What We Do
Remote and Underserved Communities
Humane outreach and intervention.
There are many rural, remote, and under-served communities in BC where animals are abandoned and in distress.
One of our goals at Paws for Hope is to work with such communities to identify the challenges they are facing and work together to remove barriers, improve access, and build sustainable partnerships.
For many of these places, it is about increasing access to veterinary care. Due to geography, the nearest veterinary care can be in another community hours away. Many people are low income and/or don’t have access to a vehicle. Others don’t have the capacity to deal with an increasing population of stray or community animals.
Paws for Hope is working to address these challenges through partnerships with communities, organizations, and First Nations. We are removing barriers, increasing access to veterinary care, and increasing community capacity.
Providing support, building capacity
Community Support
Paws for Hope works with local animal welfare advocates in smaller, rural, and remote communities across BC to address their needs and help them overcome barriers to accessing veterinary care.
We provide funding for transportation and transfer so individuals and organizations can relocate pets from remote communities to larger urban settings with services and supports like veterinary care and foster programs. And we provide wellness clinics, exams, spay, and neuter to communities to otherwise lack those services.
We are currently partnering with Port McNeill Cat Rescue Society and the Huu-ay-aht First Nation to address community cat overpopulation. Learn more below!
About Community Cats
“Community Cats” is a term used to describe outdoor, unowned, free-roaming cats. These cats can be friendly, feral, adults, kittens, healthy, or sick. They may or may not be spayed or neutered. If you want to help the community cats in your area, find a local animal organization with a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program.
TNR is a procedure where an animal is caught in a live trap, taken to a vet for sedation and spay/neuter, and then released back to the location it came from. It is a humane strategy that addresses the problem of feral cats breeding and perpetuating a cycle of miserable, hungry, short lives.
Port McNeill
About
We are working with Port McNeill Cat Rescue Society to provide funding for spay, neuter, veterinary care, pet food, and supplies for abandoned pets—primarily cats.
The Community
The North Island Community is challenged with cat abandonment and many of these animals have to fend for themselves in the unforgiving elements. The population is continuing to grow and these cats are often abandoned without being spayed or neutered. Surrounding communities also reach out to Port McNeill Cat Rescue Society for assistance and the funding we provide helps them as well. With a veterinary clinic and dedicated volunteers who help trap, rehabilitate, and find homes for these forgotten cats, Paws for Hope’s role is to provide funding to help them meet the demand.
“Paws for Hope’s financial support has enabled our small organization to help so many more cats over the past few years.”
– PMRS Volunteer
200
Since 2020 we have helped over 200 cats (and a few dogs) with spay, neuter, veterinary care and finding new homes.
Anacla
About
We are working with the Huu-Ah-Ayt First Nation to bring veterinary care and animal welfare strategies—including community wellness clinics and spay and neuter support—to a remote community.
The Community
Geography is a major barrier to accessing vet care. The community has no vet services of its own and is 1.5 hours from Port Alberni and 3 hours from Nanaimo. Many people living in the community are low income and/or do not have transportation to get them to the veterinarians in other communities. Paws for Hope is working with individual pet owners and the Lands Management Department to identify community needs, strengths, and opportunities to provide ongoing care.
“This is really good for us—to be taking ownership of our wildlife and our pet population. I think this is really beneficial.”
– Anacla Dog Owner
94
In 2023 we hosted two wellness clinics providing vaccinations, parasite control, exams, spay and neuter to 94 animals.
