Spay/Neuter and Emergency Medical Support for low-income guardians
We are extremely grateful to the Haida Gwaii Animal Hospital for their professional services and financial support in 2023 and their continued willingness to partner with us for these programs in 2024 once we can do the necessary fundraising. Thanks to the animal hospital’s dedicated staff, our generous donors, participants who made partial contributions towards their animals’ procedures, the Gwaii Trust Society, and the BC SPCA, the Gwaii Animal Helpline Society was able to sponsor the spay/neuter of 59 cats and 39 dogs and support emergency medical care for an additional 43 animals. Haw’aa – Haawa – Thank You to each and every one of you who had a hand in improving the lives for these 141 animals and their grateful human guardians!!!
GAHS Low-Income Spay Neuter Support Program
The GAHS Low-Income Spay Neuter Support Program provides financial support to families in Haida Gwaii who would otherwise be unable to have their companion animals altered. Access to spay neuter surgery is a crucial part of an animal’s well being and important in addressing pet overpopulation issues in our communities, which can result in poor health, abandonment, and needless suffering.
GAHS Low-Income Urgent or Emergency Medical Support Program
The GAHS Low-Income Urgent or Emergency Medical Support Program provides financial support to families in Haida Gwaii who would otherwise be unable to have their companion animals receive emergency or urgent medical care. Treatment for trauma, illness or disease can be a costly unplanned expense. This program is intended as support to relieve some of the financial burden on low-income families while acknowledging that treatment may cost more than the program can provide.
Rehoming of abandoned or surrendered companion animals
Receiving
If you need to rehome your companion animal or have found a homeless animal, please complete the surrender form below. You can also email us at gwaiianimalhelpline@gmail.com and one of our volunteers will contact you as soon as we are able. Because we do not have a facility, please be aware that acceptance of surrendered animals is dependent on whether we have the volunteer capacity to accept the animal into our care.
In the case of a stray, we will advertise for the guardian on Facebook & the GAHS website for 7 days. If no guardian comes forward we will consider the animal abandoned and in need of a home. The animal’s guardian has priority over other interested persons up to the time of adoption unless there is a validated suspicion of cruelty or neglect in the home, in which case a referral must be made to the relevant authorities.
If the guardian contacts GAHS and provides identification, the guardian is responsible for paying any medical costs incurred while the animal was in the care of the GAHS before release.
Fostering
We have a small pool of dedicated volunteers who have gone through an application process to ensure that we can match their skills and environment to the needs of the incoming animals. If you are interested in becoming a fosterer, please complete this form and one of our volunteers will be in touch as soon as possible.
Adopting
If you are interested in adopting a specific animal, please fill out a Cat or Dog Matching application [insert links]. This information helps us matches an adopter and a prospective companion animal. The goal is to match the right animal with the right family and lifestyle. We will contact you within one day to set up an interview.
We do have a waiting list if you would like us to contact you when an animal arrives that you may be interested in. Please fill in a Cat or Dog Matching application. We hold applications up to six months.
Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR)
Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) is a humane approach to addressing community or feral cat populations. When community or owned outside cats are left to breed, feral cat colonies develop. This can lead to medical problems due to inbreeding, injuries from fighting, illnesses, and diseases we normally vaccinate against like upper respiratory viruses. TNR improves the lives of cats, addresses community concerns, reduces complaints about cats, reduces predation on native bird species, and stops the breeding cycle. TNR improves the co-existence between outdoor cats and humans in our shared environment. TNR reduces and stabilizes populations of community and/or feral cats. Scientific studies and communities with TNR programs have shown it saves cats’ lives and it is effective.
In our Trap-Neuter-Return program, community or feral cats are humanely trapped with live traps, brought to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, treated for parasites, ear tipped to identify the cat has been neutered and vaccinated, and then returned to their outdoor home. Young kittens and socialized cats are fostered and rehomed. To be effective, all the cats in the colony must be trapped. We will only do TNR where there are people in the area willing to help in the trapping and there is someone who feeds the cats. If you know of a community or feral cat, notice a colony beginning or know of a colony in your community, contact us for the next steps.