9-year-old George means everything to his owner Leah. Whenever Leah comes home, George dances in circles of joy.

Leah has bipolar and told VHS that she can’t imagine getting through her dark days without him.

He always knows when I am down and will cuddle and lick me when I’m very depressed.

Leah, George’s loving owner

Leah took George to her local veterinary clinic earlier this month after noticing his teeth were causing him pain. She was told that George’s teeth were badly abscessed and that he would need urgent treatment. The vet also noticed a cyst in George’s eye had grown and recommended doing a biopsy to confirm whether it needed to be removed.

Leah was able to put down a deposit for George’s treatment, but as she is struggling on low income, she was unable to pay the full cost of almost $1,000. That’s why she reached out to the McVitie Fund for help.

Could you help cover the additional costs of George’s medical treatment?

For October is Free Wills Month and you have the chance to support our work for years to come by leaving a legacy for the animals. If you are an animal lover aged 55 or over, from October 1-31, you have a unique opportunity to either make a new will or revise your current will, for free! There is absolutely no obligation to include a charity in your will in order to participate. This is the last year the VHS is participating in this program, and a great opportunity to plan for the future.
 
You can have a simple will written or updated free of charge through lawyers participating in this campaign. If you’d like to participate or get more information, please visit the Free Wills website. If you have any questions, please contact Claire Yarnold at 604 266 9744 or email claire@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca.

For many people, their pet is their lifeline and mental health support. We know from separation anxiety, cuddles, and protective behaviours that the feeling is mutual! Across Canada, people face difficult decisions as they struggle with poverty, and sometimes those decisions involve the well-being of themselves and their best friend. VHS received a two-year grant from the B.C. government to create a training program for animal services providers to ensure their programs provide trauma-informed care to people and their pets. We’ve recruited Celeste Morales as Lead Researcher to do this work. Celeste has a Master’s in Sociology and wrote her thesis on poverty reduction. (See full bio.) Welcome Celeste!

Calls have been pouring in to our veterinary assistance hotline as the COVID-19 shutdowns continue. Each month, more and more people are experiencing financial crisis. They are stressed and worried; the sighs of relief are tangible when our program coordinator, Terri, confirms that their pet can be helped. We would not have been able to help all the cases that come to us without the financial support from the Community Response Fund, made possible by the Vancouver Foundation, Vancity Credit Union, United Way Lower Mainland, and the City of Vancouver. They provided $10,000 to ensure we are able tomeet the increased demand for the program. Thank you also to our donors who give generously to the McVitie program!

The story of Lucky the owl, who was found poisoned in North Vancouver not once, but twice in a matter of weeks, has revived public calls for a ban on anticoagulant rodenticides. Wildlife are often the victims of poisons used by businesses, landlords, municipalities and homeowners to control rodent populations. These “secondary poisonings” happen when birds of prey or other predators eat poisoned rodents, causing a slow and painful death.

Thankfully, Lucky survived and was released after receiving treatment, but other animals who encounter these poisons aren’t so fortunate. The good news is that a growing number of B.C. municipalities are now taking action. In the months following Lucky’s poisonings, several municipalities have banned rodenticides on municipal properties, including the District and City of North Vancouver, Port Moody, Victoria and a number of other Vancouver Island communities. Most recently, West Vancouver has voted to consider a ban. Given that the wider use of rodenticides is regulated at the provincial level, the next step will be for municipalities to urge the province to consider a B.C.-wide ban.

VHS has submitted letters of support for municipal rodenticide bans and will advocate for a province-wide ban. We’ve also joined Owl Watch BC, a coalition of wildlife advocates. To learn more about taking action to ban rodenticides in your community, email VHS Campaign Director, Emily Pickett, at emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca.  

With regular summer events and outreach put on hold this year due to COVID-19, VHS has been busy finding other avenues to share our Go Veg message. We’re pleased to report that the new ads have been running on billboards and elevator screens throughout Metro Vancouver this summer and we’ve received positive feedback about the new designs and messaging. You can see all of the new ads by visiting our Go Veg homepage.

We’ve also been busy online, presenting our plant-based programs to an audience of approximately 2000 people at an online music festival in July. In addition, we hosted a webinar, featuring VHS Executive Director, Amy Morris and Campaign Director, Emily Pickett. The discussion focused on powerful actions we can take as individuals to protect animal welfare. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording here.  

In August, VHS launched a campaign calling on the Vancouver Park Board to remove the horse-drawn trolley from Stanley Park.

Having horse-drawn trolleys or carriages in urban settings is just not safe. This became clear in 2016, when the Stanley Park trolley’s horses were spooked by traffic noise and bolted, nearly taking a trolley full of tourists off the sea wall.

Due to a changed traffic configuration, the trolley was sharing the roadway through the park with motorist and cyclists. This created an additional safety hazard as drivers attempted to pass the slow-moving trolley by veering into the cycle lane.

The horses, who spend long hours on hard pavement in all weathers, are also exposed to vehicle exhaust.

Nearly 7000 people signed our petitions to the Park Board to remove the trolley.  To date, the board has not responded.