The Vancouver Humane Society is joining The Fur-Bearers and other organizations across Canada in calling for a national prohibition on fur farming in Canada.
Fur farming causes significant animal suffering and poses serious risks to public health and the environment for the sake of luxury fashion items.
More than 20 countries have already banned fur farming or introduced legislation to do so in the coming years.
A new federal e-petition, launched by The Fur-Bearers, calls on the Canadian government to ban fur farming for all animal species across the country.
TAKE ACTION: Canadian residents can sign the official parliamentary e-petition until January 27, 2025. After you sign, be sure to click the link in the confirmation email so your signature is counted.
Call on the Canadian government to ban cruel fur farming
Join the Vancouver Humane Society, The Fur-Bearers, MP Gord Johns, and other organizations in urging the federal government to end fur farming across Canada.
Sign the federal e-petition on the Parliament of Canada website before January 27, 2025, at 6:48 a.m. PST.
Important: After you sign the petition, be sure to check your email and click the confirmation link to ensure your signature is counted.
Inhumane fur farming persists in Canada despite widespread opposition
There are close to 100 fur farms left in Canada. Animal species that are farmed for their fur include mink, fox, wolves, bobcats, lynxes and chinchillas.
Although British Columbia banned mink fur farming in 2021, farming other species for their fur is still allowed in the province. There are currently no prohibitions at the national level.
Polling from 2024 revealed that 78% of Canadians and 81% of British Columbians are against killing animals for their fur.
Animal welfare concerns
On fur farms, animals are kept in small, wire cages for the entirety of their lives, depriving them of the ability to engage in natural behaviors typical in the wild. This can lead to stress, stereotypic behaviors, and self-mutilation.
Warning: The following video contains graphic footage. Viewer discretion is advised.
Over the past several months, The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals obtained footage from inside Canada’s fur farms. This second video shows never-before-seen images of fox and mink suffering in deplorable conditions. Please join us and take the pledge to #MakeFurHistory at www.MakeFurHistory.com.
Public health risks
Animals confined in fur farms have been shown to be hosts for zoonotic diseases. For example, during COVID-19, deadly outbreaks were seen in fur farms globally, including locally in the Fraser Valley. Millions of animals were culled in an attempt to control the spread of the virus.
Environmental degradation
Manure runoff from large industrial fur farms pollutes nearby soil and bodies of water, threatening local animal populations, humans, and ecosystems.
Visit furfarming.ca to learn more about The Fur-Bearers’ campaign to ban fur farming across Canada and the organizations that have signed on in support.
Footage timed for release by Animal Justice just before Christmas, alleges pigs were ‘left in agony, cut open while still alert and conscious’
New undercover footage reportedly filmed at a B.C. slaughterhouse shows horrific animal suffering and violations of slaughter regulations.
The footage, made public by Animal Justice, was allegedly filmed by a whistleblower at the Chilliwack-based Johnston’s Meats facility.
The disturbing footage shows frightened and panicked pigs being inhumanely handled, including:
Animals being improperly stunned before having their throats cut, being hung upside down to bleed out while conscious, and then placed into a scalding tank of boiling water.
Multiple animals appear to show signs of consciousness after being electrocuted, which is required to render them fully unconscious for the rest of the slaughter process.
In some clips, workers are seen slitting still-conscious pigs’ throats and electrocuting them multiple times.
The investigation into Johnston’s Meats facility offers a look into the horrific realities of animals killed for meat that is marketed as “proudly local”.
This small-scale, provincially-licensed slaughterhouse kills approximately 500 pigs per day, arriving from family farms around the Fraser Valley. Pig meat from this facility can be found at local grocery stores and butcher shops.
It is another devastating reminder that labels such as local, family run, and small-scale are not indicators of good welfare conditions for animals.
Latest in a series of undercover investigations in B.C.
Over the past decade, near-annual investigations at farms and slaughterhouses have uncovered recurring welfare problems in British Columbia’s animal agriculture industry.
Patterns have emerged over years of investigations that reveal:
Cruelty is endemic in animal agriculture industry
Repercussions are not enough to prevent companies from being repeat offenders
Animals are treated as products, not beings
Read about the past ten years of animal cruelty investigations in the province.
Following growing concerns about the state of farmed animal welfare in B.C., an advisory committee tasked with reviewing the province’s farmed animal welfare framework has presented its recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture. The report aligns with many of the recommendations that the VHS and other animal protection organizations have long been calling for.
Join the VHS in urging decision-makers to prioritize next steps to better protect farmed animals in B.C.
Research plays a crucial role in animal advocacy, helping to make decisions, measure impacts, and infludence policy-makers.
This month’s episode of The Informed Animal Ally discusses how research is used in animal advocacy, particularly polling, surveys, and reports. The episode expoles why collecting this kind of data is important, the ways we can use it in our advocacy work, and examples from the Vancouver Humane Society’s recent research.
Chantelle: First, Amy, I was wondering if you could share a little bit about what we’re talking about when we discuss surveys. What kinds of questions are asked and how are those answers useful when we’re talking about animal advocacy?
Amy: Yeah, there’s a lot of different data that can be gathered from surveys.
You can learn about what people think. We kind of frame that as public opinion, but that can also take into account, for example, how people feel about the their pets.
You can also measure public behaviour. So you can get a sense of what people are actually doing with their time and their money.
And then you can gather demographic data. Demographic data gives more context to the polling data.
Public opinion questions
Amy: When you think about what people think, that helps you have a sense of how people are falling on a scale. And when you’re trying to shift attitude, when your goal is to change the way people think about things, then you can use that public opinion polling to get a gauge whether you’ve been successful.
