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We have Christmas, In Memory, Nature, Get Well and Valentine's Day cards!

 

Star

Little Star was left to die, all alone, in a box, in the dark and in the freezing cold, her cries muffled by a tight rubber band around her muzzle which rotted her lips.

Now she's as alive as any dog can be: she has a family to play with, she sleeps in a warm bed every night, and she has Animal Advocates BC who will ensure that she never suffers like that again.

Read Star's Story

 

Chance

This dear old boy spent his life, possibly ten years, on a lonely chain in a dirty yard, below 40 in Winter and scorching in Summer. He howled at night for most of those years. Did anyone care? No one did anything until an AAS rescuer did. We named him Chance because he's getting a chance at happiness and health at last - thanks to the rescuer, and to AAS, and to all the lovely animal-lovers who want AAS to help dogs like Chance.

Read Chance's Story

 

Judith

AAS first saw her at night, lying in the frozen mud, being snowed and sleeted on, surrounded by her own excrement. When we got her she was emaciated, dehydrated, and barely able to walk because of painful hips. Her coat was weighed down by clumps of caked mud. Neighbours told us that her owners were seen urinating on her from the porch. We found her a home with two very special people, who loved her dearly, and made her a member of their family, which is what every dog wants more than anything, more than food, water, and shelter. When her old hips gave out, her family got her a cart and took her everywhere. She went camping, and to the lake, and chased squirrels in her cart. And when she died, after almost two years of happiness, she took with her all her memories of love, and warmth, and good food, and fun. And the time before didn't count at all.

Read Judith's Happy Ending Story
Watch Judith's Video

 

Toby

Toby was bought to be a hunting dog and so when still only eight weeks old he was put in a dark pen in the backyard, wet and full of feces, and taken out only to be harshly trained. He cried his heart out, and for crying, he had an electric collar put round his puppy neck that shocked him cruelly every time he barked. Neighbours frantically reported him to the SPCA who told the owner to ignore the trouble-making neighbours. When AAS got him, the metal prong was growing into his neck. Surgery made him physically well, fun made him joyous and love made him whole.

 

Wiggy

Wiggy was found with his siblings on the waterfront in a pile of lumber that was due to be loaded on a ship in a few hours. The caring employees of Western Stevedoring phoned Animal Advocates. After being socialized at AAS's cat shelter, all the kittens were found good homes, and Mummy cat was tender-trapped, spayed, vaccinated, tattooed, and put at AAS's feeding station because she was too feral to be socialized.

Photo and hand tinting: Y. Atsuta

 

Bill

AAS bought this big yellow lab/great Dane cross from the Abbotsford pound for $130. One of our supporters saw him there, sick and dejected. He was so depressed that each day she went there, she saw his body and spirit sinking. He seemed to be dying. He was emaciated, full of worms, and had a huge sore on one of his legs. He had no name so we called him Bill.

Now Bill goes for long hikes and down to the creek with his new family and friends and you'd never know that he was ever neglected or abused or unwanted. You'd never know that he hasn't always been the center of a loving circle of friends. But you can know that Bill will never be neglected, abused, depressed, rejected, or unloved... especially unloved... again.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

Watch Bill's Video

 

Trixie

Trixie and her siblings were born in an abandoned car. It was a fitting place as her mother had also been abandoned. AAS trapped them all and brought them to our cat shelter, where they were treated for fleas and worms and upper respiratory syndrome. When they were all well and socialized, each was found a loving, stable, responsible new family.

