The B.C. SPCA is tackling the province's overwhelming cat crisis and it's not cheap.
Last week, the not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting animals announced its 2014 lottery. The fundraising push aims to help cover costs of a new five-year strategic plan dealing with the thousands of homeless and abandoned cats in B.C.
Last month, the SPCA organized an annual spay-and-neuter clinic in the Lower Mainland. At the event, the organization's chief animal health officer, Dr. Jamie Lawson, told media he estimates the feral cat population around B.C. is as high as one cat for every six people.
Last year the Squamish SPCA branch housed 311 animals, most of them cats and kittens, Marika Donnelly told District of Squamish officials at a meeting in February. The average cost of care per animal is $485, Donnelly said. The local SPCA spent more than $85,000 on 2013 bills for cats that arrived at the facility from within district boundaries.
The lottery is a win-win for animal lovers, SPCA fundraising events manager Krista Constantineau said in a statement.
You'll help save the lives of B.C.'s most vulnerable animals and have a chance to win one of 31 prizes, she said, noting the prizes are valued at more than $100,000.
Tickets are $25 each, three for $60 and five for $90. There are daily cash prizes throughout June $2,500 each day and $5,000 on Fridays with a special prize of $10,000 awarded on Fathers Day, June 15. Theres also an early-bird draw on Mothers Day, May 11, for $7,500. The early-bird ticket purchase deadline isApril 27.
To order tickets, call (604) 205-5998or request your tickets online at spca.bc.ca/lottery. Ticket purchasers must be 19 years of age or older and tickets can only be sold in B.C.
