Mission Community Foundation – Animal Welfare Fund (SU # 24)

Mission Community Foundation – Animal Welfare Fund (SU # 24)

As promised every month we are going to focus on a fund that has been started with the Foundation.

This month we are going to talk about the Animal Welfare Fund (SU#24) created by 5 ladies who have a passion for our furry four legged friends.  Julie Hartland, Ernestine Kearney, Margaret Calloway, Jenny Stevens and Moneca Harder started this fund in April of 2011 and although the fund has been growing, it has not yet reached maturity.

The purpose of their fund is to provide support to local organizations who support animal welfare in Mission.  These organizations are:

• SAINTS: Senior Animals in Need Today Society
• Fraser Valley Humane Society
• MAWS: Meadows Animal Welfare Society

At the Humane Society, they provide veterinary care to all cats entering the shelter; spay & neuter, dental, overall health checks, snap tests for HIV, and surgeries.  All this is done before the animal is put up for adoption and all of this is done at a financial cost.  Although the society receives discounted veterinary fees and adoption fee’s help recuperate the monies spent, it doesn’t cover it all.  They also provide free cat food to those low income people with pets and no money to feed them. The food bank provides the dog food for those in need.

SAINTS helps senior animals and special needs animals find sanctuary and peace.  They help pay for veterinary costs that can run in the thousands for some of these animals.  We are lucky as humans living in Canada, our bills are paid for by a national health plan.  There is no such thing for animals and they, like humans are susceptible to disease and they need to be taken care of just like you or I do.  Right now, SAINTS is in desperate need of structural repairs and they are trying to raise funds to that end.

These organizations struggle yearly to provide care for animals in need in the Fraser Valley and specifically Mission.  Grants from the District, the lottery and Community Foundations cover a great deal of their expenses but they always seem to run short about 2/3 of the way into the year and struggle to find funds to remain open till the next year.  They have fundraisers, annual plant and bake sales to offset the cash poor times and although they do well at these sales, they need to bring in more cash.

The other side of this coin is the human factor.  It has been proven that pet therapy is beneficial to many individuals suffering from mental and physical handicaps.  Guide dogs provide assistance to the blind, pet therapy dogs in hospitals help children and the elderly.  Autistic children are known to respond quite well to pets and it’s known to assist them in remaining calm.   They work with many community associations in the community.

It’s heartbreaking to see a helpless pet in distress and your contribution can enhance an under privileged pets quality of life.  It’s a way to give back to an animal that gives so much and ask for nothing.  Together we can assist these compassionate organizations and help them to continue the excellent work they do for our community and its pets.

To donate to this fund please click here.