Vet Care Subsidies

PAWS programs fund needed pet care when people are desperately seeking a way to avoid losing a family pet to a shelter or euthanasia.

Members of the public with inadequate income (per published Low-Income-Cutoff data) who are unable to afford the cost of required, medically necessary veterinary care can apply for a subsidy. PAWS allowances improve access to preventive and critically-needed vet care.

Subsidy Coverage

We Subsidize:

Preventive care such as spays, neuters, vaccinations, parasite controls
Essential and urgent medical care
We offer specific subsidies for:
- a cat or dog’s preventive care (spay/neuter, vaccines)
- diagnostics, essential and urgent medical care
- health checks (including vaccines)

We Don’t Cover:

Medically unnecessary procedures not for the benefit of the animal e.g. declaw, tail dock, etc.
Procedures that are not veterinarian-recommended
Applications from breeders or anyone convicted of animal cruelty.

Subsidy Eligibility

We are currently only able to service the follow areas in Ontario:

London and Middlesex County
Brantford and Brant County
Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth
Waterloo Region (Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge + 4 townships).

We hope to expand our coverage as more funds become available.

If you live within our service area and are struggling with low income, are unhoused or displaced or fleeing violence, you can apply for a vet care subsidy for your cat or dog.

If you don’t meet the qualifications, please Read these tips to find help.

Size Of Family Unit	LICO – 12 Months	LICO – 6 Months
one person	$28,339	$14,170
two persons	$35,282	$17,641
three persons	$43,373	$21,687
four persons	$52,662	$26,331
five persons	$59,728	$29,864
six persons	$67,362	$33,681
seven persons	$74,998	$37,499
If more than seven persons, for each additional person, add	$7,634	$3,817

Subsidy Criteria

Individuals must meet at least one of the following criteria to apply for vet care subsidy:

Meet the CRA’s Low Income Cutoff Criteria for household income; proof of income must be shown via CRA Notice of Assessment.
Be a resident of a temporary shelter, including women’s shelters and homeless shelters.
Be a person in-crisis, including but not limited to:
- Homelessness
- Fleeing violence
- Medical crisis requiring temporary care in a medical facility, including mental health
- Addiction crisis requiring treatment in a residential facility
Receiving government assistance, and able to show proof of registered program membership, including but not limited to:
- Federal Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
- Ontario Disability Support Payment (ODSP)
- Canada Pension Plan Disability Payment (CPP Disability)
- Ontario Works Program (OWP)
- Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) (for those whose main residence is neither at university or with their parents, or who are aged 25 and over).

Community agencies and Veterinary clinics may apply on behalf of their clients who meet the above criteria.

Funds are always very limited!

Each pet owner may apply for only one animal per year.
Please plan to pay what you can towards your animals’ care.
Non-urgent care such as spay/neuter and vaccinations may be put on a wait list.
We only have funding where we have donors. We try to do as much as we can to help as many people and pets as we can.

We’re currently at capacity and have temporarily paused new applications while securing additional funding. We have a waitlist of applicants we’re committed to helping and are actively fundraising to serve more people this year.

We understand how challenging it can be to seek assistance, and we appreciate your patience. Please check this blog for alternative support options.

We remain dedicated to supporting our community as resources become available.