'Everything has gone up': Animal shelters struggling to keep up with rising costs
'Everything has gone up': Animal shelters struggling to keep up with rising costs
'Everything has gone up': Animal shelters struggling to keep up with rising costs
Pet rescues are feeling the pinch with the cost of food, gas and many other items only getting pricier, making it all the more difficult for shelters to operate.
It's a busy room of felines at Miss J.LA's Fur Babies Cat Cafe and Adoption Centre, as the business holds one last fundraiser in its current location before moving.
The fundraiser is of increased importance as the cost of taking care of so many cats has gone up dramatically.
"Even looking for a place to rent, everything has gone up since we were looking in 2018," said owner Jennifer Laferriere in an interview on Sunday. "So costs are going up. Cat food's gone up, litter is going up, everything, vet care."
To help cover costs, Laferriere uses a variety of funds, even starting a GoFundMe page to raise money for a new location.
"When we are open, we charge to see the kitties. That goes to taking care of them," she said. "We rely on donations. We do monthly auctions just to get a new location."
It's a similar story at Tails for Freedom Rescue.
The organization is averaging about $10,000 a month in vet bills -- a large cost when fewer donations are coming in.
"We're definitely seeing a slowdown because people are feeling the impacts of inflation themselves, and it's taking more money to run their household, and there's less leftover to help rescues," said Andrea Hilderman, the rescue's spay and neuter coordinator.
Tails for Freedom Rescue is also seeing fewer people volunteering to drive cats, something made worse with each jump at the pump.
"I always say at the end of our clinics that without drivers we don't have clinics," Hilderman said. "Our clinics are primarily in Treherne, with our vet in Treherne, and so we require people to get up at five o'clock in the morning and take 10 cats out to Treherne."
The driver shortage is also hitting the Animal Food Bank, which is still seeing increased demand for food and pet supplies.
"The delivery model is really close to my heart. It's how I founded the food bank, so I’d really like it to stay that way, and so we're hoping that we see a reprieve in costs because it is impacting our ability to provide food and supplies to pets in need," explained Nicole Wilks, founder of Animal Food Bank.
According to Wilks, the price of pet food has also risen, which is a problem as the organization is seeing a decrease in donations.
"All of the pet food manufacturers and the wholesalers are experiencing the same price increases, and you know it goes down the line,” Wilks said
Even with all the increases in fees and hardships, helping the animals is well worth it for the organizations.
"That's the whole goal. That's what we're here for, to save them and get them into a home where they're going be loved," said Laferriere.
The campaign for Patrick Brown said it was consulting its legal team after the leadership election organizing committee of the federal Conservatives voted to disqualify him from the race late Tuesday.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
Two young emergency room doctors, raised and trained in Montreal, are leaving their jobs after only two years to move back to Toronto – and they say the Quebec health-care model and Bill 96 are to blame.
The Crown is seeking to revoke bail for Tamara Lich, a leader of the 'Freedom Convoy,' after she appeared alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her conditions.
A man charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder after firing off more than 70 rounds at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago legally bought five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police said.
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Canada became the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday.
Benjamin Dufour, the seven-year-old boy who was gravely injured after being hit by a truck in Regina last month, has shown positive signs of recovery, according to a news release from his family.
Environment Canada has issued a tornado warning for the R.M. of Kindersley including Kindersley Brock and Flaxcombe, and the R.M. of Oakdale including Coleville.
Since 1996, Carla Alexiuk has been increasing the quilting population in northern Ontario by providing workshops, knowledge and her passion for the hobby.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
A U.S. basketball commentator has found himself in the hot seat over comments he made about Toronto and its relationship with Black athletes amid rumours one of the best in the game could be headed north of the border.
As flight delays and lost luggage bring chaos to summer travel plans, Air Canada is advising travellers on how much time they should leave between connecting flights.
Two young emergency room doctors, raised and trained in Montreal, are leaving their jobs after only two years to move back to Toronto – and they say the Quebec health-care model and Bill 96 are to blame.
At least three sleepaway camps in Quebec have temporarily shut down because of COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the province's camps association (ACQ).
Two Montreal politicians and an activist group are calling on the Trudeau government to take responsibility for preserving a vast natural area leased and managed for many years by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) amid controversy over a recently mowed field.
Sharon Lloyd has been waiting 22 days for her baggage to arrive after being lost on a direct flight form Ottawa to Toronto. Gatineau, Qc.. Jul. 5, 2022. (Tyler Fleming / CTV News).
Ottawa Public Health is reporting six new COVID-19 deaths in the city in the last week, bringing the city’s death toll from the pandemic to 825 residents.
As police try to track down the man believed to have paved a Puslinch woman’s driveway without her permission, another person has come forward claiming to be the victim of a similar alleged fraud.
A string of serious collisions over the last few days has Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) sending a heightened warning to drivers to not let their guards down during the summer months.
There were no ambulances available to respond to emergencies in Guelph for a short period on Monday, as paramedics waited outside the hospital to offload patients.
A high school friend of B.C. teen Amanda Todd has testified he took action when he saw what he described as a “pornographic” picture of her on Facebook in November 2011.
The long-awaited Vancouver Plan is set to go before council on Wednesday after almost four years of work – and Mayor Kennedy Stewart is adding a last-minute amendment.
Chiefs representing Indigenous communities from coast to coast have descended on Vancouver for the Assembly of First Nations General Assembly — with several resolutions on the agenda that could determine the political fate of their elected leader.
Two Saanich, B.C., police officers remain in hospital Tuesday, including one in intensive care, a week after six officers were injured and two suspects were killed in a brazen bank robbery and gunfight near Victoria.
