For Immediate Release

BC animal charity launches program enhancement to better support pets and their families.

On February 1, Paws for Hope Animal Foundation will be launching significant enhancements to its flagship program: Roxy’s Relief. The program, now called Better Together, will provide an expanded “One Health” approach to supporting BC pets and their families.

For the past eight years, the Paws for Hope Animal Foundation and its Roxy’s Relief program have supported marginalized pet guardians in caring for their pets through free animal health clinics, low-cost spay and neuter services, and funding for emergency veterinary care. In 2020 alone, the program helped over 600 pets. 

Kathy Powelson, Executive Director of Paws for Hope, explains: “We believe that pets should be included in our social safety net and that the animal welfare and social services sectors should be working together to support individuals, families, and their pets.”

The expanded enhancements include partnerships with community social services and veterinary service providers to enhance outcomes—what the WHO calls a “one health” approach to programs and policies—and will help to ensure that the whole family, not just the pet, can receive the support they need.  

“No pet should have to be surrendered in order to receive veterinary care. And vulnerable families deserve to be connected to those critical supports in the community. Enhancements to this program will align social service and veterinary service to help both pets and their families over the long term.”

About Paws for Hope Animal Foundation:

Paws for Hope envisions communities that embrace all pets as family, ensuring they are loved, free from harm, and where no pet is left behind. To that end, our mission is to shift the culture of companion animal welfare in British Columbia by creating new models of practice and remediating the underlying causes of harm through cross-sector collaboration, education, and advocacy. Learn more at: https://pawsforhope.org/

For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact:

Kathy Powelson, Paws for Hope Executive Director
[email protected]
604-396-9297