You can do that on a micro scale with a small community if you’re targeting ads and trying to get a sense of what’s happening in Vancouver, or you can compare that to a national audience, you can see growth based on a campaign and measure that against an area that hasn’t had that campaign.
One example of this is a Research Co. survey that asked, would you say you’re in favor or opposed to each of the following: eating animals, using animals in rodeo, killing animals for their fur.
You can take that data to decision makers, politicians and business owners when advocating for change. And that shows what the public opinion is when it comes to a practice that harms animals.
It is the most useful data for the government because they care about what the people who vote for them think.
Public behaviour questions
Amy: Other polling data, such as public behaviours, can be useful for decision makers as well. However, it has a different effect.
An example is a survey about people’s eating habits and dietary choices, or a question about if you’ve been to the zoo in the past year.
If people are eating less meat on their own, we can bring that to a city to say, as they’re creating their food budget, they could make more accessible plant-based options available in their parks, because we have evidence that people are eating less meat and wanting more plant-based food available.
Demographic questions
Amy: When it comes to the demographic data, it really helps give context.
Particularly when you’re trying to decide what’s the most valuable audience to target, you can identify that with demographic data. You can say, okay, this is the audience that’s moving in this direction already. So there’s already some peer support.
Maybe let’s concentrate our efforts on this audience to create an overall societal shift.
Chantelle: Thank you so much for that great overview of the kinds of surveys that are helpful for animal advocacy work and how.
VHS survey: Plant-based eating beliefs and behaviours around
Chantelle: We at the Vancouver Humane Society have commissioned quite a few surveys over the past three years, and we’d like to share how they’ve been helpful for our work.
A lot of things came out of this survey. First of all, it informed our advocacy work by telling us people’s biggest motivations for reducing their consumption of animal products.
The top motivator for eating less meat and animal products was personal health, and then the cost of foods and the environment were tied, and then animal well-being.
We also collected data about people’s eating habits. That told us how many servings of various animal products people are actually eating each month. For instance, most people are eating 7 to 17 servings of eggs, but they’re eating less than 4 servings of fish.
From that, we created an impact report that specifically looked at the impact an average person could make in the Lower Mainland.
We found that by switching 100 percent of their diet to plant-based foods for one year, one person could save the amount of emissions it takes to power a home for six months, and they could also save about $600 a year.
By switching just 25 percent of their diet, they could save the carbon that’s sequestered by a quarter acre of forested land, and they could also save about $156 a year.
A recent cost-benefit analysis was conducted to determine how much an individual could save if shifting all or part of their diet to plant-based. What were the results? More info: https://plantuniversity.ca/learn/plant-based-poll/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=shorts-7-cost2&utm_campaign=plantu_survey
So we were able to share the findings from that survey and the report in a plant-based advocacy campaign, which included billboards across Vancouver, a series of videos on social media, and a press release that was covered in 23 media outlets.
We also continue to use the results from that survey to inform our plant-based advocacy work and reach more people with accessible plant-based foods.
As we’ve mentioned, this area of advocacy has the potential to make a huge impact for animals.
In 2023, 859 million land animals were killed for food in Canada. If we can convince people who are eating animal products to switch even just one day a week to plant-based foods, we can save almost 123 million land animals every year, plus an estimate of more than 1.4 billion aquatic animals.
It would also make a huge difference in decreasing the demand for industrial animal agriculture, which forces more animals into a smaller space for greater output. It’s what many know as factory farming, where many of the greatest harms to animals happen on an almost unimaginable scale.
Amy: The nice thing about survey data is it takes big concepts and you can condense them to a simple phrase and assess where people are at. you can make that available to the public and they will likely have an opinion on it.
When you present that information, it gets people thinking about themselves and their habits.
VHS surveys: Calgary Stampede
Calf roping event at The Calgary Stampede. Jo-Anne McArthur \ We Animals Media.
Amy: The VHS commissioned three surveys on the Calgary Stampede in the past three years.
Removing rodeo and chuckwagons from the Calgary Stampede would have virtually no impact on attendance
Amy: The first survey in 2022 found that removing the rodeo and chuckwagons from the Calgary Stampede would have virtually no impact on attendance and would actually bring in some new crowds.
64 percent of Calgarians had attended or planned to attend that year, and 63 percent said they would attend without the rodeo.
24 percent of non-attendees from that year said said that they would attend if the animal events were dropped.
Bringing that forward to council helps them to see that there is a wider audience that could be reached by the Stampede.
That has effects on marketing. The Stampede is essentially a public event, and it’s a profit driven entity in that they are looking to bring in money into the city. People stay at hotels and go to the music shows.
If they can bring more people in and join the Stampede, they have incentive to do that for tourism purposes.
2024 polls show support for animal events dropped this year
Amy: In 2024, we conducted a poll gauging support in Calgary, Alberta, and across Canada.
We then monitored the Stampede and shared information with the media about animal deaths and incidents this year, which turned out to be the deadliest year of animal events since 2019 with four deaths.
That was really impactful, and we made sure to share that impact with the media.
We also ran a campaign to raise awareness about the harms caused by rodeo and chuckwagon races online.
The polling that we did after the Stampede showed a drop in support for all events amongst Canadians. A majority of the Calgarians opposed one of the five events listed in the survey in February, but that jumped to four out of five in July.
In both groups, opposition to government funding of rodeo events increased. And the increase was really sharp in Calgary, where opposition to funding rose from 51 percent to 67 percent.
