Island pet owners benefit from Lower Mainland veterinary hospital featured in reality TV series
A Lower Mainland animal hospital is turning to reality television to help raise funds so they can, in turn, help pet owners – including those on Vancouver Island – with costly major surgeries on animals.
The Regional Animal Protection Society in Richmond (RAPS) promotes itself as Western Canada’s largest non-profit animal hospital, performing major surgeries on pets and helping owners with the costs. The group also pays for the hotel accommodations for pet-owners who travel from distant locations.
“Our goal is to reach across British Columbia to help as many people as possible one, with the cost of vet care, and two, because of how long people have to wait in outlying areas just to get an appointment,” says RAPS CEO Eyal Lichtmann.
Lichtmann estimates his hospital can help humans save $10 million in emergency fees once it gets to the point that it's able to operate around the clock, but fundraising of about $1.4 million will be required to reach that point.
He says clients are asked to make a small down-payment and then a payment plan is worked out based on what is affordable.
“If you can only afford $50 a month, let's work it out. If you can afford $100 a month, let’s work it out. We’re not adding any interest on top of that. This entire program is subsidized by our donors,” he says.
Lichtmann says the hospital, which opened in February of 2018, also provides veterinary care to animals in its care for adoption and offers assistance to other rescue groups in the province.
The hospital receives private donations and raises funds through the sale of used items in its thrift store. RAPS produces a reality television series called Pets & Pickers, which streams on ctv.ca.
He says the series is one-of-a kind and is popular across Canada. He describes it as a mixture of Storage Wars and Animal Hospital.
“We got 175 storage bins donated to us that are abandoned and we don’t know what’s in them," he says. "It’s the fun part at our thrift stores of opening them, we follow the great items being sold and then taking that to help people that can’t afford vet care.”
Port Alberni’s Jessi Howden is familiar with RAPS after taking his American Pit Bull Terrier Zeus there for surgery.
“I think it was about three or four years ago that he had to have a big knee surgery done and everywhere on the island was pretty expensive," Howden says. "He needed his ACL repaired and his cruciate."
Howden says he was facing an $8,500 bill back then and knows the surgery could have been performed in Victoria, but would have cost more, and the waiting list was lengthy. He spreads the word on the efforts of RAPS whenever he can.
“I’m a delivery driver and my favourite part of my job is seeing all the dogs, and if I see a dog that’s limping or has any issues, I always ask them and RAPS is always brought up,” he says.
RAPS recently launched a Vancouver Island initiative to assist pet owners on the island who have pets requiring major surgeries. He says the group has a staff member and a society director who now live in Nanaimo.
“They’ve been telling us about the crisis for quite a while now, and then we’ve been seeing the media on it as well with not just the cost but the wait times,” he says.
Lichtmann says season one of the series wraps up this week and hopefully will renew again for season two.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
OPINION No reunion between Prince Harry and the King signifies a setback for royal unity
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
NEW For their protection, immigrants critical of China and India call for speedy passage of Canada's foreign interference legislation
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Spanish prosecutors recommend 2nd investigation into Shakira's taxes be thrown out
Spanish state prosecutors recommended Wednesday that an investigating judge shelve a probe into another alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.