Category: Media Release

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Media Release

Two chuckwagons collided at Saturday’s chuckwagon race, leading to serious injury for horse 

VANCOUVER, July 12, 2026 – A horse has been seriously injured during the July 11th chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede, prompting renewed calls from the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) to remove the dangerous event from the Stampede program. 

The horse suffered a serious injury when two teams collided while attempting to round the barrels during heat 3 of the races. Stampede representatives shared that an initial exam revealed no fractures, but the injury is considered serious. The incident again highlights the inherent risks of the chuckwagon event. 

For the VHS, the news lands as familiar and disheartening. The organization has tracked animal injuries and deaths at the Stampede since 1986, with 110 known animal deaths to date and 79 of those in chuckwagon racing alone. 

“Every year we hope this won’t happen again, but nearly every year there are horse injuries and deaths during the chuckwagon races,” said Emily Pickett, Campaign Director at the VHS. “The chuckwagon races are dubbed ‘the half-mile of hell’ for a reason. They simply aren’t safe for the horses and the track record of injuries and deaths reflects this reality.” 

The VHS says the risk to horses is built into the event itself. Wagons and horses race in close proximity and take tight turns at high speed, and the horses used are typically thoroughbreds bred for speed rather than skeletal health. Track and equipment adjustments made over the years, such as reducing the number of horses per heat, have not changed this underlying risk. 

At the same time, public concern around the use of animals in rodeo events continues to grow. Research Co. polling from 2024 showed a majority of Calgarians oppose calf roping, steer wrestling, bronc riding, and chuckwagon racing.  Similar polling from 2022 found that removing rodeo and chuckwagon events would have little to no effect on Stampede attendance.   

The VHS is calling for the rodeo and chuckwagon races to be removed from the Stampede program to prevent more suffering and deaths. The organization is encouraging people to sign a pledge not to attend the rodeo and chuckwagon races and send a message directly to government decision-makers as part of its Rodeo Truth project, run in collaboration with concerned Calgarians.   

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society 

For more information, contact: 

Emily Pickett 
Campaign Director, Vancouver Humane Society 
604-416-2901 
emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca 

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Media Release

Vancouver Humane Society files cruelty complaint after Clinton Rodeo footage reveals apparent animal welfare violations 

VANCOUVER, July 2, 2026 — The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) has filed a cruelty complaint with the BC SPCA after a review of footage from this year’s Clinton Rodeo identified four concerning incidents involving the inhumane treatment of animals. 

Animal Cruelty at the 2026 Clinton Rodeo.

Animals used in rodeos continue to face serious welfare risks in B.C. Animals deserve stronger protections, and taxpayer dollars should not support events where animals are put at risk for entertainment. Take quick action for animals used in rodeos through the link in our bio.

This is not the first time the Clinton Rodeo has faced scrutiny. Following the 2024 rodeo, the BC SPCA investigated after footage showed a visibly stressed bull being shocked with an electric prod—including on the animal’s anus—as well as a horse being repeatedly struck in the face and punched in the neck while in the bucking chute.  

Most concerning in this year’s footage, two animals appear to be repeatedly shocked with a handheld electric prod during a junior steer riding event—a direct violation of the British Columbia Rodeo Association’s (BCRA) own 2026 rule book, which states that “no animal shall be beaten, mutilated, or cruelly prodded” and which prohibits the use of prods in riding events except to load an animal. In both cases, the animal is confined in the bucking chute and has a rider on their back, for which the rule book outlines a $1,000 fine. Repeated violations are to result in a stock contractor’s card being reduced to probationary status or suspended pending review, according to the current rules. 

Electric prod use at Clinton Rodeo 2026

Clinton Rodeo has again been the subject of a cruelty complaint by the Vancouver Humane Society after video footage from the event shows electric prod use in apparent violation of the BC Rodeo Association’s rules.

Footage of two additional incidents from this year’s rodeo shows an agitated horse being repeatedly whipped by a rider and a handler striking a visibly stressed steer with a paddle. 