So we got from half the population to two thirds opposed to government funding these rodeo events. That speaks to people making decisions based on what voters think.
Without this data, we would not know if our campaigns were effective. The outcome has value, and not just an internal value; there’s that external value of sharing the information as well.
VHS survey: Animals in captivity
Amy: I’ll move on to talking about a captivity poll. In 2022, we did a poll on public opinion about animals in captivity in B.C.
The outcome was pretty remarkable. We found that 89 percent of British Columbians are opposed to the international trade of wild and exotic animals to be kept in permanent captivity in zoos and aquariums.
It’s amazing to think about all the animals kept in captivity solely for human entertainment, and the general population is not on board with that.
People were split fairly evenly on actually keeping animals and zoos and aquariums for entertainment and education: 49 percent in favour and 44 percent were opposed. And that really helped us inform our outreach campaign, realizing there is some thought to the education and entertainment value of animals in zoos.
While we understand the suffering animals experience doesn’t balance with the entertainment and education value, we need to shift public opinion.
We can do another poll to see if we’ve changed that once we’ve done another campaign. So it’s really nice to benchmark those things over time to see if we can shift public opinion and influence policy decisions to match the knowledge and science we have.
Chantelle: I’m really interested to see the future of public opinion on this because I think there’s a lot of messaging around zoos that they have a lot of educational value, but the evidence shows people don’t learn more from going to see animals at a zoo than they would just learning about animals from home or going for a walk through the forest.
So I think that there’s a lot of potential to help people learn about ways that they can become educated about animals and animal well-being without causing animals to suffer because they’re sitting in a cage in captivity.
VHS survey: Animal knowledge and interests
Chantelle: I wanted to talk about a survey from this year, which was a poll of BC residents gauging people’s general knowledge and interests around animal topics.
This survey is really interesting because it’s going to be used to inform our work on a wider scale in the coming years to raise awareness on the care and well being of animals and also to advocate for changes that will prevent animal suffering in public policy.
Some key findings:
56.4 percent of British Columbians live with at least one companion animal.
Most British Columbians are interested in five of the topics that we asked about in our survey:
Interacting with and protecting wildlife.
Welfare concerns around farmed animals.
How to care for pets, like grooming and food.
Welfare concerns around animals in captivity in zoos and aquariums.
How to train pets – that’s not necessarily just trick training, it’s really things that influence the well-being of companion animals on a day to day basis, like how can we desensitize an animal to the sound of fireworks that really stresses them out, or how can we make it easier for them to go through care items like grooming or to have a positive experience of a walk outside.
We found that 12 percent of people were flexitarian, 9 percent were vegetarian, and 2 percent were vegan.
We asked about what actions folks have taken for animals in the past six months, and we found that almost half of people who were surveyed had taken at least one of the actions that we listed.
The top ones were things like reading or watching news information about animals, donating to animal organizations, or signing petitions.
And we also asked about which resources people consider useful when they’re learning about a new topic. The top answers were websites, YouTube, and TV news stories.
That survey is going to help us understand current public behaviours around animal welfare and attitudes around animal well-being. It’ll determine the most popular topics surrounding animal well-being and advocacy so that we can share information about those. And it will also determine the most effective platforms where we can reach people regarding animal topics.
Another survey or study that we did was looking at people who work in the trauma-informed sector and getting a sense of how they operate in that sector and what their attitudes are towards burnout.
We interviewed people in the shelter sector, animal enforcement and leadership in those and looked at what the differences were and then put together a report.
Out of that research we created a training program on trauma-informed care in the animal service sector. The training program is free for anyone to take online to look at how to make the work that they do more trauma-informed.
We’re advocating for more trauma informed care of people, which we know will have a positive impact on the animals that people care for. So even though it’s not a quick study, it takes longer, the sort of depth of that allows for a much more thorough understanding of the sector and what was needed to create some pretty significant shifts in our own sector and community.
We also did a cost-benefit analysis using financial data and municipal purchasing to assess how we could improve the systems where municipalities are purchasing food.
So are there cheaper products that they could replace one for another, that could be as simple as replacing dairy milk with oat milk; replacing beef products with beans and lentils.
The financial benefit of that is huge. And so if we’re looking at a public body accountable to citizens for being financially responsible, we can demonstrate that plant-based products do make a significant impact when it comes to the waste stream, the impact on the environment and the financial choices.
So those types of studies, maybe it’s qualitative research, maybe it’s an economic analysis can also have a huge impact when it comes to changing policies.
Chantelle: Yeah, absolutely. One of the major themes I’m noticing as you’re speaking is there’s lots of different avenues to advocate for a better world for animals.
People are not always going to listen to concerns about animal well-being and their experiences. That doesn’t always make an impact with policy-makers. But talking about the financial impacts, the environmental impacts, can reach decision-makers.
We’ve also talked briefly on this show about the concept of One Health, One Welfare. That’s the interconnectedness of all these pieces; the well-being of humans, animals, the environment impact each other.
For instance, more trauma-informed services for people with companion animals has a really positive impact on the actual lives of those companion animals as well.
The importance of reliable data
Amy: It’s so important to make sure with surveys we’re getting accurate data that’s as unbiased as possible in terms of how we’re asking the questions.
Obviously, we know people themselves are biased and that’s the whole point, but when we use this information to speak with decision-makers, we want those to be well-informed recommendations and make sure we’re also sharing accurate information with the public.
When we’re conducting surveys about public opinion or behaviour, we use reputable companies like Research Co. and Angus Reid Institute to help with that. And when we’re working with public institutions like universities, we’re making sure that the process is going through an entire evaluation within the university that meets their standards.