Photo and hand tinting: Y. Atsuta

 

Diesel

ALL ALONE... CHAINED... MINUS 40... DEAR DIESEL ENDURED FOUR YEARS OF THIS... Hello AAS... I'm writing from the Yukon, Canada, because I've lost all hope in finding a home for a dog named Diesel. His story began when he was bought because he was large and cute. Diesel turned into a HUGE unruly dog. He ended up on a chain and never gets off it. Never. This year, his owner called me and said he is going to shoot Diesel if I don't get a home for him. He is tied up near a dog house. He seldom gets water. His feces never get cleaned up. He has had his jaw broken because he was kicked by a bison or horse. He is matted terribly, he stinks something awful, and his eyes and nose are always leaking mucus. He seemed a very sweet dog until he was relegated to a life on the end of a chain. I don't have the expertise to train such a dog, or I would and then adopt him out as I've done with several others. Anyway, I was hoping that you could give me some advice on what to do. Do you know of any rescues who would take him?
R.R., Yukon

Read Diesel's happy ending story, see video and more photos

 

Paloma

Paloma and her siblings were born in an abandoned car. It was a fitting place as her mother had also been abandoned. AAS trapped them all and brought them to our cat shelter, where they were treated for fleas and worms and upper respiratory syndrome. When they were all well and socialized, each was found a loving, stable, responsible new family.

Photo and hand tinting: Y. Atsuta

 

Red

Red spent the first winters of his life curled up in the wet snow on the end of a chain. But dogs are so forgiving and resilient and now the snow is only joyful fun, always followed by a gentle voice of greeting, a loving pat, a good meal, and a warm bed to curl up in.

Photo credit: M. Cobbe

 

Alfie

For being a puppy, Alfie was put outside. For digging out of frustration, he was tied up. For crying and barking out of loneliness, he was muzzled. When AAS got him he was close to being ruined beyond rehabilitation. But we didn't give up and we worked with trainers for Alfie for over six months. And then one day, the most amazing family, who already had a rescued Retriever, said that they would give him a chance and wouldn't give up easily, as so many people do. Many years later, and Alfie is still a bit of a work in progress, but no one tells him that and he is convinced that the world is his oyster - and he's right!

Photo credit: Judy Stone

Watch Alfie's Video

 

Beau and Zephyr

Beau spent three years of his life tied to a staircase. But Beau was one of the lucky ones, and he escaped his imprisonment. For the rest of his life he was never alone, going with his new family wherever they went, and making friends with all the other animals on his farm. Zephyr and Beau had a special bond, formed when Beau watched him being born. Beau refused to come back inside the house and slept all that night outside the foal's stall.

Photo credit: C. McKie

 

Pyla

Pyla (pronounced Peela) spent the first two years of her life tied up "because she ran away". When she was caught she was beaten... no wonder she ran away. When AAS first got her, she was so terrified of hands that she would fall over shaking and crying. Her forever home is with two gentle people who love her dearly, and who she loves just as much. She's fifteen years old now and still happily going strong, at the beach or the creek every day.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Bubba

This is what freedom looks like. Even after years of isolation and abuse, chained in the mud, with only a plywood lean-to for shelter, Bubba loved and trusted and soon learned what fun is. His life now is what every dog deserves. He has a Mum and a Dad, and a brother and a sister, both also rescued retrievers. He has walkies and romps, and the freedom to run and run and run...

Photo credit: Shawna Katan

 

Tyke

Tyke spent three years in a garage. When AAS got him his toenails had grown around into he paw pads; his ears had been painfully infected for a long time and he had the saddest, most persistent case of separation anxiety of any dog we have rescued; he literally ate his way through walls! But we were even more persistent and finally he was ready — You can see that he found the right person! He is never alone so it doesn't matter about his separation anxiety.