“Every rodeo we have monitored across the province has shown animals experiencing visible fear, stress, and unnecessary risk of harm.” said Emily Pickett, Campaign Director at the VHS. “These are not isolated incidents. They are what happens when an industry is allowed to regulate itself with no independent oversight and little meaningful legal protection for the animals involved. ” 

The VHS continues to call on the B.C. government to end public funding of rodeo events and to take steps to better protect animals from suffering in these events. In 2026, more than $400,000 in provincial funding was awarded to events that include rodeos, despite polling showing that a strong majority of British Columbians oppose government funding of rodeo events. 

British Columbians who want to take action can send a message to the provincial government calling for an end to public funding of rodeo events and better protections for animals used in rodeo. 

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society 

For more information, contact: 

Emily Pickett 
Campaign Director, Vancouver Humane Society 
604-416-2901 
emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca 

Additional links: https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/posts/the-2026-bc-rodeo-season-is-underway/  

Additional media:  

Inhumane handling at the 2026 Clinton Rodeo: https://youtu.be/6r9xTBH7Qvg  
Electric prod use: https://youtu.be/qfm6PUUHRJU

Categories
Media Release

Vancouver Humane Society pleading for help to save pet lives after surge in emergency veterinary funding requests 

“Sammy” (name changed for privacy), one of the animals helped by the McVitie Fund program this year.

Vancouver, November 17, 2025 — The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is raising alarm bells as requests for emergency veterinary assistance reach unprecedented levels in 2025. The organization’s McVitie Fund—which provides life-saving veterinary care for pets in low-income households across B.C.—has already processed more than 2,000 applications this year, surpassing all previous records. 

In 2020, fewer than 200 applications were received. By 2024, that number had skyrocketed to around 1,600. Now, with the program exceeding its 2025 budget, the McVitie Fund team is struggling to keep up with the growing need. 

“This rapid increase in need for a life-saving community service reflects a heartbreaking reality,” said Chantelle Archambault, VHS’s Communications Director. “More people are being forced to choose between paying rent, feeding themselves, or saving their pets’ lives.” 

Most applicants rely on Persons With Disabilities (PWD) income, Income Assistance, Canada Pension Plan (CPP), or Old Age Security (OAS). The program also supports survivors fleeing domestic violence, who can be at specific risk of lacking veterinary care funds—research shows around 99% of domestic violence cases involve financial abuse and around 89% involve pet abuse. Many program applicants report that they are surviving on just $100 to $200 each month after rent. 

“It’s no surprise that people are struggling, given the massive increase in cost of living and relative stagnation in government assistance,” Archambault added. Since 2021, consumer prices have ballooned by about 15%. Meanwhile, the provincial support allowance for a single person with disabilities living in the smallest sized unit today is just 8 cents more per month compared to rates effective on May 1, 2021, while their maximum shelter allowance has gone up by $125. 

The VHS shared that it is systemic inequities, not personal failings, driving the surge in need. For many living in poverty, pets are their primary source of emotional support and safety. When those families cannot access veterinary care, both the humans and the animals suffer. 

The McVitie Fund fills this crucial gap, keeping loved pets in their homes and out of the overcrowded shelter system. Behind each application is a story of unconditional love and resilience. 

One cat who received care through the program, Sammy*, was suffering a painful intestinal infection that caused him to stop eating and begin vomiting. His guardian, Michelle*, took him in from a friend who had to go into a shelter. She lives on disability assistance and could not afford treatment. 

“He is my boy, and I don’t want to lose him. He loves waking me up in the morning at the most ungodly hour, tapping my face with his paws and bumping his nose on my face. I love him so much,” Michelle told the McVitie Fund program team.  

Thanks to the McVitie Fund, Sammy received multiple vet visits, overnight hospitalization, and medication that helped him recover and return home. 

“Sammy is just one of the thousands of pets whose lives depend on emergency funding,” said Archambault. “But our resources are stretched thinner every year. Without more support, we may not be able to help every family on a low income that needs emergency assistance.” 

The VHS is calling on the community for donations to sustain and expand the McVitie Fund as demand continues to grow, and is encouraging cross-sector collaboration to build long-term solutions that ensure no one has to choose between their own well-being and their animal’s care. 

To donate or learn more, visit vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/mcvitie-fund.  