The Vancouver Humane Society has partnered with Plant Curious, Vancouver’s First 100% Plant-Based Deals Site, to help raise funds and give our community an amazing discount!
Plant Curious offers an annual membership with exclusive deals at the best vegan-friendly restaurants in Vancouver. Think Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Free Appetizers, and $20 Off Entire Menus, with new deals added every single month!
Most Plant Curious Deals save you $10-$25.
Here’s the best part:
Use promo code VHS when signing up, and you’ll save $10 on your annual membership, bringing the cost down to just $19.95 for the year!
Plus, Plant Curious will also donate 💚 $10 from memberships using the code VHS to the Vancouver Humane Society!
This is a fantastic way to: ✔️ Support animals ✔️ Discover Vancouver’s most delicious vegan options ✔️ Enjoy exclusive deals that only Plant Curious Members have access to.
Sign up now at www.thisisplantcurious.com and help make a difference while enjoying the best plant-based eats in the city.
This offer is only available in January, so sign up now!
P.S. You can save more than $19.95 with just one Plant Curious Deal. It’s an easy choice for anyone who enjoys plant-based food and lives near Vancouver. 🥳
Thanks Plant Curious for the special discount and financial support!
Exotic, non-domesticated animals are being caught, bred, and sold across Canada as part of the inhumane and risky wildlife trade.
These animals are then kept as pets, sold commercially, and used at events.
Captive environments cannot replicate exotic wild animals’ natural habitats, leading to welfare concerns.
The wildlife trade poses a risk to wild animal populations both at home and abroad due to poaching of animals for the pet trade and release of exotic animals into the local ecosystems.
Can you take action to speak up for wild exotic animals caught, bred, and sold in the wildlife trade?
It’s estimated that 1.4 million exotic animals (non-domesticated, non-native animals) are kept as pets across Canada. This includes species like ball pythons, bearded dragons, red ear slider turtles, savannah cats, and crested geckos. Across the Canadian provinces and territories, British Columbia comes in fourth for exotic pet ownership.
Exotic animals may be:
kept as pets in people’s homes;
bred and sold commercially; or
used for public display or entertainment at events.
Welfare concerns
Regardless of whether these animals are wild-caught or captive-bred, they retain their complex social, physiological, and behavioural needs that they would have in the wild.
This makes it impossible to fully meet their unique needs when kept captive as pets, which can lead to significant animal welfare issues and suffering.
Public health risks
The exotic pet trade also poses public health and safety risks.
Stressed animals are more susceptible to disease and to spreading disease to humans. In fact, 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic (transmitted from non-human animals to humans).
Impact on wild animal populations
The exotic pet trade is also a major threat to wild populations, as a result of the poaching of wild animals to be sold into the pet trade.
The accidental or intentional release of exotic animals into the wild can also have a negative impact on native species and local ecosystems.
Exotic pet events
Exotic pet events, where animals are on display for public entertainment or are being sold, highlight many of the animal welfare, public health, and safety issues associated with the exotic pet trade. These wild animals are:
kept in cramped and unnatural containers;
transported to and from events; and
handled by adults and children in a noisy environment.
Will you help stop the suffering by signing up to receive action alerts? You will be contacted with key actions to help protect exotic animals.
Metro Vancouver is updating the Regional Food System Strategy for the first time since 2011 and is seeking public input.
This is an important opportunity for Metro Vancouver residents and food system stakeholders to advocate for a shift toward more humane, healthy and sustainable plant-based food production and consumption across the region.
TAKE ACTION: If you’re a Metro Vancouver resident, your input is needed to help advocate for an updated strategy that prioritizes less animal-based products and more plant-based foods. Share your feedback in the online survey before the deadline of December 31, 2024.
Below are the main questions included in the Metro Vancouver survey. Click on each key point for tips and context to help answer the questions in your own words.
1. What changes have you seen in the regional food system over the last 10 – 15 years?
(Examples: changes to imports/exports, climate considerations, community changes, consumer habits, costs, etc.)
Growing public awareness and concern about the impact of animal-based foods…
…on the environment, health, and animal welfare, resulting in more people reducing their consumption of animal products.
A 2022 survey of Lower Mainland Residents found that 65% of respondents have reduced their consumption of animal products.
A 2019 survey found that 25% of B.C. residents have tried a vegetarian diet, compared to the national average of 18%.
A 2018 survey found that almost 40% of British Columbians aged 35 and under follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, more than three times higher than the national average.
Increased demand for plant-based foods/beverages…
…and more products being offered in stores, restaurants, etc.
A 2022 survey found that 65% of respondents in the Lower Mainland would eat more plant-based meals if there were more tasty options available when going out to eat.
Scientific research and experts urging all levels of government to support food system change…
…toward plant-based eating patterns.
Growing awareness that the type of food plays a much larger role in a food’s overall carbon footprint than the distance it travels. Previously, much of the focus has been on prioritizing local food, but it’s also increasingly important that plant-based food be incorporated into food system strategies.
Food system change, including shifting toward plant-based diets, is necessary to meet global climate targets and stay below 2 degrees of global warming.
In the City of Vancouver, nearly 98% of the ecological footprint of food comes from the land and energy used for growing and producing it, particularly red meat and dairy products.
Government acknowledgement and action around the need for food system change…
…toward more plant-based foods.
The City of Vancouver passed a motion declaring the various social, economic, and environmental benefits of plant-based procurement.
The District of North Vancouver passed a motion to ensure plant-based options are included and prioritized at municipal events, meetings, and other gatherings where the District purchases food.
