Meet the Nova Scotia SPCA, a Pet Valu Companions for Change™ supported charity

Founded in 1877, the Nova Scotia SPCA is the oldest animal welfare organization in all of Canada. This proud and long history is rooted in the tradition of providing shelter for animals in need, but the services this SPCA provides extend far beyond its animal shelters.  “We have shelters from the bottom of the province all the way up to the top,” says Sarah Lyon, the organization’s Director of External Relations, adding that last year, they helped 6,500 pets.  “We also enforce the Animal Protection Act of Nova Scotia. We have a college of animal welfare to help bring new veterinary assistants and veterinary technicians into the veterinary medicine world. We have thrift stores that help fund our animal sheltering. And we also have nonprofit veterinary hospitals to help Nova Scotians needing access to care.” Lyon says that at the Nova Scotia SPCA, they’ve been noticing an increase in need among local pet families.  “In Nova Scotia, we are seeing that the affordability of being a pet family is a barrier to people adopting. Nova Scotian pet families are facing a rising cost of living, and that's the cost of medicine, veterinary care, it's the cost of enrichment, and it's the cost of pantry items,” she explains. “And I think that we have programs, thanks to the generosity of donors and supporters, that are helping.” Like many animal welfare groups across the country, Lyon’s organization does not receive government funding and instead relies on donations from the community and corporate partners.  In addition to providing the Nova Scotia SPCA with crucial pet supplies like food, litter, and enrichment toys, Pet Valu acts as an adoption partner, hosting pets in-store who are looking for families to give them a forever home.  Additionally, through the Companions for Change program, the SPCA has been able to fund a transport vehicle that makes it possible for them to help animals in need, even from outside of the province.  “That animal transport vehicle has been deployed many times,” says Lyon. “Because of wildfires, because of hurricanes, because of snowstorms. It's helped us evacuate, it's helped us relocate, and it's helped us rescue animals from behind the lines during our wildfires. It helped transport animals away from wildfires, even in the Northwest Territories,” she adds, recalling that the Pet Valu transport vehicle was used to shuttle pets arriving at the airport in Nova Scotia and bring them to safety at the province’s SPCA shelter.  “For me,” says Lyon, “the animal transport vehicle from Pet Valu really is an essential member of our team.” Lyon says that looking ahead her team will continue to pursue their mission of saving animal lives, creating pet families, and keeping those pet families together. “What I love about working at the Nova Scotia SPCA is that the organization is visionary,” she says. “I can't wait for what's next.”