*Names changed to protect privacy. 

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Source: Vancouver Humane Society 

For more information, please contact:

Chantelle Archambault 

Communications Director 

604-416-2903 

chantelle@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca  

Categories
Media Release

VHS supports end of horse racing at Fraser Downs Racetrack, calls for broader shift away from horse racing in Metro Vancouver

VANCOUVER, August 18, 2025 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) welcomes the announcement that horse racing is coming to end at Surrey’s Fraser Downs Racetrack. This development offers a meaningful opportunity to reflect on and accelerate the transition away from outdated and harmful entertainment traditions that put horses at risk.

“While the closure at Fraser Downs marks an end to racing at that site, it is emblematic of a wider, long-overdue shift away from horse racing,” said VHS Campaign Director, Emily Pickett. “Horse racing inherently subjects horses to pressure and danger, debilitating injuries, early physical decline, and at times fatal outcomes.”

The VHS has been advocating for an end to horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse, pointing to horse fatality rates that are significantly higher than the industry average. The organization has tracked at least two horse deaths at Hastings so far in 2025, four in 2024, and eight in 2023. 

As the VHS recently highlighted in a report delivered to Vancouver City Council, horse racing no longer justifies the reliance of public subsidies, especially given declining attendance and rising welfare issues. The report advocates for an end to horse racing at Hastings. 

The Fraser Downs closure opens a path to reimagine how communities can thrive without putting animals at risk of suffering, injury, and death. 

“There’s been a lot of conversation as of late about the future of Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse. We’re hopeful decisions-makers in Vancouver will come to the same conclusion and move away from horse racing at Hastings as well,” commented Pickett.

The VHS is urging municipal and provincial leaders to refrain from supporting or renewing horse-racing operations elsewhere, recognizing the inherent risks and public welfare concerns.


The VHS is also encouraging individuals to reflect on the ethics of animal-based entertainment and to take the VHS pledge to avoid attending horse races.

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society

For more information, contact: 

Amy Morris

Emily Pickett

Related links:

https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/

https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/posts/new-report-calls-for-end-to-horse-racing-at-vancouver-track/

Categories
Media Release

Companies pull animal welfare campaigns in Calgary

CALGARY, June 30, 2025—Animal protection organizations are raising the alarm about mounting censorship efforts by major advertising companies and media groups in the lead-up to the Calgary Stampede.

While the Stampede is heavily promoted across Canada as a national celebration, the darker side of its animal events is increasingly hidden from public view. When animals are inevitably injured or killed—a grim annual tradition—the live broadcast quickly cuts away, leaving announcers to fill the silence while the arena is cleared. 

Increasingly, animal welfare advocates say that corporate advertising companies are going further to block even mild criticism from reaching the public.

This year, the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) attempted to run a billboard with Astral Media Outdoor, owned by Bell Media. The billboard would have been placed along the Stampede parade route, pointing out that distressing moments—like when a rope tightens around a calf’s neck—are typically edited out of rodeo highlights. Sharing this fact proved too much for Bell Media, despite initially approving the sign.

Design originally accepted for Astral Media Outdoor billboard ad.

Just days before launch, Bell Media abruptly demanded last-minute changes before cancelling the billboard altogether. The company rejected the VHS’s photo-based ads in 2024, while Pattison Outdoor Advertising, another major ad company, refused all “animal advocacy advertising.” 

After Bell withdrew, other approved ad campaigns began to unravel. Rogers Media, which had sent radio ad contracts and collaborated on script development, reversed course, stating that the ads would “diminish the value of the Rogers’ brands.” The Calgary Stampede is one of Rogers Sports & Media’s properties, a representative noted.

RedPoint Media Group, which had agreed to place online ads in Avenue Calgary, also rejected designs mentioning animal welfare concerns and offered to run general ads about the VHS instead. Their production team said they do not accept “political” messaging—despite one of the rejected ads stating only: “Like dogs, calves suffer stress and injuries from rough handling.”

“We’ve been advocating for an end to cruel practices at the Calgary Stampede for decades, but this year we’ve had three advertising companies backtrack on ads with signed contracts,” said VHS Communications Director Chantelle Archambault. “We’re extremely concerned that companies are keeping animal welfare messaging from reaching the public.”

