supplies with animals and their guardians who spend their days on the streets.
The team handed out thousands of pet supplies and hundreds of pamphlets sharing life-saving information about the VHS’s veterinary support programs!
Calling for a more pet-friendly Canada through federal policy change
In 2025, the VHS joined Humane Canada, MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, and advocates across Canada in calling for companion animals to be included in emergency planning. A federal e-petition, which aimed to ensure no animal is left behind in emergencies such as wildfires and floods, was signed by almost 7,300 Canadians, including more than 3,000 in B.C.!
The VHS also supported the Protecting Victims Act, which moves to criminalize the distribution of animal sexual abuse images while recognizing animals as victims and tools of coercive control.
For years, the VHS has been raising awareness about the inherent welfare concerns around horse racing and the risk of injury and death to horses. In particular, the VHS has tracked the high fatality rate at Hastings Racecourse, which was almost double that of the average death rate at tracks with higher safety standards in 2024, and shared reports of tragic horse deaths with local media.
3,374
messages to decision-makers supporting an end to horse racing in 2025
In June, the VHS submitted a report to the City of Vancouver asking that the City not renew the operating agreement at Hastings when it was set to end in 2026, citing welfare concerns, declining attendance, and the track’s reliance on public subsidies to remain operational.
Following declining public support, both of B.C.’s racetracks announced their closure in 2025, saving thousands of horses from being bred into this risky and stressful industry!
Chantelle Archambault from the Vancouver Humane Society discusses the closure of Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, which was announced this past Friday. Originally aired on The Early Edition from CBC News; shared on The Informed Animal Ally podcast.
Following the track’s closure, the VHS supported the step away from the use of animals in entertainment and called on decision-makers to support a safe retirement for the horses and a transition out of the industry for workers.
Last summer, the VHS’s advocacy around the Stampede rodeo made a stir in Calgary. After support for funding of rodeo events dropped by 16% over the course of the previous year’s campaign, 2025’s messaging about animal welfare was met with stiff corporate opposition.
Three of the VHS’s Calgary Stampede ad campaigns were cancelled by advertising companies after the contracts were signed, leading to media coverage on the censorship of animal welfare messages.
The VHS team ensured animal voices were heard around the Stampede by providing outreach materials at local protests and events around the city and running an in-depth online ad campaign.
The team shared with Calgary and national news outlets about the tragic death of Rider, a horse used in chuckwagon racing and the 110th animal known to have been killed in the Calgary Stampede’s events since the VHS began tracking fatalities in 1986.
A new Mayor and Council were elected in Calgary late last year, opening a new avenue to advocate for change with the municipal government.
Meanwhile, the VHS’s advocacy for animals used in rodeo continued in our home province. In B.C., for the second year in a row, the VHS filmed inhumane and potentially illegal use of electric prods and rough handling of animals at the Coombs rodeo. A cruelty complaint was again filed, leading to a BC SPCA investigation.
5,332
actions calling for an end to inhumane rodeo events
Calling for an end to horse-drawn carriages on Vancouver’s busy streets
In 2025, the VHS shone a light on the risks faced by horses used in carriage rides on busy city streets, and the conversation shifted because of it. Through sustained public outreach, media engagement, and direct advocacy to decision-makers, more people in Vancouver learned why noise, traffic, hard pavement, and constant stimulation from carriage rides are not compatible with horse well-being.
3,063
petition signatures calling to end horse-drawn carriages on busy city streets
While a ban wasn’t achieved last year, the issue stayed firmly in the public eye, building awareness, compassion, and momentum for change.
Thanks to the dedication of animal allies, carriage horse welfare is part of an ongoing, growing movement toward safer, more humane cities.
In 2025, our community came together in powerful ways to protect exotic animals. With the support of thousands of advocates, the VHS ran multiple campaigns calling for stronger protections for exotic, undomesticated animals kept as pets and those used in travelling animal programs.
