The Agri-Food Analytics Lab (AFAL) at Dalhousie University says Canadians are spending more money on food.
As grocery prices increase, more Canadians are turning to budget-friendly plant-based foods, according a recent article from CityNews Vancouver.
“The Agri-Food Analytics Lab (AFAL) at Dalhousie University says Canadians are spending more money on food.”
“Sylvain Charlebois, AFAL’s director, says that this has an impact on what Canadians choose to purchase at the supermarket, moving away from higher-priced items such as meat.”
“‘We are starting to see a shift towards different diets like vegetarianism, pescetarianism, and flexitarianism as well. That’s becoming more popular in Canada.'”
A 2023 report from the Vancouver Humane Society found that eating more plants could save an individual in the Lower Mainland 14% on groceries. The VHS’s PlantUniversity program offers resources, like budget-friendly recipes, to help people who are transitioning toward more plant-based eating thrive while enjoying healthy, delicious meals.
The VHS’s McVitie Fund, which provides emergency veterinary assistance to pets in urgent need, has seen a huge increase in demand due to the rising cost of living. Communications Director Chantelle Archambault recently appeared on CBC Radio’s On The Coast to discuss the program as part of their coverage of rising demand for animal services.
What is the McVitie Fund?
The Vancouver Humane Society’s McVitie Fund program provides emergency funding for life-saving vet care for guardians who can’t afford it otherwise.
When someone loses their job and then their cat escapes and runs into traffic, or if a person living on disability assistance takes in a dog from a late family member and then she suddenly gets a life-threatening infection, they may have nowhere else to turn.
For many people, this program means their loved pets can get the care they need instead of making the impossible choice to give them up, see them suffer, or have them euthanized.
Rising costs of living mean more people need help
Requests for veterinary assistance from the VHS’s McVitie Fund have reached unprecented levels.
So far this year, the VHS has received almost 1,200 applications for help from pet guardians. In the same period last year, the program had fewer than 800 applications. This is a 50% increase in demand over 2025.
And last year’s demand was already unprecendented—the program received more than 11 times as many applications in 2025 compared to 2020.
The VHS team is deeply familiar with how the increasing cost of living over the past several years has impacted pet guardians. Many families are struggling to come up with the funds for frightening medical emergencies with their beloved companions, leading them to reach out for support.
How animal supporters are saving lives
Because veterinary care isn’t subsidized like human medical care in Canada, this program is entirely funded by donations from members of the VHS’s caring community.
Every dollar donated makes a difference to help a loved companion animal come home safe.
Devastating blaze on Gladwin Road on Thursday afternoon (May 21) kills tens of thousands of birds
We are deeply saddened to hear of the devastating loss of 165,000 chickens in a barn fire in Abbotsford on Thursday, reportedly the deadliest barn fire in the community in more than a decade. Our thoughts are with the thousands of sentient beings who suffered and died in this tragedy.
This heartbreaking incident also highlights the inherent animal welfare and safety risks of the industrial farming system.
The average chicken farm in Canada confines approximately 36,000 birds in a single barn, making emergency evacuation during fires, floods, and other disasters virtually impossible. As a result, chickens are disproportionately affected in mass casualty incidents on farms across the country.
Beyond the dangers posed during emergencies, chickens raised in industrial systems experience routine stress and suffering while living in crowded, barren conditions that prevent them from expressing natural behaviours.
Tragedies like this are a stark reminder of the urgent need to move away from intensive factory farming systems. Each of us can help by reducing our consumption of animal products, choosing more plant-based meals, and advocating for stronger protections for farmed animals and a kinder, safer, and more sustainable food system.
We are grateful to the firefighters and emergency personnel who responded to this devastating incident, and to everyone who continues to speak up for farmed animals.
Scientists learn that fish suffer around 10 minutes of “intense pain” when killed during the catch process by air asphyxiation.
A new study published in Scientific Reports and featured in an article from Earth.com spotlights the suffering of fishes when they are caught and killed for food.
While land animals killed for food in Canada must be stunned before slaughter, there is no such law around fishes. Wild-caught fishes are commonly killed by asphyxiation (slowly suffocating to death in the open air), which leads to immense fear and suffering.
The research found that “the average trout endures about ten minutes of pain that qualifies as hurtful, disabling, or excruciating. In some conditions, this could stretch beyond 20 minutes.”
Researchers evaluated stunning as an alternative to prolonged asphyxiation for fish. Their findings highlight flaws in both the stunning methods they evaluated.
