How your loving compassion as a Paw Partner is rescuing and saving animals
As a Paw Partner, your incredible generosity in 2024 was the caring embrace that suffering animals like Milo needed. When he was left caged and neglected by an unscrupulous breeder, you wrapped your arms around him and were there every step of his journey. We handpicked just a few other special updates and feel-good stories your compassion made paws-ible!
Your caring heart kept these bovine besties together!
What happens when you take a water buffalo that seems to be part Golden Retriever and introduce her to a Holstein cow that has the nonchalance of a cat? A bovine bestie bond that is like no other!
Dusk the water buffalo and Dawn the Holstein cow may be familiar to your kind heart because your compassion provided these two with the best of care when they arrived at the BC SPCA in 2024. Despite arriving hungry and with minor wounds due to living in poor conditions, these two had a unique and loving bond, with Dusk following the more confident and goofy Dawn’s lead.
Being herd animals, it was very important for Dawn and Dusk to keep their bond and special friendship. Your compassion was vital in guiding these two to their perfect new forever home with Andrew on his farm!
These two strong-willed bovines are quick to beckon their new loving guardian, Andrew, over to them the second he’s out of the house and in their sights. DawnDawn as Andrew affectionately calls her, is excited by all the animals, including two dog friends, and Jessica and Pedro who are Kune pigs. Dusk, who has the attitude of a cat, is less interested but always close by her bestie while DawnDawn excitingly frolics with her new animal friends.
During her downtime DawnDawn lovingly snuggles up with Andrew for a well needed nap. You can see she is blissfully relaxing on her new poppa. Thanks to his kind heart and your compassion as a Paw Partner, both DawnDawn and Dusk are moo-ving through life joyfully!
If you want to see the utterly adorable first time Dusk and Dawn met their new dad, watch the video above to share the moment.
Do you like cute and funny cat videos?
Have you ever had a rough day turn around for the better because a fellow animal loving friend sent you the latest clips of “cats knocking things over”? Us too!! You don’t even have to be a cat person to enjoy. Even if you favour dogs or are more of a wildlife watcher, you’ll still laugh at these felines and their cattitude.
A deeply committed animal welfare advocate and Forever Guardian, James Rodderick Watt brought many smiles to his loved ones’ faces with the cat videos he would send. Forever Guardians, if you haven’t heard, are compassionate animal lovers like you who have chosen to leave a gift in their will to help ensure a kinder future for animals. You can learn more at foreverguardian.ca.
James was a gifted man of many talents including shipwright and award-winning cartoonist. One passion that always stayed with him was his enduring love of animals. James is one of the many Forever Guardians who have joined you and other kind supporters to protect and save animals like Kale (pictured above).
Kale the kitten’s mom was rescued as a pregnant stray who was suffering from feline panleukopenia virus. This led to this sweet fluffster getting Cerebellar Hypoplasia or what you may know as the wobbles. This is a neurological condition that leads to tremors, incoordination and jerky movements.
As you can see in this video, this adorable boy is getting stronger and more coordinated every day!
We are so grateful for our kind and compassionate Forever Guardians and in James’ honour we wanted to share this adorable video of Kale playing with his favourite teaser toy to bring some smiles to faces. As you can imagine James and the cat videos he would send are missed terribly by his loved ones. Still his love of animals is forever. Thank you, James!
Learn more about Forever Guardians.
Your kind voice can help animals big and small!
Thanks to animal lovers like you we are moving all levels of government to better protect animals big and small. Your compassion as a Paw Partner helps put a stop to cruelty before it starts!
Firstly, you are kindly supporting Bill S-15, which if enacted will prohibit possessing, breeding, or impregnating captive elephants and great apes! The Bill recently passed the senate thanks to you and other animal lovers using your voices for these voiceless creatures. Now it would need to be re-introduced at a time when parliament had reconvened. We still hope it will pass when reintroduced!
Elephants and great apes thrive in the wild. These environments cannot be replicated in captivity, which means these majestic creatures suffer from the inability to show their natural expressions. Did you know wild elephants trek approximately 64 km a day! A zoo enclosure cannot replicate this, which leads to stress responses like pacing and swaying.
