Tag: Companion animals

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News/Blog

Include animals in emergency planning (Federal e-petition)

A forest fire from above

  • The Vancouver Humane Society is joining Humane Canada and advocates across Canada in calling for companion animals to be included in emergency planning.
  • More than 60% of Canadian households include a dog or cat, yet there is a lack of pet-inclusive support and accommodations for people evacuating during emergencies such as wildfires.
  • The lack of resources and limited training on animal response adds to confusion and panic in times of emergency, and can lead to people delaying or avoiding seeking safety, risk of death for animals, and added dangers for first responders.
  • A new federal e-petition launched by Humane Canada calls on the Canadian government to include animals in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.

TAKE ACTION: Canadian residents can sign the official parliamentary e-petition until October 9, 2025. After you sign, be sure to click the link in the confirmation email so your signature is counted.

You can also use the quick action tool from Humane Canada to send an email to federal decision-makers calling for change.

Sign the petition
Email decision-makers (Humane Canada action)

Ensure no animal is left behind in emergencies

Join the Vancouver Humane Society, Humane Canada, MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, and advocates across Canada in calling to protect animals and teh people who care for them during emergencies.

Sign the federal e-petition on the Parliament of Canada website before October 9, 2025, at 9:06 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.  

Sign the petition
Email decision-makers (Humane Canada)
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News/Blog

New data highlights need for veterinary support

  • New polling highlights the impact that the cost of living crisis has on companion animals and their guardians.
  • Data from Gallup, Inc. and PetSmart Charities of Canada shows that half of pet guardians have not brought their pets to the veterinarian for care within the past year or have declined previous recommended care.
  • Demand for the VHS’s McVitie Fund, which offers emergency veterinary support for low-income pet guardians across B.C., has grown significantly over the past five years.

Read the article below by journalist Serah Louis to learn more about how the cost of living crisis is impacting animals and those who care for them.

Soaring costs are forcing some Canadians to limit vet visits or even give up their pets

‘The magnitude of the problem in Canada alone is billions of dollars a year,’ says PetSmart Charities of Canada. Find out more

“Chantelle Archambault, communications director at the Vancouver Humane Society, said its McVitie program, which provides emergency funding for life-saving veterinary care for pets in low-income households across B.C., has ballooned from less than 200 applications in 2020 to about 1,600 in 2024.”

“‘This year, we have already processed more than 900 applications,’ Archambault said in an email, noting more people are struggling to afford veterinary care as the cost of living has gone up.”

“‘Increasingly, applicants … mention that their rent alone is nearly the same as their full monthly income,’ she added. ‘Many applicants report having only $100 to $200 per month left for food for themselves, their pet and other necessities.'”

Read article
Help pets in need
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News/Blog

Double your impact to help pets come home safe

“What you have done for me is a true miracle. No words I can say can express the gratitude I feel. The gift of saving Opi has been the greatest thing to have happened to me.” -Christine, guardian to Opi

Opi received life-saving treatment for an intestinal obstruction thanks to the McVitie Fund.

Each day, the Vancouver Humane Society’s McVitie Fund program is flooded with an ever-increasing number of applications and calls from distressed pet guardians seeking urgent veterinary care funding for their loved companion animals. The people who turn to the McVitie Fund are facing not only the stress, trauma, and uncertainty of a sick or injured animal but also the daily challenges of poverty. Women, Indigenous people, seniors, and individuals living with disabilities are among those most affected by these hardships—and most in need of support.

So far this year, the McVitie Fund has helped more than 400 animals in low-income homes across B.C. receive life-saving veterinary care. By the end of 2025, that number is expected to grow to 900 pets helped.

The McVitie Fund remains the only program in B.C. offering year-round emergency vet care funding at this scale. Every person who applies receives compassionate, trauma-informed support from the VHS team, whether or not they qualify for financial aid.

“Bobo is the only one I spend time with every day. I am very grateful to you for helping him through this difficult time so that he can continue his life.” – Elaine, guardian to Bobo

Bobo received surgery for a life-threatening urinary blockage.

Right now, thanks to a generous anonymous donor, your gift to the McVitie Fund will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000. This means right now your gift goes twice as far to help pets make it back home safely to the ones who love them most. As the bond of pets and their guardians is immeasurable, so are the true and lasting impacts of the McVitie Fund and the support of donors like you.

Layla and Mandy’s story

VHS received a touching story and request. Rather than paraphrase it, we wanted to share it with you in Mandy’s own heartfelt words:

“Layla came into my life when I needed her the most. Seven years ago, she was just a tiny, wrinkly puppy with the biggest, most soulful eyes. From the moment I held her, I knew she was special. She isn’t just a pet. She became my lifeline, my safe place, and my reason to keep going.

“She became my lifeline, my safe place, and my reason to keep going.”

Four years ago, I found the strength to leave an abusive relationship, and Layla was the reason I finally left. For years, I endured the pain, telling myself I could handle it. But when I saw the first signs of abuse directed at Layla, I knew I couldn’t let her suffer the way I had. Unlike me, she didn’t have the ability to make that conscious choice so we walked away together, and she has been my rock ever since.

