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
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.