Advocating for crucial policy changes for farmed animals
In January 2025, the VHS and supporters across B.C. spoke up for stronger provincial regulations to protect farmed animals after shocking footage led to an animal welfare investigation at a Chilliwack slaughterhouse.
1,689
messages sent to protect farmed animals
The VHS also supported calls for a national ban on the production, import, and sale of foie gras, which relies on painfully force-feeding ducks and geese. The federal e-petition received more than 7,200 signatures.
Calling for an end to fur farms
The Vancouver Humane Society joined The Fur-Bearers, MP Gord Johns, and other organizations in urging the federal government to end fur farming across Canada through two federal e-petitions in 2025. Together, the petitions received more than 17,800 signaures, almost 10,000 of which were from B.C. residents!
Photo: We Animals
Speaking up for pigs in Canadian codes of practice
The National Farm Animal Care Council’s Pig Code of Practice provides guidance for the care and handling of pigs raised for meat and breeding on farms across Canada. Last year, this code of practice came under review.
VHS supporters shared crucial feedback during the public input period for the code, using the VHS’s tips sheet to ensure animal well-being is considered in the review process.
Giving Tuesday donors helped farmed animals today and in the future
On Giving Tuesday, the VHS once again partnered with The Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary to raise funds for vital animal supplies to care for rescued animals in a loving forever home, life-saving veterinary support, and advocacy to create meaningful changes for animals.
Incredible allies helped keep animals safe and healthy by donating or shopping at participating businesses, and the first $8,000 in donations were matched by generous local animal lovers.
With the support of the community and matching donors, an amazing $21,612 was donated to help animals in need. Supporters of the Vancouver Humane Society and the Happy Herd’s Giving Tuesday campaign helped provide funds…
…to cover food for all the chickens of the Happy Herd for two years
…AND to reach 100,000 animal allies to advocate for meaningful policy changes to improve animal lives
…AND to cover 12 medical appointments for the cows at the Happy Herd
…AND to feed all the pigs of the Happy Herd for a year and a half
…AND to fund the life-saving veterinary care for 18 pets in need through the VHS’s McVitie Fund.
Saving animals through plant-based advocacy
Helping a new generation of diners choose kinder foods
In fall 2025, the VHS updated the long-running PlantUniversity project to reach a new audience: postsecondary students in the Lower Mainland. The fresh focus of the program aims to make plant-based eating more accessible to young people, many of whom are making their own food purchasing decisions for the first time.
Choosing plant-based more often is one of the most effective ways to reduce suffering while also supporting our planet and personal health.
The PlantUniversity team trained student leaders on how to break down barriers to plant-based eating with their peers, conducted in-class guest lectures, hosted outreach events for students, displayed informational materials on campuses, and created an online resource designed to help students across Canada advocate in their school communities.
A cost-benefit analysis created by the VHS for the City of Vancouver was used to support a recommendation to explore more plant-based options in Burnaby.
This recommendation from the city’s Environment committee prompts municipal staff to explore more plant-forward food options at City facilities, and report back with new ways to promote these sustainable options.
Did you know: If each person in Burnaby ate plant-based just one more day per week, nearly 1.6 million land animals’ lives could be saved each year?
A kinder future for all species
Thank you for making a difference for animals in 2025! Your support is helping to build a more compassionate and humane future. Will you keep the momentum going by taking action on current campaigns to end animal suffering or contributing to vital animal programs and advocacy?
This petition is now closed. Thank you to everyone who signed and spoke up for animals. Please go to this page for current campaigns.
The Vancouver Humane Society is joining the Canadian Coalition for Farmed Animals and advocates across Canada in calling for a ban on force-feeding ducks and geese for foie gras production.
Foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell up to ten times their normal size, causing a painful condition known as hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome).
Many other nations have banned the production and/or import of foie gras due to the severe animal welfare concerns, including the UK, Argentina, Australia, and India.
TAKE ACTION: Canadian residents can sign the official parliamentary e-petition until January 2, 2026. After you sign, be sure to click the link in the confirmation email so your signature is counted.