Now Layla is in urgent need of veterinary care due to a rapidly growing mass that has changed in size and color within the past day. The growth has ballooned, with the end of it turning bright pink, and she has become lethargic and not acting like herself, which is deeply concerning. She has always been full of love, enthusiasm, and happiness, but now she is struggling, and I feel helpless.

Unfortunately, financial hardships have left me unable to afford the vet care she urgently needs. I work hard in landscaping, but with the high cost of living, I have exhausted all my options. I have reached out to multiple organizations for help and have been turned away, leaving me with nowhere else to turn.

I am desperately seeking assistance to get Layla the medical attention she needs. I love her deeply, and the thought of losing her because I can’t afford care is unbearable. Any help would mean the world to both of us. Thank you for considering my request.”

VHS funded Layla’s life-saving mass removal surgery.

Can you donate to the McVitie program, to make sure we can say YES to more animals like Layla?

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News/Blog

The VHS joins animal organizations across Canada in hosting animal protection debate

Canada’s All-Party Animal Protection Election Debate 🐾

🎥 Watch the full recording of Canada’s All-Party Animal Protection Election Debate and hear where four major political parties stand on urgent animal protection issues-just in time to help you vote for animals in this federal election 🐾 Moderated by Karman Wong, this debate features: 🔴 Nathaniel Erskine-Smith – Liberal Party 🟢 Elizabeth May – Green Party 🟠 Alistair MacGregor – NDP 🔵 Yves Perron – Bloc Québécois Canada’s animals urgently need a voice in Parliament-and this election, you can help make it happen.

For the second time ever, an all-party animal protection debate shed light on the positions of Canada’s federal parties leading up to the election. The debate was once again hosted by the VHS and other animal organizations across Canada: Animal Justice, SPCA Montreal, BC SPCA, and World Animal Protection.

As parties battled it out on the campaign trail, this debate was crucial in ensuring that animal protection remained on candidates’ radar. It also encouraged stronger commitments from parties on topics such as national animal protection legislation, wildlife, animals used in research, and animals kept in captivity.

The debate was especially key in drawing attention toward farmed animals, a group who suffer greatly on a massive scale. Candidates discussed concerns related to horse exports for slaughter overseas, fur farming, intensive animal agriculture, plant-based policies, international agricultural trade, and antibiotic use on farms.

To see a replay of the debate and understand each party’s position on animal topics leading into the new parliamentary cycle, visit www.animalelectiondebate.ca.

Watch replay
Categories
Urgent Care

Support urgent care for pets this Mother’s Day

Donate to help pets like Winnie

Donate to help pets like Winnie this Mother’s Day

When Paula’s beloved dog Winnie faced a life-threatening pregnancy complication, she turned to the VHS’s McVitie Fund for help. Thanks to donors like you, Winnie received an emergency C-section and spay just in time, delivering eight healthy puppies.
 
Paula is overjoyed to be able to continue life with her best friend by her side, and is giving Winnie all the love in the world as she recovers and cares for her new family.

When you make a gift to the McVitie Fund, you can also send a thoughtful e-card featuring Winnie and her puppies to someone you love. Your donation will help more animals like Winnie receive life-saving veterinary care when they need it most. 

Simply click on the “in honour of” button in the “Dedication” section of the online donation form. 


Your love will keep families like Paula’s healthy and together.

Categories
Urgent Care

Urgent care for Olga

Donate toward Olga’s care

Donate to help Olga this Valentine’s Day


When food-motivated kittly Olga lost interest in her food, Linda quickly took her to the animal hospital. There, vets determined that Olga is suffering from painful cysts on her teeth and will need dental surgery to remove them. Without the surgery, Olga is at risk of serious infection, and may stop eating altogether.

Linda is a single mother managing a disability while providing for her child and Olga. Linda told the VHS she adopted Olga when she was going through a difficult divorce. “She has been a huge source of love and companionship,” Linda said.

When you donate today to help Olga, you can choose to make a donation in honour of someone special and send a thoughtful e-card to their inbox.

Simply click on the “in honour of” button in the “Dedication” section of the online donation form. 


Can you help Olga get the care she needs to come home to Linda?

Categories
Urgent Care

Finn’s happy homecoming!

Your gift helps families like Finn and Ginny’s today

Finn’s terrifying tale turned happy ending

Curious puppy Finn, wound up in a life-threatening situation with some socks recently. Luckily, thanks to supporters like you, the McVitie Fund was there to help.

When Finn’s guardian, Ginny, left her room to take clothes to the laundry, Finn took the opportunity to investigate a few socks that had fallen out of Ginny’s laundry hamper.

When the pair left the house for Finn’s usually treasured walk, Finn stopped, sat down, and threw up two socks.