“Electrical stunning, if properly used, could spare 60 to 1,200 minutes of suffering for every dollar spent … But implementation remains inconsistent. In many commercial settings, electrical stunning fails to reliably render fish unconscious.”
“Percussive stunning – a physical blow to the head – has shown better consistency in lab settings. But it’s difficult to scale.”
As we recognize that fishes are sentient animals who feel pain, experience fear, and try to avoid suffering, there is one method that can consistently protect their well-being: switching from fish to plant-based alternatives on our plates.
Why do we underestimate cattle? Many choose to think of “edible” animals as unintelligent, but in the case of cattle, research proves otherwise.
New research featured in Psychology Today is bringing cow intelligence into the spotlight, increasing awareness around these sensitive and sentient animals.
As animal allies, we know that animals think and feel, whether they share our homes like cats and dogs or are killed for food like cows, pigs, and chickens. However, awareness around farmed animal sentience remains sparse and cognitive dissonance is common.
Research on animal intelligence helps more people to understand that animals are capable of complex thinking, problem-solving, emotions, and even social relationships. As this evidence becomes more widely understood, it challenges outdated views of animals as simple or unfeeling and highlights their capacity to experience stress, pain, and well-being in meaningful ways.
This growing awareness encourages the public and decision-makers to reconsider how animals are treated, supporting a shift toward animal-free eating habits and stronger welfare standards.
Read the article in Psychology Today to learn what a free-living herd of domesticated cattle can teach us about cow intelligence and adaptability.
The Vancouver Humane Society is partnering with The Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary to make life better for animals this Giving Tuesday!
The joint campaign is raising funds for life-saving work at both local organizations.
Giving Tuesday gifts will go to essential care needs like food and veterinary care for rescued farmed animals at The Happy Herd.
They will also support emergency veterinary care for companion animals in low-income homes across B.C. and vital advocacy to create a brighter future for all animals.
Read the latest story in the Langley Advance Times highlighting some of the animals at The Happy Herd and how you can help.
Vancouver Humane Society partners with Happy Herd to fundraise for the animal farm sanctuary
“At Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary in Aldergrove, the herd is growing and so is the need for support.”
“In recent weeks, the sanctuary has welcomed several new animals, each bringing their own story of survival.”
The sanctuary’s new animals include Cornish cross chickens “Angel and Daisy, who were raised in a horse stall, and Benji, who had been kept alone in a small cage.”
“Casper, a baby rooster, was found abandoned in a cardboard box.”
“He is understandably very scared, but every day his little personality shines through a little more,” said co-founder Diane Marsh.
In late March, The Hill Times published an opinion piece by Senator Don Plett, an appointed leader who has vocally defended Canada’s controversial live horse export industry and delayed the passing of life-saving Bill C-355. The piece defended the shipping of live horses from Canada on long journeys overseas for slaughter.
Canada’s Politics and Government News Source Since 1989
Mitchell calls Senator Plett’s defence of the live horse export for slaughter industry “a bold move, given that the industry is seen as a national embarrassment to most, with nearly 80 per cent of Canadians of all political stripes supporting its timely end.”
The piece outlines several of Senator Plett’s misleading claims, including:
The claim that horses exported for slaughter have “ample room”. “This despite countless images captured at Canadian airports showing these horses crammed together in wooden crates as well as evidence given by the horse racing industry and others at parliamentary committee hearings on this issue last year.”
The claim that “qualified” attendants are present on flights. While sport horses often travel with multiple staff, Mitchell notes that “a single attendant on a flight of 100 or more horses packed into a cargo hold can do little to assist horses who may fall or become injured or stressed during transport.” Records show that these attendants routinely miss animal injuries, including a January 2024 incident involving four collapsed horses, one of whom was already dead and two of whom died after landing.
The claim that “virtually no deaths of horses during transport have been ‘reported to the CFIA'”. Mitchell outlines the underreporting of horse deaths: “Government of Japan data from June 2023-June 2024 alone shows that although no deaths or injuries were reported to the CFIA during this time, at least 22 horses died during or shortly after transport and more than 60 others suffered serious injuries and illness.”
“The ongoing spread of the highly pathogenic bird flu worldwide is reaching an “unprecedented” scale, a United Nations agency warned” earlier this month. The disease spreads easily on crowded poultry farms, which has led to 600 million farmed birds being killed.
Bird flu’s current spread is ‘unprecedented,’ UN agency warns
The ongoing spread of highly pathogenic bird flu worldwide is reaching an unprecedented scale, a United Nations agency warned Monday.