Photo credit: Eileen Young

Read Tyke's Happy Ending Story

 

Eddy

A kind woman in Burnaby BC, told AAS that she had watched this dog out her window for two years, tethered by a cable that twisted around his legs and prevented him from reaching any shelter. She watched him daily - in the summer's heat, with only filthy water to drink, crawling with flies which swarmed the feces he had to live in. In the winter she watched him hunched in the snow, and she listened to him howl with fear on stormy nights. For two years she watched him change from a hopeful, healthy dog into a sad sick being, hair falling out, skin scarlet with raw infection, his spirit confused and crushed. Where did his owners get him from? It was clear from his yearning to be touched that he had been well-treated at one time. Who or what agency gave or sold this helpless being to the monsters who did this to him, without checking on him and without demanding him back? We saw him in the freezing rain, his tether so tangled so he couldn't reach any shelter. He stood there, hoarsely barking, as he had for most of the two years of his solitary imprisonment, his head down, drenched to the skin, his thin hair soaked, his weak limbs trembling. After reports to the SPCA made no difference, and an offer to testify to the dog's conditions was rejected by the SPCA, some kind person took pity on this nameless dog and removed him from his misery. If you want to see what happy means, read Eddy's Happy Ending where there are many photos and video.

Read Eddy's Happy Ending Story

 

Jenny

Dear wee Jenny was being kept in a crate in a closet by a dysfunctional family where the children were allowed to kick her. The family's social worker phoned AAS, as so many social workers have, and asked us to take her. We didn't ask any questions, we just said, "Yes". Now she is treasured by a family who takes her out for hikes and to the beach every day. Social workers, off-duty police, lawyers, nurses, wealthy West Side matrons, East Van grandmothers, off-duty pound employees, and a host of people from every walk of life rescue dogs. Bless every one of them.

Photo credit: Julie Davidson

 

Ollie

We called Ollie the "Smiling Dog". He had so little to smile about for so many years. When AAS got Ollie he had lived in a yard for eight years because he was deaf and "didn't pay attention" and he smelled and he shed. Ollie paid a lot of attention once he realized that someone cared about him. And he smelled like a rose once years of dirt was shampooed away and his rotten teeth were removed and his infected ears were treated. Once he was no longer in constant pain and was treated like a being worthy of love, he smiled and smiled and smiled...

Photo and hand tinting: Y. Atsuta

 

Laurel and Hardy

They were found in Kitsilano, two weeks old, in a garage, eyes still opening. Somehow they survived, though mother was nowhere to be found. AAS volunteer Roberta Tottle bottle-fed them and washed their little bottoms every four hours for two more weeks, until they could start eating a little bit of solid food. Bless all kitten-feeders! They can't bear to see little beings suffer.

Photo credit: Roberta Tottle

 

Jo-Jo

That's a very small bowl Jo-Jo has chosen to nap in, but he's a very tiny kitten and almost any place is fit for a cat nap. Jo-Jo just moved a little potpourri out of the way and curled up to sleep at the AAS shelter. He was found, as too many kittens are, with his siblings in a derelict car, no sign of mother, who probably died trying to find food to feed herself so her kittens would live. They did live - thanks to AAS's hand-feeding and substitute mothering.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Sissy says it's been a long day at the office...

...She's got a nerve complaining...she almost didn't make it to the office, or anywhere else. Found in a shed at two weeks of age, all alone, almost dead, she can thank the round-the-clock nursing and hand-feeding of AAS volunteers, especially Laurie, for the cushy life she has now. Saving kittens means getting up in the middle of the night, just like for any baby, and washing faces and bottoms, and cuddling and kissing, and rubbing with a terry cloth to imitate a mother's rough tongue. And sometimes it means frantic rushes to the vet because you think your wee one is dying. And then they grow up and do you think they appreciate your devotion? We think they do.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Hey! Hide and seek isn't fun anymore!...

...Where is everyone? Corky kitten is hoping one of his brothers or sisters isn't going to suddenly pounce on his head from out of the blue. He was one of a litter of kittens found in a garage - no mother. AAS foster person Roberta made sure that Corky and all the other kittens and bunnies she has raised and saved had lots of fun and cuddles to make them happy babies.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Lizzie has an admirer...