After they came back inside, Finn still appeared lethargic and could not drink water. Ginny rushed him to an emergency veterinary hospital where initial x-rays showed Finn’s intestines were obstructed with socks. To survive, Finn would need $2,500 to cover diagnostics, surgery to remove the obstruction, and a three day stay at the veterinary hospital.

Ginny was distraught. Since rescuing Finn she has delighted in caring for him and spending her days by his side. The pair have become inseperable, and Finn’s loss would be devastating.

Difficult circumstances mean Ginny is currently living in temporary housing and had no funds available for Finn’s surgery. A trusted worker at Ginny’s temporary housing helped connect her with the McVitie Fund and she quickly filled out an application for Finn.

Because of supporters like you, the McVitie Fund was able to provide funding to get Finn the life-saving care he needed.

Ginny was astonished and overwhelmed with gratitude when she heard this news. She wrote to us, “thank you so very much!!! I’m so grateful and relieved!!! I love my puppy very much, this is wonderful news.”

Finn’s surgery went well, and after his hospital stay, Ginny got to take her dear friend home to recover and get a good night’s sleep by her side.

“Due to your support, he is thriving, happy and healthy again. I keep all the socks in a closed basket and out of reach, as this was a terribly traumatic experience for him and I, but you got us through it,” Ginny wrote.

“I truly appreciate the generous funding support you provided and will give back to the Humane Society when I’m able to. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your compassion and financial help in our time of need.”

Finn and Ginny are just one of hundreds of families helped thanks to thoughtful gifts from supporters like you this year. The McVitie Fund relies on your generosity to continue supporting low-income pet guardians across B.C. seeking emergency help for their beloved animal friends. Could you support families like Ginny’s with a donation today?

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News/Blog

VHS brings pet first aid into community services

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. 

Categories
News/Blog

Petition asks Alberta government to follow B.C.’s lead in considering pets as more than property under family law

A close up photo of a calico cat being patted by a hand

Alberta woman calls for family law changes surrounding pets | Globalnews.ca

An Alberta woman is calling for changes to the way pets are dealt with under provincial family law, after similar changes in B.C. earlier this year.

An advocate in Alberta has launched a petition asking that the Alberta goverment follow B.C.’s lead in considering pets as more than property under family law.

The provincial government in B.C. made changes to the Family Law Act this past January. With these changes, pets are no longer treated as “property” in divorce and separation proceedings, recognizing their safety, well-being, and place as part of the family.

Read the article
Sign the petition

Animals still considered property under Canadian Law

Animals are still considered property under federal law. The Vancouver Humane Society, along with animal protection organizations and experts across the country, is calling on the federal government to recognize animals as sentient beings with a new petition.

Can you support this important initiative and help strengthen legal protections for animal well-being?

Learn more & take action
Categories
Urgent Care

Animals like Lily need urgent veterinary care

Your gift helps us say YES to pets in need of life-saving care today


Should you have any trouble making a donation on this page, please click here. In the Message to VHS portion of the donation form, you can write McVitie to let us know this gift is for animals in need of urgent care.

The sad truth is, we can’t keep up

Every day, animal guardians desperate to save their pets’ lives reach out to the Vancouver Humane Society’s McVitie Fund program for urgent veterinary support. With applications to the McVitie Fund having increased more than tenfold since 2020, demand has far outstretched the donations we’re able to bring in to help animals in need.
  
Recently we spent $1,600 to help sweet Lily, a dog who required emergency care. I’m sharing Donna and Lily’s story with you in the hope that you can help retroactively cover the cost of Lily’s care so we can continue saying yes to more animals like her today. 

Donna’s application to the McVitie Fund struck me deeply. Her words—“I really need help. I’m praying that we can get help”—echoed with such raw urgency and fear. I could almost feel her trembling hands and racing heart as she typed them.

Donna explained in her application that she is a senior who struggles with her health and lives paycheque to paycheque on disability payments.  

When a friend could no longer care for Lily, Donna happily offered to take the darling pup into her home. Lily has since become fast friends with Donna’s cat, Stripey, and Donna’s daughter, Katie. Katie has special needs and lives with and is cared for by Donna.

Donna rushed to the vet having noticed a dip in Lily’s energy along with bloody-looking discharge. There she learned Lily was suffering from a pyometra infection.

The chance of a pyometra infection resolving itself without surgery is extremely low, and if surgery is not performed quickly, the infection will often prove fatal. I called Donna and the vet to let them know, yes, we will cover the cost of Lily’s life-saving surgery.  

A few days later Donna called me, her voice full of joy and relief. She let me know that Lily was recovering well from her surgery. Both Katie and Stripey had rushed to greet Lily with kisses as soon as she got home.

Through tears of gratitude Donna said, “a million thank yous are not enough for what you have done, and my gratitude will never be enough! Thank you for saving my Lily!“

Donna’s plea is mine too: on behalf of low-income pet guardians across B.C. who find their pets in crisis, can you help? Could you spare any amount and be the reason a pet returns home healthy this fall? 

With gratitude,
Brooklyn Fowler-Moros, Program Manager – McVitie Fund