B.C. SPCA Food Bank program assisting animals within Cariboo North region

Over 43-hundred pets in the Northern BC/Cariboo region have been helped through the province’s SPCA Food Bank Program.

The initiative has provided a week’s worth of food to 44,320 dogs and cats province-wide, equating to 622,850 meals.

“That works out to the BC SPCA supporting an average of 923 pets per week just through our pet food banks alone,” says Diane Waters, the BC SPCA’s community services specialist.

“We distributed the most pet food in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, but it was only slightly more than what we did in the Thompson, Okanagan and Kootenay.”

Waters added many of the BC SPCA’s animal centres are reporting that cost is one of the top reasons owners are surrendering their pets.

In addition to any physical donations received, the organization includes a dedicated amount in its annual budget for purchasing food and other supplies for the pet food bank program.

Numbers by the Region:

• Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley 14,907 pets helped
• Thompson, Okanagan, and Kootenay 13,324 pets helped
• Vancouver Island, Gulf Island and Sunshine Coast 11,770 pets helped
• Cariboo and North Region 4,319 pets helped