End foie gras production, import, and sale in Canada
Join the Vancouver Humane Society, the Canadian Coalition for Farmed Animals, MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, and advocates across Canada in calling to protect ducks and geese from inhumane force-feeding for foie gras.
The petition calls on Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to:
Ban the practice of force-feeding ducks and geese for the production of foie gras;
Ban the importation and sale of foie gras produced by such force-feeding;
Provide financial assistance and guidance to producers for transitioning to plant-based agriculture.
Sign the federal e-petition on the Parliament of Canada website before January 2, 2026, at 10:28 a.m. PT.
Important: After you sign the petition, be sure to check your email and click the confirmation link to ensure your signature is counted.
Your kindness brings relief, comfort, and hope when they are needed most.
Your compassion helps families like Bear’s when they are facing moments of crisis.
Last month, Jenny came home to find her eight-year-old Great Pyrenees, Bear, in distress. A large lipoma on the back of his leg had ruptured, leaving him in pain. With their regular vet closed for the day, Jenny rushed Bear to an emergency hospital, where the team confirmed he needed surgery as soon as possible. They also discovered severe dental disease that would require treatment while he was under anesthesia. The costs quickly added up.
For Jenny, a widowed mother of two living on a survivor’s pension, this emergency came at the worst possible time. Recent expenses for car repairs and medical needs for her autistic son had already drained her savings. And now Bear, the dog who had helped her family through unimaginable grief, needed urgent care she could not afford.
Bear came into their family as a puppy and quickly became their source of calm and comfort. After the loss of Jenny’s husband, he helped her children through their grief, especially her son, offering stability and emotional support in ways only a deeply intuitive animal can.
Jenny shared, “Bear is family. He is a strong, stubborn, gentle doofus whose loyalty is unmatched. We are lucky he chose us. He gives us peace of mind and stability, especially when life feels chaotic.”
When families with nowhere else to turn, the McVitie Fund is there to ensure they do not have to face these emergencies alone.
This year, the McVitie Fund spent a record-breaking $640,000 on emergency veterinary care, helping 1,300 pets in crisis stay safely with the families who love them. Even with incredible community support, the need has continued to outpace available funding, and the fund is currently closed to new applicants.
Your holiday gift today will help us reopen the McVitie Fund in the new year, so more animals can receive urgent care before it is too late.
Thank you so much for your compassion for animals and for considering a gift this holiday season. Your kindness brings relief, comfort, and hope when they are needed most.
After more than four decades in captivity, a loggerhead sea turtle named Jorge is finally swimming free—an outcome that once seemed almost impossible. His story, shared earlier this year in the National Geographic, highlights both the power of public advocacy and the deep, lasting harms that captive display can cause to wild animals.
Here’s how Jorge the sea turtle prepared for the improbable journey-decades after he was found tangled in a fishing net off the coast of Argentina.
A remarkable return after 41 years in captivity
Jorge was rescued as a young turtle in 1984 after becoming tangled in fishing nets off the coast of Argentina. Instead of being rehabilitated and returned to the ocean—a practice that was uncommon at the time—he was sent hundreds of miles inland to an aquarium in Mendoza. There, he spent more than half his life in a shallow tank, far from the ocean, fed an unnatural diet, and deprived of the complex conditions sea turtles need to thrive.
For decades, Jorge became a local celebrity. But as awareness grew about the impacts of captivity on wild animals, public concern grew as well. Eventually, more than 60,000 people signed a petition calling for Jorge’s release, and environmental lawyers filed a lawsuit to push for his return to the sea.
That advocacy worked.
In 2021, a coalition of researchers, veterinarians, and conservation institutions began a careful three-year rehabilitation process to determine whether Jorge could survive in the wild. Through gradual reintroduction to saltwater, live prey, ocean-like temperatures, and currents, Jorge relearned skills he had almost lost. In April 2025, at roughly 60 years old, he was released into the Atlantic Ocean.
