CRESTON PET ADOPTION AND WELFARE SOCIETY
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Mission Statement
The Creston Pet Adoption and Welfare Society (PAWS) is a registered, non-profit society committed to finding safe, loving, forever homes for abandoned and homeless animals in the Creston Valley. PAWS is a no kill shelter. We serve an area of approximately 3500 square miles and is operated by volunteers.
About This Cause
Creston Pet Adoption and Welfare Society (P.A.W.S.) is a registered private charity established in 1996. We currently serve an area of approximately 9065 square kilometers, extending from Rykerts in the south, west to Salmo, north to Riondel and east to Yahk. We are the only animal welfare organization in this entire area. We have been operating since inception without a shelter facility, relying on our volunteers’ foster homes. As need and the awareness of PAWS has grown, so have we. Thanks to a huge private sector grant after the rescue in 2002 of 56 dogs that gained us national recognition, we were able in 2004 to purchase land and over the course of the next 6 years built an animal shelter to serve the Creston/Kootenay area. The shelter is named “Claudia’s Place Animal Shelter and Rehabilitation Centre” in memory of one of PAWS founding members, Claudia Grimstead, who tragically lost her life while helping abandoned dogs. Many people believe that we are funded by the government, the Town of Creston, the SPCA or ‘somebody’. The fact of the matter is that we rely on donations, fundraising and grants. Most of the grants that we get are for Capital projects, so our operating funds are via donations and ongoing fundraising and fundraising is becoming increasingly challenging as opportunities become increasingly limited. We require approximately eight thousand dollars per month to operate the shelter. PAWS operates with volunteers and one employee. That employee is our security person who exchanges services of security, animal wake up and tuck in and for accommodation. The wages for that person are approximately equal to the rent charged for the residence cottage. There is no money owing for the land, shelter or cottage. The land was purchased utilizing a grant from the Vancouver and Donner Foundations and the buildings were built using fundraising, donations and grants. The past 20 years have been a growing and learning experience for our dedicated volunteers, who work very hard and devote thousands of hours to help animals and their people. We maintain a 24-hour telephone answering service, taking well over 1000 animal related calls annually. We maintain a website, and publish a list of pets available for adoption, as well as lost and found pets, in our Weekly Wag on our web page and our Facebook page. We rescue, foster, provide veterinary care, rehabilitate, and give basic obedience training for pets in need. We will respond to calls and rescue animals in distress any time, day or night. We also provide a pet lost and found service for our communities to reconnect pets and owners. We have a Seniors 4 Seniors Pet Program where we place older animals that cannot find a home because of their age with Seniors that have love to give and may wish an animal, but lack the resources to adopt and care for the pet. We match the two and place the animal as a permanent foster with PAWS responsible for all maintenance including food and veterinary care. Other services to the community that we provide include helping private pet owners rehome “unwanted” pets or pets that are unable to accompany their owners to new accommodations; providing spay and neuter assistance when we have funds available; offering pet care education and training; micro-chipping PAWS pets, and our pet ID tag/database program. We also have an extensive lending library on most things pet-related. Whenever we can, we provide pet food and cat litter to families in need. In 2013 as a result of funds given to us from a generous donor, we were able to build PAWS Memorial Garden. This is a beautiful quiet place for pets to be remembered and is open at anytime of the day for people to visit. On top of all of this, we participate in community events and are continuously fundraising to support our Society, operate our shelter and help animals in need. PAWS recognizes the value and importance of educating the public on animal issues, as well as the wide variety of ways that pets are valuable in the community. We also occasionally bring attention to the improper and sometimes abusive treatment of animals in our community and beyond, we feel that it is vital for the public to know about the proven link between animal abuse and domestic abuse and violence. We have a very good working relationship with the BCSPCA on local animal cruelty and abuse issues. Our Pet Care and Safety Program has been well received by local schools and youth groups. We have established a PAWS Therapy Dog Program, with volunteers and their certified pets visiting local seniors’ homes and working with special needs students at Adam Robertson Elementary School and Prince Charles Secondary School. PAWS volunteers even strive to help those people who do not like or fear animals, by educating pet owners about being responsible and considerate, and about how to make their pets good social citizens. One of our PAWS members is a professional dog trainer specializing in training service dogs for people with disabilities. We are especially proud of the fact that many of the dogs used in this program are PAWS rescues. Over the last 9 years, 14 “throw-away” dogs that owners had given up on have become trusted, valuable, working members of loving families. Additionally, this same member is a Director with the Citadel Canine Society, an organization that provides Service Dogs to Veterans and First Responders that suffer with PTSD. Four PAWS rescue dogs have been trained and placed in that organization. Sometimes making the community aware of the importance of pets and their care seems like an uphill struggle. We often feel apologetic for asking for support for what we do. Our main sources of income are our bake sales and concessions, raffles, bottle recycle donations, Santa PAWS Photos, RDCK Community Initiatives Grants, occasional Grants-in-Aid, and memorial and other donations from the public. When our newly constructed shelter opened for business in January 2010 we were able to house up to 12 dogs and 20-30 cats, relieving our overburdened foster homes. We are able to provide more volunteer opportunities for area students or youth needing to complete Community Service hours; assist the RCMP with incidents involving animals; provide an emergency evacuation site for animals, during emergencies or disasters; and offer more education resources and services. We assist Women’s Shelters when short term care is needed for a pet. We also welcome visits from local groups such as TAPS (Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors), Schools, 4H, Cadets, Scouts and Guides. PAWS members include professional dog trainers, groomers, people trained in disaster preparedness and response for animals, local (human) search and rescue, craftspeople, artists, people with office and computer skills, medical professionals, local business people, and students. We are always in need of volunteers and supporters, and everyone is welcome to join us in our commitment to help the animals, who cannot speak for themselves. As PAWS has grown over the years, we have become recognized as a valuable community resource in a wide variety of ways. We want to continue all these services to the community. PAWS is open to the public 5 hours per day, 5 days per week, Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and we care for the animals 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. PAWS MISSION STATEMENT: PAWS mission is to foster and find loving homes for abused, abandoned, rescued and surrendered pets, providing veterinary care, rehabilitation, socialization, spaying or neutering as required. Community outreach is achieved through education, rehoming assistance and reuniting lost animals throughout the communities from Rykerts north to Riondel and from Yahk west to Salmo.