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Winter tick season is a thing, check your pets: Kamloops SPCA

KAMLOOPS - While ticks are a rarity in the winter time, officials at the Kamloops SPCA branch are advising pet owners to check their animals year-round after a cat with nine live ticks was recently surrendered. Valerie Wilson says the cat came from a farm in Barriere where it lived in a chicken coop. While...

Vernon SPCA seeking help for two dogs after closure of animal rescue

VERNON - The Vernon B.C. SPCA is looking for donations to help brighten the holidays for a pair of dogs in need of expensive medical attention. The dogs, named Girlie and Dash, came into the shelter’s care following the closure of an animal rescue organization in the area, the Vernon shelter says in a release. ...

How the SPCA approves dog rescue groups

VERNON - There’s a wide range of standards among rescue groups across the province, and while animals are directly involved, that doesn’t mean the SPCA has a hand in how they operate.  Aspects of dog rescuing such as fostering and adoption procedures, holding periods, and vet-checks simply aren’t something the SPCA has a mechanism to...

Kamloops SPCA offering ‘brrrs into purrs’ adoption special

KAMLOOPS - If you’ve been thinking of adding to your family, now could be the time. The Kamloops branch of the B.C. SPCA is offering 50 per cent off adoption fees for adult cats now through Nov. 30. The shelter is encouraging adoption as a way to help get more cats out of the cold...

Kamloops woman wins photo contest with cheeky squirrel photo

KAMLOOPS - It was a cheeky moment caught on camera that earned a Kamloops woman a first place finish in the B.C. SPCA photo contest. Elizabeth King captured a photo of a red squirrel with a delicate flower hanging from its mouth. That photo beat out all other submissions in the backyard habitats category of...

Rats don’t deserve to suffer horrible deaths: B.C. SPCA

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As the topic of rats and how to deal with their rising numbers becomes a more common conversation in the Thompson-Okanagan, the SPCA is reminding the public even pests deserve to be treated humanely. Sara Dubois, the chief scientific officer for the B.C. SPCA, says many rat extermination practices are inhumane and potentially...

Naramata Bench winery raises money for local SPCA

PENTICTON - The Penticton SPCA got some financial help last week courtesy of a Naramata Bench winery. The SPCA of the South Okanagan received a donation of nearly $6,000 on Sept. 16 from Hillside Winery and Bistro, on behalf of the winery’s tasting room team, sales and marketing representative Mark Burgess says. The funds were...

Put your best paw forward this weekend and help stop animal abuse

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – This weekend thousands of animal lovers from across the Thompson-Okanagan will help stop animal abuse simply by walking their dogs. For more than a decade, residents of cities across the province have laced up their sneakers for the Scotiabank and BCSPCA Paws for a Cause Walk. Manager of the Kelowna SPCA Suzanne Pugh...

Goat wearing dog collar found wandering West Kelowna neighbourhood

WEST KELOWNA - A loose dog call in West Kelowna led bylaw to a much more unusual find Wednesday morning. An adult male goat wearing a dog collar was found wandering around a neighbourhood on Chieftain Road. Amanda Hill posted a pic and description of the goat to the Kelowna/Okanagan Lost and Found Pets Facebook...

Penticton stray cat found with bullet debris in knee has leg amputated

PENTICTON - A four-year-old tabby cat was brought in as a stray with a limp from an old injury, and an X-ray showed he still had debris from a bullet in his knee, which was causing pain, swelling and chronic arthritis in the young cat. Sunny was brought to the South Okanagan-Similkameen SPCA shelter as...

Regional District ambassadors to reward good dog owners

KELOWNA – Employees of the Regional District of the Central Okanagan, armed not with tickets but with treats, are in Kelowna again this summer to reward residents who are responsible dog owners. Communications officer Bruce Smith says the ambassador program was so successful last summer they’ve decided to bring the program back. The two ambassadors,...

Kelowna women rescues dog being pulled behind moving vehicle

"WE ALMOST THREW UP WE WERE SO SCARED." OKANAGAN – Four friends from Kelowna were driving on Road 22 in Oliver last Friday night when they saw something they couldn’t believe: A puppy, less than two months old, being pulled behind a moving vehicle. “It was one of those really small lane roads,” says one...

Pup with broken leg needs your help

PENTICTON – A 10-month-old puppy who was hit by a car needs a little help from the public to get back on all four paws. Jodi, a black and white Labrador retriever mix, was brought into the South Okangan-Similkameen SPCA with a broken femur and in need of more than $4,000 worth of medical treatment....

Vehicles damaged at SPCA overnight

KAMLOOPS - The local SPCA has once again been vandalized — this time the windows of shelter vans were smashed. RCMP officers are at the SPCA location on Eighth Avenue to investigate damage to two vehicles.  Const. Jason Epp says staff arrived Thursday morning to discover both vans were tampered with overnight.  "The suspects possibly...

Hot dog calls on rise as weather heats up in Southern Interior

THOMSON-OKANAGAN - Though summer isn’t even officially here, the unseasonably warm weather in the Interior is already prompting concerned calls about dogs left unattended in cars. “We’ve had three or four already this morning (May 22) and yesterday we had half a dozen before lunch,” Cam Buksa, spokesman for the Central Okanagan branch of the...

Vernon vet clinic goes beyond the call of duty to help animals in need

VERNON - The Creekside Animal Clinic in Vernon has been giving back to the community almost as long as it’s been operating — which is getting close to 30 years now. Founding partner Dr. Murray Flock says it’s just the clinic’s culture to have a charitable side, and at Creekside, that means emergency surgeries for...

Kelowna coalition to tackle growing feral cat problem

ESTIMATED 13,000 FERAL CATS IN THE OKANAGAN KELOWNA – Five years after struggling to get control over a wild rabbit problem, Kelowna now faces a population explosion of another feral species. “There’s definitely a feral cat problem in Kelowna,” says Cheryll Gillespie, an animal welfare advocate and one of the founders of a new group...

Tethering a bone of contention for city council

KAMLOOPS - The hows, whens and ifs of tethering dogs took a back seat to whether it would actually change the behaviour of bad dog owners and how much it would cost the city if a bylaw was in place to limit tethering practices. Claudine Sleik sent a letter to council urging for a tethering...

Anti-tethering activists to take another shot at Kamloops council

KAMLOOPS - A petition asking city council to impose a time limit on tethering of dogs has garnered more than 2,200 signatures and is set to be presented to council Feb. 24. At the beginning of January council members discussed the practicality of looking into an anti-tethering bylaw. A letter from Claudine Sleik was the...

Armstrong horses find new homes

"EVERYBODY WAS WORKING TOGETHER" ARMSTRONG – There was standing room only at an auction Saturday…