Community Partnering
PAWS has collaborated and supported numerous community agencies, including homeless shelters, women’s shelters, mental health facilities, animal rescue groups, veterinary clinics and more. To discuss collaborating with your group, please contact us.
Pet-Friendly Agencies - the need has never been greater
Do you work at a community agency that assists low income, in-crisis, or disadvantaged people, and want to ensure your clients receive the help they need with their pets? Animal companions help those in crisis – this is a proven fact. Can your clients get the help they need without forfeiting the safety or companionship of their pet? This should be on the agenda of any organization helping humans in need. A step towards assisting at-risk people with their pets is a step in the right direction!
Partnerships with Women’s Shelters
Did you know that over 70% of domestic violence victims report that their abuser also targeted their pets? Animals in violent homes are at risk of ongoing neglect, violence, and mistreatment - but many women’s shelters simply lack the funding and ability to allow their residents to bring their animal companions to safety with them.
PAWS cares deeply about this issue and has worked with women’s shelters since our inception, finding safe foster homes and veterinary care for animal companions while their human caregivers seek safety. We have close ties to Anova, one of the largest high-security women’s shelters in Canada, and which - with assistance from PAWS and the wider community - was able to transform into a pet-friendly facility in 2019.
In 2020, Anova/PAWS collaborated on a grant from PetSmart Charities aimed at helping women seeking safety to pay for medical care necessary to bring their animal companions into a shelter with them. This wonderful program was able to help over 50 families find safety, together, in its year-long duration.
Partnership with Veterinary Clinics
PAWS is proud of its ongoing partnerships with Veterinary Clinics including low cost and non-profit providers, whose valuable work enables access to veterinary care for people in our communities.
We strive to support and collaborate with Veterinary Clinics, in order for them to access our programs on behalf of their clients and understand where we can best make an impact. By providing subsidized costs for care, we hope to alleviate the stress that Veterinary Clinics and their clients face when needing to make decisions for purely financial reasons.
We will continue to do this valuable work wherever we can, and advocate for low income families and struggling individuals in our communities.
New Communities
PAWS currently offers help to people in several areas of Southwest Ontario. Our intent is to grow and expand into underserved areas so we can help as many as possible. All it takes are community partners and funding. If you are interested in exploring how to help provide PAWS services in your area, contact us at info@pawscanada.ca.