It was his first time swimming freely in open water in four decades.
Satellite tracking showed Jorge travelling north toward the warm waters of Brazil, the region he knew as a young turtle. Against the odds, he is navigating currents, hunting, resting, and behaving like a wild sea turtle once again.
Jorge’s story shows advocacy can change animals’ lives
Jorge’s freedom did not happen by accident. It happened because tens of thousands of people spoke up, signed petitions, applied legal pressure, and refused to accept that lifelong captivity was the only option for a healthy wild animal.
This is a powerful reminder that advocacy matters. Public voices can influence policy decisions, challenge outdated practices, and create opportunities for animals who have long been denied their natural lives. Without sustained public pressure, Jorge would likely still be swimming in circles in a shallow tank instead of enjoying his freedom in his home waters.
Captive display prevents wild animals from thriving
As hopeful as Jorge’s story is, it also underscores a sobering reality: captivity prevented him from living as a sea turtle for most of his life.
During his decades in confinement, Jorge lost essential survival instincts. He did not know how to hunt, navigate open waters, or respond to other animals in his environment. His rehabilitation required years of intensive, expert intervention—resources that are rarely available for most captive animals.
Captive wildlife are unable to engage in many natural behaviours that are crucial to their physical, social and psychological well-being. Even well-intentioned facilities struggle to replicate the vast space, social complexity, sensory stimulation, and choice that animals experience in the wild.
As Jorge’s case shows, captivity can strip animals of the skills they need to survive, leaving them dependent on human care.
Most captive animals will never return to the wild
Jorge is an exception, not the rule.
Many animals who are kept in captivity for long periods are not releasable. Animals accustomed to human interaction, proximity, and feeding often lose their fear of people, struggle to forage independently, or lack the social and survival skills needed in the wild. This is especially true for animals bred in captivity, who may never have learned natural behaviours at all.
Once wild instincts are lost, release can be dangerous or fatal for animals. This is why prevention matters so deeply.
The most effective way to ensure wild animals remain wild is to stop keeping and breeding wild, exotic animals in captivity in the first place. Rather than continuing systems that breed or import animals who cannot be released, we must shift toward models that prioritize animal well-being.
That means transitioning zoos and aquariums away from permanent display of wild animals and toward sanctuary-based models that focus on rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured or displaced native wildlife. Sanctuaries exist to serve animals—not to use them as attractions—and they recognize that freedom, not entertainment, is the ultimate goal.
Jorge’s journey is inspiring, but it should not distract us from the larger truth it reveals. No animal should have to spend 40+ years in captivity before we finally ask if a small enclosure is the best place for them to thrive.
His story shows us what can happen when advocacy succeeds, and why we must work to ensure fewer animals need such extraordinary intervention again.
Wild animals belong in the wild, and protecting them starts with the choices we make today.
Last week, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act.
This bill that moves to criminalize the distribution of animal sexual abuse images, while recognizing animals as victims and tools of coercive control.
These types images are not only acts of cruelty toward animals—they are also used to groom and exploit children and control victims.
This historic milestone was made possible through years of advocacy from Humane Canada (the federation of humane societies and SPCAs) and Member organizations.
TAKE ACTION: Use the quick message tool from Humane Canada to call on your MP to support the Protecting Victims Act.
Violence against animals and violence against people are deeply connected, a reality that has left children, survivors, and animals without the protections they need. Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, is a crucial step forward that recognizes the violence link and takes action where it is urgently needed.
The bill criminalizes the distribution of animal sexual abuse images, material that has been used to groom, manipulate, and exploit children. It also expands protections for people whose animals are harmed or threatened as a form of coercive control, a tactic widely used in intimate partner violence and criminal harassment.
These measures close long-standing gaps in Canadian law and strengthen safety for the entire family unit.
But Bill C-16 is not yet law. For these protections to take effect, Parliament must pass the legislation. Your voice can help ensure that happens.