“Speaking at a conference in Rome, key members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) met to discuss the global outbreak of avian influenza.”
“Once limited to a few continents, avian flu has spread across all five continents since 2021, affecting more than 528 species, the FAO warned.”
“The virus is now present in 124 countries, causing the deaths of 47 million wild birds, while more than 600 million domestic birds have been culled (killed)”.
An opinion piece by Eleanor Boyle, published in the Tyee earlier this year, suggests that scaling down the farming of birds for food will be necessary to control the spread of avian flu. Boyle notes that British Columbia, a hot spot for bird flu, is a great place to start shifting the food system.
“Though B.C. turns out less than 15 per cent of Canada’s chicken and eggs, the province accounts for more than 50 per cent of the nation’s recent avian flu-related bird kills and 81 per cent of the country’s now-infected barns.”
The high density of birds packed into barns and the close proximity of farm buildings are risk factors, the article notes. Research shows the disease spreads (and mutates) among crowded animals.
Although wild birds shed pathogens as they fly overhead, “historically, wild-bird pathogens were innocuous. Commercial poultry settings are where low-pathogenic strains tend to become high-pathogenic.”
“Compassion in World Farming says there’s such strong evidence that the poultry industry fuels avian flu that ‘only major farm reforms can end it.'”
Taking decisive action to shift toward more plant-based foods will mean less zoonotic disease risk and a brighter future for animal well-being and public health.
According to two papers recently published in the journals Environmental Research Letters and Climate Policy, the US beef industry knew of its role in climate change decades ago and “worked to obstruct efforts to encourage meat reduction for the sake of climate change”.
A beef industry document from 1989 laid out plans to influence public opinion and legislation in response to climate concerns.
The plan appears to be a blueprint for the industry’s actions to obstruct efforts that would reduce meat/beef consumption for the sake of climate protection.
Industry groups organized generously funded advertising campaigns to counter the messaging of environmental advocates.
The industry lobbied against sustainable diet change efforts including Meatless Mondays, official dietary guidelines, and the landmark EAT-Lancet report.
“The low-tech and immediately available option of halving US beef and veal consumption, resulting in a savings of 125–410 megatonnes (Mt) CO2eq per year over the 32 year period, could have been 24–80 times more effective in reducing GHG emissions in a single year than what was achieved cumulatively by reducing methane emissions (mainly in the oil and gas industries) over a similar timespan (1990–2022).”(Jennifer Jacquet et al 2025 Environ. Res. Lett. 20 031006)
According to reports, the beef industry’s lobbying and marketing efforts have silenced advocates, maintained a high public demand for meat, and slowed the development of sustainable food policies for decades; all while knowing the climate impacts of the industry.
What the beef industry knew about its environmental impact – and how it spent decades blocking climate action.
In February 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency held a workshop on how to reduce climate emissions. A representative from the nation’s largest and oldest beef industry group — the National Cattlemen’s Association (NCA) — attended the workshop. Soon after, the organization developed a report to keep beef on family tables despite the growing knowledge around its climate impacts.
“The Cattlemen’s plan — an internal 17-page memo titled “Strategic Plan on the Environment” — went unnoticed for decades until two University of Miami researchers, Jennifer Jacquet and Loredana Loy, recently unearthed the document in the NCA’s archives.”
“Notably, the beef industry plan had barely a mention about addressing cattle pollution. Instead, it centered around how the public and policymakers would perceive that pollution.”
Animal welfare group calls for more oversight after province sanctions B.C. slaughterhouse.
The investigation was launched after Animal Justice released shocking video footage revealing horrific animal suffering and apparent violations of slaughter regulations, allegedly filmed by a whistleblower at Johnston’s Meats.
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.
Following the video release and a legal complaint filed by Animal Justice, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a prohibition notice to the slaughterhouse regarding its use of electric prods and handling of animals, along with a warning letter citing humane treatment violations under B.C.’s Meat Inspection Regulation.
The ministry ordered “corrective actions”, including improved training, and said inspectors would be “increasing oversight”.
Though provincial inspectors are required to be present at slaughterhouses every day of the slaughtering process, inspectors at Johnston’s Meats claimed they never witnessed abuse. No action was taken until Animal Justice filed a complaint, which the organization says “represents a failure to catch bad practices”.
This incident is renewing calls for public transparency, consistent oversight, and proactive enforcement of animal welfare regulations, highlighting that animal suffering may continue until a report is made.
Can you take the quick action below to tell the B.C. government that urgent changes are needed to protect farmed animals from suffering?
