How your care as a PAW Plan donor is rescuing and saving animals
Found in the freezing cold – Tess the poodle’s journey to a loving home will melt your heart.
Sweetheart Tess was one of seven dogs PAW Plan donors like you rescued earlier in January from an unscrupulous backyard breeder in Cherryville. This innocent poodle was left outside in the cold where she was extremely vulnerable to frostbite and hypothermia as she doesn’t have a thick warm coat that can endure lengthy periods of time outdoors in freezing temperatures.
When the Animal Protection Officers arrived after a concerned animal lover like you called the BC SPCA Animal Helpline (1-855-622-7722), they found Tess and the other dogs outside in pens that were contaminated with feces and urine. Dirty water bowls were flipped over or frozen. It’s not a surprise that many of the dogs’ fur was heavily matted and frozen, containing urine and feces and all had overgrown nails due to neglect.
Thanks to compassionate PAW Plan donors like you, Tess was given a warm bed, food, veterinary care, and a loving groom. Friendly girl, Tess, loves to be with people and climbs right on to your lap for kisses when she can. Despite her size, she feels laps are where she belongs! And that isn’t a surprise given she spent so much of her young life alone in the cold.
Every wagging tail in the video of Tess and her furry friends below is thanks to the kindness from you and other animal lovers!
And we are very happy to report Tess was quickly adopted by a guardian who adores poodles – now she is warmly embraced and loved in her new caring forever home!
Learn more about other animals like Tess in need of loving medical care today.
You helped ban the use of an inhumane wildlife poison in BC!
In 2021 you and other Canadians thoughtfully spoke up for wildlife across our country to demand Health Canada ban the use of strychnine, Compound 1080, and sodium cyanide. Sodium cyanide was immediately removed, and we are excited to report that after consultation with the public and key collaborators – the use of strychnine has officially been banned by Health Canada!
Why is this so important? Strychnine is a poison that was used to kill predators, like bears, coyotes and wolves to protect livestock, vulnerable wildlife and when needed local communities. The practice was inhumane as it led to slow and painful deaths. It also was not easy to control and harmed other wildlife and habitats. This is a big step in better protecting wildlife.
Compound 1080 is still legal, so there is work to be done to ensure we speak up for wildlife because they can’t do it themselves. With the support from caring animal lovers like yourself, we are hopeful it too will soon be banned so that bears, coyotes and other precious keystone species won’t suffer these cruel poisonings.
Purrfectly Placed thanks to compassionate PAW Plan donors like you!
After receiving the best of care provided by compassionate supporters, momma cat Brittany and her five kittens, known as her B-boys, were lucky to be fostered by our caring Senior Director, Community Animal Services – Adrienne McBride.
Despite a rough early start to life, they are all healthy, safe and receiving a lot of love and cuddles.
We here at the BC SPCA hope it makes your kind heart smile to see this collage of cuteness.
Prior to their purrfect foster placement, and thanks to our kind community of PAW Plan donors, our team in Kelowna provided critical medical care to these sweet furry felines after they were surrendered by their guardian. And not just them, but in total more than 30 cats and kittens!
All the cats and kittens had been living in cramped and unhygienic conditions and suffered from upper respiratory infections. Many were showing signs of malnutrition, needed dental care and were suffering from hair loss. One of the five sweet cuddly kittens needed eye surgery.
It makes the journey of healing so much better when animals can be placed with the right loving foster – like Adrienne. It’s the difference between healing in a crowded ‘hospital’ environment or being able to relax in the cozy comfort of your home.
It takes a lot of time, space, commitment, and knowledge to ensure that animals like these sweet kitties get the best of care.
Resilient raccoon lovingly rescued and rehabilitated!
Raccoons are incredibly intelligent and industrious animals. Did you know that despite their ‘talent’ for getting into trash cans, they are known to ‘wash’ their tiny hands in water sources before enjoying their meal?
Given their high intelligence, it is no wonder that a concerned animal lover like you contacted our Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Wild ARC) team in southern Vancouver Island when they saw a raccoon acting strangely over the past two weeks.
Based on the concerning nature of her behaviour, she was humanely secured and brought in for a health exam.
Upon arrival, our experienced rehabilitators took this furry patient straight into a dedicated raccoon exam room. After mildly sedating the raccoon to minimize stress and maintain safety – the team was ready to search for the underlying cause of her unusual behaviour. The raccoon was having issues seeing out of her left eye, so she was brought to an eye specialist for assessment. The specialist found a corneal perforation, which can result from numerous conditions that painfully trigger the cornea to melt! The raccoon needed surgery to remove the eye so she could live a pain-free life.
Thankfully our caring community of PAW Plan and other donors stepped up to help give her fast compassionate care!
She is now fully recovered and returned to the wild!
Your caring heart may be interested to know that in the days leading up to her release, the wildlife team ensured she was getting a well-rounded diet. They made sure to present it to her in all kinds of ways to promote her natural foraging behaviour. Just a few weeks later, her eye had healed beautifully, and she was ready to move on to the next chapter of her life back in the wild.
Forever Guardian Feature: Helena will forever have animals in her heart
It is no surprise that Forever Guardian and fellow PAW Plan donor Helena was raised by a family of animal lovers.
When we recently reached out to her, she fondly shared with us that growing up her family ‘taught by example the importance of treating all animals with respect.’ She is now sharing that same lesson with her children and loved ones. She has done so with both her generous compassion, and as a loving guardian to many fur babies – the latest being Pepper. Pepper is a sweet cat Helena adopted from the Kamloops BC SPCA in 2015. At 5 years of age Pepper was found alone downtown and remained unadopted for 70 days. Lucky for Pepper, Helena wanted to adopt a new friend for her other kitty, Spyrals, who seemed lonely after losing his pal Snickers the previous year.
As Helena shared, “Spyrals was over the moon upon first meeting, Pepper, not so much.”
However, Spyrals would soon win Pepper’s heart. So much so that when Spyrals took to his final rest two years ago, the days that followed, Pepper walked throughout the house with the most sorrowful of cries.
Pepper’s days now consist of patrolling the yard, going for car rides, sleeping in one of her many beds, and if bored, mischievously scratching the couch to see if Helena or her husband may react. Pepper is being treated for hyperthyroidism and arthritis but is still enjoying life to the fullest thanks to the compassionate care she is given by her loving guardians.
“She [Pepper] has brought us years of happiness, and we hope many more ahead. I am so thankful for the BC SPCA.”
– Helena
Helena’s greatest wish for animals is one you may share – a future where there would be no need for the SPCA. Until that wish comes true, Forever Guardians and PAW Plan donors like Helena are ensuring that all animals in need, both now and in the future, can as she lovingly puts it “find a safe home, and a second chance at life without pain or hunger, but with love and respect as all animals deserve.”
Thank you so much, Helena, for all you do for the animals!
Find out more about becoming a Forever Guardian and leaving your legacy of love.
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Thank you for being there for the animals!