...who she just wishes would go away! Lizzie was a breeding machine for years and couldn't escape the attentions of roaming dogs. She was chained for eight years, the whole area covered in new and ancient feces. Her skin was raw and red and thickened like an elephant's from years of flea infestations. AAS made her better and had her spayed; her uterus, like all multi-bred dogs, was huge and full of cysts and tumours.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Two black dogs romp in the water...

...having the joyous fun that only kids and dogs can have. Both dogs were rescued by AAS from lives on chains, rehabilitated, socialized, given what every dog craves and deserves: fun, love, cuddles, good food, lots of exercise, and a place in a family circle.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Cupcake was one of dozens of sickly kittens...

...living in an alley. Animal Advocates calls them "eyeball alleys" because of the way all the abandoned cats' eyes glow in the headlights of the approaching feeder's car. They're waiting for her to arrive, and they know the sound of her car. These dumped cats don't live very long outside: there is no ecological niche for them. There can't be - we breed them to be so dependent on us that they die without our care. The kittens all lived and got good homes; the adults AAS tender-trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated and tattooed. We socialized those we could and put back those we couldn't where we continued to feed them.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

This little mite is named Wee Annie...

...also Orphan Annie, because like so many kittens born of feral cats, Mother is gone, not because she didn't fiercely love her babies, but because she died while trying to get food for herself so she could nurse her kittens. There is no ecological niche for wild domesticated cats; their coats are too thin to keep them warm, or too long for them to keep clean; they don't hibernate and so they freeze to death; they have no food supply except putrid garbage, unless they're fed by one of the thousands of caring women who do this daily. Annie's mother wasn't so lucky. When AAS found the kittens they had kept themselves alive by "nursing" on each other. Annie was the littlest and so she had to wear a tea towel hospital gown until the others learned to leave her alone.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Are you my friend?...

...Corky kitten meets old Willa at AAS'er Roberta Tottle's wonderful foster home. It's a shame that so many people believe that they can't have a dog if they already have a cat and vice versa. With almost no exceptions, everything works out, with the cat setting the terms. Little Corky will soon be telling old Willa what's what.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

The water's lovely, wish you were here...

Daphne beagle (Dame Daphne now that she's 15 years old) at the seashore, taking the waters at Ambleside. Furious swimming is undignified and fetching sticks is silly. Dame Daphne cools her tummy and then finds a shady spot to have a bit of a lie-down after her exertions. Before she was rescued by AAS, Daphne was chained and beaten for "running away", something that beagles just naturally do because they were bred to track, and to punish them for what they can't help is despicable.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Baby Archie learning to play with his toes...

Little Archie's mother was thrown out of a moving car beside a woods and railroad tracks late at night. Luckily a rail guard saw her because she was 24 hours from birth, and if a train hadn't got her that night a coyote would have. She came to AAS's shelter where she had her babies (Archie, Veronica, Betty and Midge) in a cuddly basket.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Little Archie

"Bunny" mummy cat was thrown out of a moving car beside a woods and railroad tracks late at night. Luckily a rail guard saw her because she was 24 hours from birth, and if a train hadn't got her that night a coyote would have. She came to AAS's shelter where she had her babies (Archie, Veronica, Betty and Midge) in a cuddly basket.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Are you my mother?

"Bunny" mummy cat was thrown out of a moving car beside a woods and railroad tracks late at night. Luckily a rail guard saw her because she was 24 hours from birth, and if a train hadn't got her that night a coyote would have. She came to AAS's shelter where she had her babies (Archie, Veronica, Betty and Midge) in a cuddly basket.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

You are my mother!

"Bunny" mummy cat was thrown out of a moving car beside a woods and railroad tracks late at night. Luckily a rail guard saw her because she was 24 hours from birth, and if a train hadn't got her that night a coyote would have. She came to AAS's shelter where she had her babies (Archie, Veronica, Betty and Midge) in a warm, cuddly basket.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Scooter has a Happy Hallowe’en!