“These moves to silence even mild criticism show an alarming imbalance, where an event that routinely sees animal deaths and injuries is shielded from scrutiny by powerful corporations,” said Alexandra Pester, Calgary-based staff lawyer at Animal Justice. “Frankly it’s also insulting to Calgarians, suggesting they can’t be trusted to make up their own minds about controversial events.”

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society

For more information, contact: 

Chantelle Archambault

Communications Director, Vancouver Humane Society

chantelle@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca

604-416-2903

Alexandra Pester

Staff Lawyer, Animal Justice

apester@animaljustice.ca

Related media: Attached

Related links:

https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/

https://rodeotruth.com/

https://animaljustice.ca/

Categories
Media Release

VHS report calls for end to horse racing at Vancouver racecourse

VANCOUVER, June 12, 2025 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is doubling down on its call for an end to horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings racecourse following the preventable death of a horse this past weekend. The horse, Gem Dancer, collapsed and died of suspected heat exhaustion after a June 8th race held during a heat warning. 

The same day the VHS learned of the horse’s senseless death, they submitted a report to Vancouver City Council advocating for an end to horse racing at Hastings Park in 2026, when the current Operating Agreement is set to expire. 

The recommendations in the VHS report, “Considerations for the Discontinuation of Horse Racing at Hastings Park”, depict the long-term decline of the industry—including reduced attendance, revenue, and race days—and its increasing reliance on public subsidies. The report describes persistent animal welfare issues and crumbling infrastructure, which have diminished public support. Given that the 45-acre racecourse provides minimal public benefit—averaging fewer than 9 visitors per acre per day—and conflicts with the City of Vancouver’s goals for public access, sustainability, and economic resilience, the VHS argues that dedicating such a large portion of the park to horse racing is no longer justifiable. 

The report also points to data indicating the sad reality that the racing-related fatality rate at Hastings Racecourse is markedly higher than the industry average. According to the B.C. Gaming & Policy Enforcement Branch, the 2024 fatality rate at Hastings was 1.78 per thousand starts, compared to the 2024 industry average of 1.11 across U.S. and Canadian tracks that report to the Equine Injury Database, and almost double the 0.90 fatality rate at tracks regulated by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).  

The VHS is urging decision-makers to support a move away from horse racing at Hastings Park and toward alternative land use that offers potential for long-term economic resilience, greater public utilization of space, and alignment with public values and interest. 

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society        

For more information, contact Emily Pickett: (604) 416-2901, emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca    

Related files:

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Media Release

Horse Dies from Suspected Heat Exhaustion After Racing During Vancouver Heat Wave

VANCOUVER, June 11, 2025 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is sounding the alarm following the recent suspected heat-exhausted death of a horse named Gem Dancer at Vancouver’s Hastings racecourse. 

B.C.’s Gaming & Policy Enforcement branch confirmed via email that on June 8, 2025, Gem Dancer began showing signs of distress while being led off the track following the race and soon collapsed. Despite efforts to cool the horse down, and after being in distress for approximately 2 minutes, Gem Dancer became unresponsive and was pronounced dead. 

“This horse was literally run to their own death for the sake of public entertainment,” said VHS Campaign Director, Emily Pickett. “It’s incredibly irresponsible to race horses in the midst of a heat warning. Gem Dancer’s senseless death demonstrates how horses in the racing industry are exploited for profit, pushed beyond their limit and raced to the point of injury and death.”  

Gem Dancer’s death marks the second known horse death at Hastings racecourse this year. On April 13th, just weeks before the start of the 2025 racing season, a 3-year old horse named Wynn Magic suffered a compound leg fracture during a timed workout and was subsequently euthanized.  

The VHS is deeply concerned that the 2025 race season will continue to see more tragic and avoidable injuries and deaths, pointing to the four horse fatalities at Hastings in 2024 and eight in 2023. 

The B.C. Gaming & Policy Enforcement Branch confirmed via email that the racing-related fatality rate at Hastings racecourse in 2024 was 1.78 per thousand starts. This is markedly higher than the 2024 industry average of 1.11 across U.S. and Canadian tracks that report to the Equine Injury Database, and almost double the 0.90 fatality rate at tracks regulated by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). 