We are looking forward to getting this critical legislation passed with your caring voice alongside the coalition of animal welfare charities!
In other exciting news the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) endorsed a resolution for a province-wide ban on the sale, purchase and use of glue traps! For years, animal-lovers like you advocated against this and other wildlife control methods that cause prolonged suffering to mice and other animals. BC SPCA Government Relations Officer Sarah Herring, notes that “glue traps cause severe pain and suffering to rodents and other animals who get caught in the traps like small birds, bats, reptiles and even pets.”
The resolution was championed by Councillors Teale Phelps-Bondaroff from the District of Saanich and John Rogers from the Town of View Royal after hearing a presentation from Lavinia Rojas, one of the BC SPCA’s passionate supporters. Lavinia has dedicated herself to raising awareness about the cruelty of glue traps and calling for them to be banned.
Both Bill S-15 and the provincial glue trap ban are examples of how your love helps all animals big and small!
Your love is building a safe haven for animals like Phoenix!
This past November we were honoured to have drummers and dancers from the Cowichan Tribe hold a heartfelt ground blessing ceremony at the future site of our Vancouver Island Animal Behaviour Centre (VIABC).
Your loving kindness as a Paw Partner is helping build this first of its kind standalone multi-species Animal Behavioural Centre in Canada so that it can be a safe haven for vulnerable animals. Currently upwards of 30% of the animals that you help care for are suffering from traumas or under socialization, which leads to behavioural issues like fearfulness. The VIABC will be built to offer these animals more safe spaces, where they can receive specific care and training from our kind and patient staff and volunteers.
It means the world to animals like Phoenix, pictured here, to get this specialized care and training. This sweet boy came into our care after being hit by a car. This innocent pup still struggled with extreme fearfulness despite receiving the best care, a fear free training plan and urgent medical attention. This led to Phoenix running away from a foster, which luckily ended in him being found and brought back into care. By the time staff had him in a place where he could be adopted it was well over a year since his initial surrender to one of our Community Animal Centres.
With your kind support fearful animals like Phoenix will be provided with a quiet environment, plenty of indoor and outdoor space and one on one training to build back their trust. The sooner you can lovingly guide these sweet animals to find trust in humans and other animals again, the sooner they can find comfort and love with their new forever family!
Learn more about how you’ll kindly build a home for every heart.
Your Love Helps Animals and Humans Thrive Together!
We have a bold new vision to help animals and we’re so excited to share it with you. Since 1895 the BC SPCA has always evolved to best serve animals, and this next step has been made possible by past successes and your thoughtful support. We’ve charted an exciting future with both a long-term path to 2050 and a 2025-2030 strategic plan.
We asked our CEO, Craig Daniell, some questions so you are better informed on how your love for animals will continue to have an impact!
What about the new strategic plan excites you, Craig?
Craig: I’ve been with the BC SPCA for more than 20 years and this is the most comprehensive plan we’ve ever embarked upon because we’re looking at what big changes for animals are possible by 2050, and what it will take to get there. From now till 2030 we’ll be focused on direct care for the most vulnerable animals, developing community capacity to support animals so they don’t become vulnerable and taking the first steps in addressing some of the long-term changes we know are necessary. I know we all want to help more animals. This plan will help get us there and that is very exciting!
Why did the BC SPCA set the achievements for 2050 when the strategy ends in 5 years?
Craig: We have an ambitious vision to help animals and people thrive together, but it means expanding our focus on root causes and those require systemic change and can take years or decades to address. Having a vision for 2050 ensures that each plan along the way, including our new 2025-2030 plan is moving us towards this vision and allows us to think bigger than what can be started and finished within a five-year plan.
How can kind animal lovers support the work that helps solve the root issues of animal cruelty?
Craig: A big part of why we’re able to chart this ambitious path is because of thoughtful and caring animal lovers across B.C. – together we’re a powerful voice for change. Kind supporters can volunteer, give a donation, and use their voice to move governments, communities and industry to do the right thing for animals by taking action at spca.bc.ca/take-action.
Thank you! Your kindness as a Paw Partner helps humans and animals thrive together!