One of our hardest cases and funniest stories...There was no reason for feral kitten Scooter to stay so wild and crazy, but he did... until Debbie took her life in her hands and adopted him, when he became putty in her hands... but only hers! Animal Advocates tender-trapped him and his mother and siblings under some bushes and all but Scooter tamed nicely at our cat shelter. Scooter hid and hissed and bit and we thought we'd have him forever...until one day dear Debbie Jaksitz came looking for a sweet wee kitty and got talked into Scooter. We were surprised, but anxious when Scooter wasn't returned almost immediately. So imagine our delight when we got this photo in the mail! Mind you - Debbie is still the only person who can touch Scooter, but look what he'll do for her! Debbie is a pretty special person, without people like her there is very little hope for cats like Scooter.

Photo credit: Debbie Jaksitz

 

Nature

Searching for bugs...

Every year thousands of raccoon kits are orphaned by people capturing and killing their mothers, or by sealing the hole under the roof that the mother has made to have her kits in an attic, thus starving the kits to death. These lucky little ones were raised and taught to live naturally by Barb Welonek.

Photo credit: Barb Welonek

 

Rabbits

Most rabbits are bought on a whim or as 'starter pets' and then stuck in a cage where they live lonely, dirty lives, not anything like the clean, sociable lives that nature intended for them. And when the rabbit's 'owner' grows tired of the daily care and expense, the rabbits are dropped in a park or the bush where they may make a good life for themselves or they may make a meal for a coyote, but both are better than a life in a lonely cage. AAS believes that an animal in a cage is not a pet, it's a prisoner.

Photo credit: Yuichi Atsuta

 

In Memory

Old Daphne dreams...

...of the days of her youth when she was a busy beagle running for hours through the woods and over the rocks of Lighthouse Park. That was after AAS rescued Daphne from being chained and beaten for "running away", something that beagles just naturally do because they were bred to track, and to punish them for what they can't help is despicable. Daphne peacefully died after many years of being allowed to be a beagle.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

 

Christmas

Ruby

Ruby twinkles brighter than a Christmas star. There's no need for a tree or lights for Christmas, there's no need for any presents at all. Ruby encompasses all the season should be...Peace, Love, and Forgiveness.

Animal Advocates brings comfort and joy to suffering animals at Christmas and all year long.

Read "The Rescue of Ruby" and the other Pomeranian puppymill rescued dogs

 

Bless the Beasts and the Children

Bless the beasts and the children
For in this world they have no voice
They have no choice
Light their way
When the darkness surrounds them
Give them love
Let it shine all around them
Bless the beasts and the children
Give them shelter from a storm
Keep them safe
Keep them warm.

From The Carpenters Songbook

Teaching children that the true Spirit of Compassion embraces all helpless creatures, great and small, is the greatest gift of all.

Photo credit: N. Anderson

 

Scooter

One of our hardest cases and funniest stories...There was no reason for Scooter to stay so wild and crazy. Animal Advocates tender-trapped him and his mother and siblings under some bushes and they all tamed nicely (except Scooter) at our cat shelter. Scooter hid and hissed and bit and we thought we'd have him forever...Until one day dear Debbie Jaksitz came looking for a sweet wee kitty and got talked into Scooter. We were surprised, but anxious when Scooter wasn't returned almost immediately. So imagine our delight when we got this photo in the mail! Mind you - Debbie is still the only person who can touch Scooter, but look what he'll do for her! Debbie is a pretty special person, without people like her there is very little hope for cats like Scooter.

Photo credit: Debbie Jaksitz

 

Get Well

Misty

Misty was only a puppy but already her leg was smashed by a 2x4 and filled with bee-bee pellets. She hobbled around her neighbourhood, scavenging food and trying to escape the adult dogs who chased her away. Her days were numbered - until a kind soul saw her and saved her.

Photo credit: Judy Stone

Read Misty's Happy Ending Story
Watch Misty's Video

 

We also have Valentine's cards!

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