The VHS continues to highlight welfare concerns within the industry. The use of stressful and aversive training methods, reliance on painful tools like whips and bits, and breeding practices that prioritize speed over skeletal strength, have no place in modern society. Even if horses do not die from heat exhaustion or a being euthanized from a broken leg, horses deemed no longer profitable at the end of their short careers may be sent to auction and ultimately slaughtered. 

The organization is urging the public to pledge not to attend horse races and is reiterating calls for decision-makers to invest in alternative community events – ones that bring people together without putting animals at risk. 

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society       

For more information, contact Emily Pickett: (604) 416-2901, emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca   

Categories
Media Release

Hastings horse death just weeks before start of race season prompts renewed calls for change

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VANCOUVER, April 17, 2025 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is reiterating concerns after learning that a 3-year-old horse was injured and euthanized during a recent timed workout at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse. 

On April 13, 2025, a horse named Wynn Magic suffered a compound fracture to the left front leg and was euthanized, B.C.’s Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch (GPEB), which oversees horse racing in the province, confirmed to the VHS in an email.  

This death comes just weeks before the scheduled start of the 2025 horse racing season at Hastings and follows a controversial 2024 racing season, which resulted in four horse fatalities. In 2023, there were eight horse fatalities at Hastings. The VHS is concerned that the 2025 season will see more tragic and avoidable horse injuries and fatalities.  

“It’s not a matter of if, but when, the next horse will lose their life entertaining a crowd,” said VHS Executive Director, Amy Morris. “That’s why we’re urging the public to rethink attending horse races and calling on decision-makers to invest in alternative community events – ones that bring people together without putting animals at risk.” 

The organization has also raised concerns regarding welfare issues around horse racing, including stressful, aversive training methods, the use of painful tools like whips and bits, the breeding of thoroughbred horses for speed rather than skeletal strength, and the risk of being auctioned off for slaughter for horses who are no longer profitable at the end of their short careers. 

The VHS is encouraging the public to take the organization’s pledge not to attend horse races and instead choose entertainment events free of animal suffering.  

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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society      

For more information, contact Amy Morris: (604) 993-0167, amy@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca  

Categories
Media Release

National animal protection election debate to take place on April 23rd

A close up photo of a horse with a bridle.

April 16, 2025. For immediate release.

TORONTO—For the second time in Canadian history, federal candidates will square off this Earth Week in a national all-party debate focused on animal protection issues. 

Animal protection emerged as an election issue for the first time in the 2021 federal election, with the main parties making campaign announcements and platform commitments. A 2024 Nanos poll found 43% of Canadians would be more likely to vote for a political party at the upcoming election if they support stronger animal protection laws and policies. 

Debate participants include:

  • Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal candidate in Beaches—East York, Toronto, ON
  • Alistair MacGregor, NDP candidate in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
  • Elizabeth May, Green candidate in Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
  • Yves Perron, Bloc Québécois candidate in Berthier-Maskinongé, QC

Jointly hosted by Animal Justice, the Montreal SPCA, the Vancouver Humane Society, BC SPCA and World Animal Protection, the debate will be moderated by former journalist and co-founder of KAPOW Communications, Karman Wong. All parties with a seat in Parliament were invited to participate. The debate will take place in English and French and will be simultaneously translated.

The debate will cover animal protection legislation, zoos, wildlife trade, animal agriculture, plant-based foods, agricultural trade, antimicrobial resistance, animal testing and institutional reform.

Despite strong public concern over the wellbeing of animals, Canada is widely considered to have some of the worst animal protection laws in the western world. A number of animal welfare bills in the last Parliament sought to change this but died when the election was called (eg; Bill S-15 would have banned elephant and great ape captivity, Bill C-355 would have banned the export of live horses to slaughter and Bill C-293 would have addressed top animal-related pandemic drivers like live animal markets and the wildlife trade). 

The animal protection groups hosting the event say these and other animal issues must be part of the legislative agenda in the next Parliament, and this debate aims to give voters the information they need to make an informed decision about how federal parties will improve animal protection laws and policies.