Public support for government action…
…including meat reduction efforts incorporated into government strategies.
In a 2022 survey of Lower Mainland residents, 58% of respondents would support shifting government subsidies from animal-based food production to plant-based food production.
60% of survey respondents would support including animal production-reduction efforts into local, provincial and federal climate, health and animal welfare strategies.
Are there any other food system-related changes or trends you’ve noticed in the Lower Mainland over the last decade?
2. What do you think the role of Metro Vancouver should be in the implementation of a regional food system strategy?
(Examples: protecting agricultural lands, convening member jurisdiction on specific issues, providing local research and data, public education, etc.)
As a regional organization, Metro Vancouver and member jurisdictions can prioritize humane, healthy and sustainable plant-based foods across the supply chain.
This could include:
Prioritizing and incentivizing plant-based food production and processing.
Supporting partnerships that enable businesses, public institutions and others to collaborate on plant-based procurement throughout the region through bulk ordering and supplier connections.
Public marketing, education, and promotion around increasing plant-based food consumption, in alignment with the updated Canada Food Guide, which recommends choosing plant-based proteins more often.
Supporting more plant-based options in food service, including through public institutions like schools, hospitals and community centers, as well as in catering, corporate programs, and cafeterias.
Supporting consumption of more plant-based foods across consumer, corporate, business and institutional levels.
Are there other food system-related roles you think Metro Vancouver should be involved in?
3. Is there any other feedback or other information you would like to share?
Metro Vancouver is uniquely positioned to support a much-needed food system shift towards plant-based food across multiple sectors.
This could include strategies and practices such as:
Promoting and supporting strategies that prioritize plant-based food choices. For example, setting plant-based meals as the default option at events, meetings and municipal facilities.
Incentivizing plant-based food production, processing, purchasing and procurement. For example, through municipal food service contracts.
Encouraging member jurisdictions to set a target for reducing the volume of animal products purchased at municipal levels and follow the lead of other jurisdictions that have implemented meat reduction and/or plant-forward strategies.
Are there other food-system related ideas or examples you would like to share?
Farm sanctuaries offer a safe forever home where animals are free to enjoy their lives.
Farm sanctuaries are vital havens for rescued animals, providing them with safety, care, and a chance to live free from harm. They also serve as powerful spaces for education and advocacy, inspiring compassion and helping people connect with the stories of individual animals.
In this month’s episode of The Informed Animal Ally, Janeanne from The Alice Sanctuary, Diane from the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary, and Yvonne and Lianna from Kitchensink Rescue Farm & Sanctuary share the ups and downs of running a farm sanctuary.
Janeanne: Hi, my name is Janeanne and I am the founder and guardian of the Alice Sanctuary. We’ve been an active farm animal sanctuary here in Alberta for just under 11 years now.
Successes
Throughout the period of time that we’ve been here, there have been multiple successes and highlights. But the one that I really would like to acknowledge here would be the idea that two thirds of our rescues or surrenders have come directly from farming families reaching out to find resources or alternatives for one or more of their animals living on their farms.
Now, this can be for a number of reasons. It could be aging of the individuals who are caring or tending the animals. It could be medical needs of the animals themselves and they cannot afford them, but they still want to see these individuals come to a safe landing or a loving place. For that, I would perceive sanctuary becoming more legitimized in a province that’s really engrossed in animal agriculture.
I like the idea that when we have companion animal rescues, many people know that they can have friends or relationships or conversations if something happens to one of their companion animals, they know that they can take them to another place and hopefully find a new home for those companion animals.
What we don’t have are resources for farm animals. And I would love to see sanctuary become a place where it is non-judgemental and a safe environment for families who are in farming to find a soft landing for one or more of the individuals that they have connected with. And so that’s really important for me to discuss and to recognize.
Challenges
Challenges in sanctuary are abundant. If they’re not day to day, then they’re, you know, accumulating to month to month to year to year. Seasonal challenges are always things that we need to face too, especially now that we’re seeing climate change really impact our environment and our weather systems, which then impact our ability to find feed and source out hay and source out bedding like straw.
All of these things are interconnected with one another because it’s not like going to a grocery store and knowing that a tomato is going to be on the shelf, right?
So when we are feeding round bales and for the Alice Sanctuary, we do need to order at least 300 round bales a year now because we are feeding hay year round due to poor pasture and grazing environments because of the shorter grass that we’re experiencing because there’s not a lot of rain. So, it’s incredibly harder to source out hay that isn’t also exponentially priced.
For instance, last year, we did get all of our hay from Montana because they had a better season than what our province had here. And when you did try to find hay here, it wasn’t existent because there just wasn’t a good hay crop, hay field this year.
So, these are all challenges that we have to navigate and thankfully we have a few people on our team that help us out with finding the hay. We have a great hay broker that we’ve been working with for years. Things like this are really beneficial.
Other challenges that I think all of us are facing would be the fundraising aspect of rescue and sanctuary.
Economy is becoming more and more unpredictable. Household incomes are becoming lower and tougher to manage on a week to week basis. So extra dollars usually are kept so there’s a form of safety and security in the home. Whereas before, if you had an extra $5 or $10, donating it to your favourite charity or not for profit wouldn’t be as scary, right? So now incomes and economy has become a little bit more insecure.
So fundraising has become tougher. It’s been something that we’ve had to adjust to. Thankfully as a charity, we also have access to grants when you can find them. And hopefully people who operate foundations can also help you out in that and encourage you in that area too.
Opportunities
I think as years go on, I have accumulated many, many conversations and I really like to talk to people about personal responsibility and accountability for the choices that we make on a day to day basis and how this really impacts not just the world for animals and sentient beings, but also impacts our communities and the health of our communities and it impacts our neighbours and it impacts, you know, newcomers and temporary foreign workers and it impacts our environment and it impacts our planet on a large scale.
It even impacts our economy because again, billions of dollars are being spent to prop up multiple failing industries that are also very misleading, misguiding and damaging most of the structures that we are in and that in turn affects our pocketbooks because that would be our tax dollars.
So these are the kind of conversations that I am really looking forward to having with people going forward into the world of sanctuary as well as immersing myself in the love and the joy that we have with our residents here and the people who want to come in and volunteer with us and enjoy the time that they have with us when we do tours.
Those are things that are really quite motivational because you know that there’s an impact to it all. And it’s bringing happiness to people. It’s bringing love and healing to animals that have been immersed in trauma. And also being able to open up to aspects and perspectives that are around you that typically in the past, many people would be not willing to have.
And it’s been really kind of a good move for us to move into our future idea about sanctuary
Diane: This is Diane from the Happy Herd. For those of you who don’t know us, we’ve been in operation for about 12 years.
Successes
Lots has happened. There’s so many ups and downs in this field. And we’re going through one of our up days.
We have a little Icelandic sheep named Noodles, who came to us last spring at two weeks of age. His mother had abandoned him because he has a neurological issue. The vet looked at him, said there was nothing they could do, and gave us probably one to two months of life. He’s going on 19 months.
And he still falls down. His back left leg doesn’t work all the time. He makes a lot of circles. But he’s the happiest little boy you’ve ever met, and he loves children. When children come, he comes running as fast as he can. Sometimes he doesn’t stop, but he’s just happy to be around.
Challenges
So those are your highs when you have an animal like him come into your life, and the hard times are when you have them leave, like this spring we lost both Lucy, one of our first pigs, she was about 800 pounds, and Baby the donkey, who had been with us for 26 years. So losing two animals like that and close together just rips you apart and it takes a long, long time to heal. And I don’t know if you ever do heal. But you look at Noodles and you still smile.
Opportunities
So, what are we looking forward to in the next year? We’ve got a big project that we want to undertake. We want to pave most of the driveway and some paths and make the farm more accessible. We get busloads of seniors drive through and they all have mobility issues so they stay on the bus.
And then we have kids who are in Canuck Place come out and get to hug an animal. We have health care workers who bring their clients with them to meet farm animals. And we’re transitioning more to that because it means so much to everybody and seeing a kid smile.
So that’s where we’re going and that’s where we’re so happy to have you joining us and being part of our Happy Herd family.
So looking forward to doing the Giving Tuesday with you again and just looking forward to being around. Thanks very much.
Diane:Yvonne: Hi, my name is Yvonne Lewis, and I’m a board member from the Kitchen Sink Rescue Farm and Sanctuary in Roberts Creek.
Lianna: And my name is Lianna Corsini, and we want to acknowledge that we are currently recording from the unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh and shíshálh Nations.
Yvonne: We’re here to talk a little bit today about some of the challenges and highlights of running a vegan sanctuary in the Lower Mainland area.
Successes
Yvonne: One thing that we would say is that this year, and it’s almost complete, we’re really excited. It’s a big dream come true, is that we have been able to successfully build a barn. Thanks to some grants that we wrote, and we’re funded by Vancouver Foundation, and also the Sunshine Coast Credit Union, and also some of our successful fundraising events that we’ve had over the last couple years.
We’ve had some significant challenges, through the heat dome and needing to allocate some resources to some different things with COVID and cost of living, prices of lumber, all those kinds of things. So it’s been quite the challenge to get this barn complete and we are so close. Animals are living in it and some of the rest of them will be moving into it very shortly and it is an absolute dynamite dream come true.
Lianna: It’s pretty exciting and it couldn’t be more timely today as we’re speaking to you. We’re experiencing very high winds that have caused a lot of debris and damage on the farm today. So, the earlier part of the day has been spent cleaning up and making sure that all the animals have a safe place to be and stay.
And as well, we’re experiencing record high rains. So, having a barn really is a dream come true. And it’s just such a wonderful space for the animals to be able to shortly move into before the actual weather arrives this winter.
Challenges
Lianna: One of the things that is a bit of a challenge in sanctuary work is having consistent volunteers.
We so appreciate everyone that has come out and continues to come out. We have a lot of inquiries and unfortunately a lot of those inquiries don’t always amount to regular and consistent volunteering. I think it’s really important to remember that there are a lot of different jobs that people can do on the farm.
Yvonne: And it’s really about not overtaxing yourself. So if you think you can do one afternoon every two weeks, we would be grateful to have you and any help is great help. And I think people get really keen and maybe sort of burn themselves out or whatever. So just any farm that you go to and any sanctuary that you help out with, just, you know make sure you’re not putting yourself under too much pressure, but also being able to enjoy the work and have a bond with the charity that you’re giving your time to because it’s so important.
One of the other things that we would say is definitely a challenge sort of as a charity and definitely as a farm charity is just ongoing sort of stable financial support, monthly donorships and things. I mean, we understand that that stuff changes for people and it’s not always possible. But even just thinking to yourself, like, you know, five dollars here and there or five dollars a month would just be fantastic or once a year let us be your Christmas thing and I mean to know that some people are thinking of it and kind of constantly being able to do it is just, it’s a huge help to us, it’s a huge stress reliever and it helps us know what we can afford and how many animals we can take in and feed and continue to help with sort of our ongoing funding needs.
Lianna: I think people don’t realize that even, like, one Starbucks really, over a long period of time, can amount to quite a bit of funding for the animals.
Yvonne: Absolutely, yeah, that would mean, average bag of feed is about, you know, between 20 to 25. So, if five people gave up one Starbucks drink a month, that would buy one of my bags of food for the animals and that would totally help.
Lianna: Would you say it’s about $3,000 to feed the animals over a month?
Yvonne: About that. Approximately about $3,000.
Lianna: One of the campaigns that we’re running right now is fill the barn with hay for winter. So, if you are thinking of how you might support, as Yvonne mentioned, some Christmas gifts or holiday gifts.
You can do that and you can find that info on our website.
Yvonne: And of course we’re a registered charity so there is a tax receipt applicable to any donations that come our way.
Opportunities
Yvonne: One of the big main events that we’ve been able to put on is our gala that we do every year in July. It’s the second week of July.
This year it will be July 12th, which is Saturday afternoon. It has been growing and it is wonderful for community partnerships, for community awareness, for animal awareness. for highlighting, you know, what these animals go through and how you can help and what ends up happening when somebody does rescue them.
What does the rest of their life look like? So it’s, it’s a great sort of education piece as well as being able to have people come to the farm, spend the afternoon, hear the stories meet some of the animals and see what their day to day life is.
It’s also a really fun event. We’ve had Persephone’s Brewing and also Gourmet Girl supporting us for the last two years. They continue to do so, but that’s something that it gives a community members and also community businesses an opportunity to join in and everybody speak up for the animals together. So it’s a wonderful event.
We encourage anybody who wants to come, the tickets will be on our website, you know, probably mid May.
Lianna: It’s a really fun afternoon and the gala itself is also a dream come true. It was put on hold by the pandemic. So when we were finally able to host it felt really great to welcome everybody onto the farm again and to be able to socialize.
And it’s just really fun to dress up and put on your gumboots for an afternoon. And meet with the animals and meet other people who are just simply like minded.
Yvonne: That’s about all. We don’t want to take up too much of your time, but we wanted to say thank you very much for having us.
Thanks for listening. If there’s any inquiries for us, please reach out.
Next episode
Please join us next month as we discuss the importance of polling data, and how it can be used in animal advocacy!
The Vancouver Humane Society hosts pet first aid training for service providers in the Downtown Eastside
Community services play a crucial role in addressing the immediate and ongoing needs of placed-at-risk people. Many service providers are trained in first aid and emergency response, which ensures they can quickly provide emergency care, help prevent further injury or death, and help people reach more in-depth health care when necessary.
But what happens when pets in these communities need first aid?
Say hello to the Vancouver Humane Society’s first aid training for service workers, which aimed to address the urgent needs of pets in the Downtown Eastside and other communities where people face barriers to accessing care.
This training gathered service providers from Luma Native Housing Society, Raincity Housing Society, and the Portland Hotel Society, which provide community services to people facing poverty and complex barriers.
Helping pets in placed-at-risk communities
More than three quarters of Canadians share their lives with a companion animal, including people of all economic backgrounds and life circumstances. Some people have fallen on hard times and given up personal comforts in an effort to keep their pets safe and healthy; many others have taken in animals from family, friends, or neighbours who could no longer care for them.
Although the bonds between companion animals and their guardians are vital, resources to keep pets in their loving homes are fairly limited. That’s because – unlike human services such as medical care –veterinary care and many other vital services for companion animals do not receive government funding.
The VHS’s McVitie Fund is one of the only services in B.C. providing life-saving funding for veterinary care to help loved pets return home safe.
When it comes to minor injuries and early monitoring like small cuts, scrapes, or bumps, there are now service providers working on the ground in the Downtown Eastside who can help pets.
The training for service providers last month, provided by the VHS through Walks ‘N’ Wags, will help pets get the care they need right away in the communities that need it most.
Emily Pickett from the Vancouver Humane Society discusses the tragic life and death of Jenga the giraffe, who died at the Greater Vancouver Zoo on October 23rd, as well as ongoing welfare concerns at the zoo. Originally aired on The Early Edition from CBC News; shared on The Informed Animal Ally podcast.
On October 23rd, Jenga the giraffe died in his enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.
The Vancouver Humane Society’s Emily Pickett sat down with Stephen Quinn from The Early Edition on CBC Radio to share the heartbreaking story of Jenga, a giraffe who died at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Interview shared with permission.
Stephen: Another animal has died at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. This time, an eight year old giraffe called Jenga. Now the zoo called him an iconic member of the Greater Vancouver Zoo family. According to the zoo, Jenga was found dead in his barn stall on Wednesday afternoon.
Jenga is one of four young giraffes to die at the facility since 2006. And for more on this, we’re joined by Emily Pickett. She’s the Campaign Director for the Vancouver Humane Society. Good morning to you, Emily.
Emily: Good morning.
Stephen: We don’t know all of the details yet. The zoo says it is still awaiting the results of a necropsy.
But what has been your reaction to this news? This was an eight year old giraffe.
Emily: Well, we at the Vancouver Humane Society are deeply saddened to learn of the death of yet another animal at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. And certainly we were surprised. The giraffe Jenga was only eight years old when he died, which is really a fraction of the lifespan for giraffes in the wild where they can live for up to 25 years.
The lives of captive giraffes
Stephen: Right. And tell me more about Jenga’s life in the zoo, or I guess the lives of giraffes generally there, because this is one of four young giraffes to die at that facility since 2006.
Emily: Giraffes are very sensitive animals that we know do not fare well in captivity. In fact, they can have shorter lifespans than their wild counterparts.
The life of Jenga was very different than the life of a wild giraffe, and I think that really points out the concerns that we at the Humane Society have.
In the wild, giraffes live in large herds, they have a large home range. Their natural habitat is typically arid and dry. They’re browsing animals that are adapted to foraging and feeding predominantly on on leaves and stems of trees and shrubs.
But at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, Jenga lived a very different life. He lived with only a couple of other giraffes in a pretty small and barren enclosure, with little to no opportunity to engage in many of those natural behaviours, and certainly in a very different climate than what his wild counterparts would be in.
Stephen: And when you’re talking about that warm, arid climate, it’s exactly the opposite here, especially through the wintertime, I would imagine.
Emily: Yes, absolutely. And that’s a big problem for giraffes, too. They struggle as a species to regulate their body temperatures. And so the colder winter months can be a real problem for them in these environments.
Ongoing welfare concerns at the zoo
Stephen: Tell me about the Vancouver Humane Society and the reports that you have commissioned by Zoocheck. I guess the last one would have been in 2019. Is that right?
Emily: That’s correct. Yeah, the Vancouver Humane Society has had longstanding concerns around the welfare and conditions of animals at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.
And we’ve commissioned reports by Zoocheck as experts in this area for a number of years now. I think our first report on the Vancouver Zoo was back in 1997, and the most recent one, as you mentioned, was in 2019.
The report found a number of key issues overall.
A lot of the issues zoo-wide were about a lack of environmental and behavioural enrichment for the animals, which we know is very important for wild animals. They need to engage in these natural behaviours.
Another concern was inappropriate housing for social animals and indoor enclosures that were really basic and barren.
There were water issues, issues with groundwater and waterlogging of their enclosures, specifically for the giraffes.
Our 2019 report found similar issues as well.
Zoo accreditation doesn’t reflect welfare
Stephen: The zoo is an accredited zoo. Is it not?
Emily: It is, yes, through CAZA. The concern is that it is really a private industry association of zoos and aquariums. They represent their members and the accreditation is really kind of the zoos and aquariums accrediting themselves.
So, that’s a bit problematic for us. It certainly sounds good on the surface, but it isn’t necessarily an indicator of best practices or high animal welfare standards. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the animals are doing well.
And as you mentioned, the number of deaths and incidents, including in recent years, we think really illustrates the issues.
Calling for change
Stephen: And Emily, is the Humane Society calling for any particular action right now as a result of this?
Emily: We’ve been asking the zoo for many years to take action on its own. We obviously have not seen the changes we would like to see, over the number of years and the number of reports that we’ve drafted and shared with them.
We are still calling on the zoo to do more, but also urging the B. C. government to do more. They are responsible for issuing the permits to the zoo to be able to keep these animals.
So, what we would like to see is the zoo stop keeping exotic animals entirely – as illustrated, they’re not appropriate for these conditions and these environments – and to shift to a sanctuary model where they can focus on rescue, rehab, and release of native species from B.C. and to provide sanctuary for those animals that can’t be released.
Stephen: Emily, thank you for the time this morning. We appreciate it.
Emily: Thank you so much.
Next episode
Please join us next month as we hear perspectives from people who operate farm sanctuaries.
The sudden death of a two-year-old gorilla at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has prompted some conservation experts to push for change.
The sudden death of a two-year-old gorilla at the Calgary Zoo has prompted conservation experts to push for change.
According to CTV News Calgary, “The zoo said on Tuesday that Eyare, a female western lowland gorilla, had been injured while moving between back-of-house spaces.”
“The zoo declined to share any further details about the gorilla’s fatal injuries or what caused them, saying an investigation is underway and a necropsy will be completed.”
Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, called the lack of transparency about the incident “disturbing”.
The Calgary Zoo previously underwent a review from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for unusual and frequent animal deaths between 2005 and 2010, with fatal incidents continuing throughout the next decade.
Zoocheck founder Rob Laidlaw said, “If you’re trying to say you’re breeding animals or keeping animals for conservation and they’re dying from all these mishaps and other things … that’s counter to what you’re telling the public that you want to do.”
Multiple tragic animal deaths at zoos across North America and around the world have been brought to the public’s attention this year, including:
Jenga the giraffe, who was found dead in his enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo on October 23rd;
Sakura the red panda, who had recently given birth after being transferred from the Greater Vancouver Zoo to the Toronto Zoo, and one of her two cubs;
Roxie the red panda, who died due to noise stress from fireworks in Edinburgh;
Baffin the polar bear, who drowned in the Calgary Zoo’s new exhibit after he sustained a bite to the throat;
Twelve monkeys who died from a bacterial outbreak at a zoo in Hong Kong.
Tragic deaths at zoos are typically followed by a necropsy to determine the cause, such as illness or injury. Physical and psychological stressors can contribute to premature death in captive animals.
Wild and exotic animals’ needs are not being met in zoos and aquariums
In addition to deadly incidents, wild and exotic animals regularly suffer when kept in captivity in zoos and aquariums.
Wild and exotic animals are living out their entire lives thousands of kilometres away from their home climates, in enclosures that cannot replicate the size and complexity of their natural habitats. They are unable to engage in many natural behaviours that are crucial to their physical, social and psychological well-being.
Take action
Here in B.C., the Vancouver Humane Society has been engaging with provincial decision-makers to call for changes to captivity regulations, including prohibiting the breeding and import of exotic animals for permanent captivity.
Can you sign the petition to help protect animals from suffering in captivity?