Animal protection is inextricably linked with other major election issues— when you consider the number of animals traded across our national borders, the shift to buying more local food and the urgent need to mitigate climate change and pandemic risk. Animal agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and more than 14.5 million farmed birds have been culled in Canada due to avian flu. 

Members of the public are invited to register to watch the debate at www.animalelectiondebate.ca. 

Media are invited to participate and submit questions and are asked to RSVP to Pierre Sadik at psadik@animaljustice.ca   

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For media requests contact:

Categories
Media Release

Port Moody City Council votes to prohibit mobile live animal programs in Port Moody

January 23, 2025. For immediate release.

The BC SPCA and the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) are celebrating Port Moody City Council’s decision to prohibit mobile live animal programs, also known as mobile petting zoos, in Port Moody. In addition to farm animals, mobile live animal programs may include exotic animals like reptiles and amphibians. This move reflects growing public awareness and concern for the well-being of animals used for entertainment. 

Port Moody Councillor Kyla Knowles introduced the motion in 2023 out of concern for the treatment and handling of animals brought into the community and put on display for people’s entertainment. “The City of Port Moody and its Council extends respect and care to all residents, including animals,” says Knowles.  “We believe in gently co-existing with our wild neighbours and ensuring our actions don’t harm them.  We lead by example, and banning mobile petting zoos is an easy, low-barrier step to show our commitment to animal welfare in Port Moody.” 

The BC SPCA and VHS, along with a number of caring Port Moody residents, expressed concerns about the welfare of animals at mobile petting zoos through letters and presentations to Council. 

“The BC SPCA is thrilled to see local governments like the City of Port Moody make progressive policy decisions to enhance animal welfare in their communities,” says Nadia Xenakis, the BC SPCA’s wild animal welfare specialist. “Making our province a safer, more caring place for animals and people requires change at all levels of government and Port Moody has demonstrated that they are a leader in this regard. We encourage other local governments, and the provincial government, to make similar changes to their policies and regulations.” 

“We are very grateful to Port Moody’s Council for once again leading the charge in protecting animal welfare,” says Emily Pickett, VHS campaign director. “The residents of Port Moody have demonstrated that they care deeply about animals, and this vote shows that decision-makers are listening to their concerns.” 

This is not the first time Port Moody has taken a stand for animal welfare. In 2023, the Council unanimously voted to ban rodeos after receiving strong support from residents.   

While petting zoos are often marketed as a fun and educational experience, particularly for families and children, research indicates there is little positive educational value. Mobile petting zoos also present numerous animal welfare and public health and safety concerns: 

  • Even healthy-looking animals can transmit pathogens (including E. coli, Salmonella and Avian flu) to people and other animals, and stressed animals are more likely to shed pathogens. Young children are most at risk of infection as they’re the least likely to remember to wash their hands after touching animals and have an increased risk of serious illness because their immune systems aren’t fully developed, 
  • Animals in petting zoos are typically subjected to noisy crowds of people in unfamiliar spaces and have little or no opportunity to hide or rest. They are often handled roughly or improperly by members of the public or even untrained staff and volunteers,
  • Baby animals are particularly popular at petting zoos. The demand for a steady supply of baby animals can result in poor breeding practices, the separation of young from their mothers, and an overabundance of species with low adoption and high abandonment rates, 
  • Transporting animals to and from mobile petting zoos and regularly introducing them to unfamiliar places and situations increases their stress and the risk of injury and distress, 
  • Stressed animals are also more likely to bite, scratch, kick or exhibit defensive behaviours,
  • There are no minimum standards or accreditation for petting zoos in British Columbia, and it is difficult for City staff to determine if the animals are being treated properly when they are not on display to the public. 

For more information on the BC SPCA’s advocacy work, please visit spca.bc.ca/ways-to-help/take-action.

For more information on the VHS’s advocacy work, please visit vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/our-work/

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For more information:

Nadia Xenakis, the BC SPCA’s wild animal specialist, media@spca.bc.ca

Emily Pickett, the Vancouver Humane Society’s campaign director, emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca