Helping animals and their humans in need, new welfare organization opening in Edmonton

Calgary-based Parachute for Pets is expanding north to Edmonton to fill the void left by the closure of Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society. Connor Hogg reports.

A Calgary-based animal welfare organization will expand into Edmonton, taking over the space a different one is leaving behind.

Parachutes for Pets offers a number of services, including a pet foodbank, education programs and temporary pet housing.

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“We are the last step, we call it, before the shelter or the euthanasia if pet owners are struggling,” said Melissa David, the founder and executive director of Parachutes for Pets.

“If you’re having a hard time feeding your pet, or you get evicted, or you’re in the hospital and you just don’t have the means to pay for a boarding kennel or that special bag of food, that’s where we come in.”

David founded the organization six years ago when she was working as a first responder and saw the gaps in the system for people who owned pets and needed help.

She said the organization has seen an increase in requests for help from organizations, pet guardians and first responders in Edmonton. The expansion wasn’t one they had immediate plans for previously, “but we can’t ignore the need any longer.”

“We understand that pets are a direct line to mental health and a part of the family, so we want to keep the pets with their family,” she said.

“You can have a bad day and you go home and your pet doesn’t care, they’re happy to see you, and they give you a why. They give you a purpose.”

“We’ve got client care teams, social workers, so we’re not only helping the pet, we do help the client,” David added.

The organization will be taking over the North Haven facility that the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) announced it was closing.

• AARCS closing in Edmonton to focus on Calgary location

“It is costly to run two facilities, and we want to look at expanding our facility here in Calgary,” said Deanna Thompson, the executive director of AARCS.

AARCS will still operate in Edmonton, but it will return to doing what it used to before it opened the North Haven facility in 2020.

“We’ll have foster homes and volunteers in Edmonton … we’ll rescue animals from the Edmonton area, but instead of having a facility, we’ll transport those animals to our facility here in Calgary,” Thompson said.

“This is where our veterinary hospital is and the majority of our operations.”

Thompson said they are glad that Edmonton will have access to another “great resource” once they are out of the facility.

In January, AARCS still had 50 cats it wanted to see adopted before closing. Any that haven’t found homes before the move will be taken to Calgary, according to Thompson.

Parachutes for Pets is also open to using some of its new space to care for any of the animals AARCS still has that are adoptable until another rescue or foster home in the city can take them.

“We’re really excited to work with AARCS and continue this partnership,” David said. “We work really well together in Calgary … and we just want to be a great partner.”

AARCS has a staff of six people and hundreds of volunteers. David and Thompson encourage people who still want to do in-person volunteering to reach out to Parachutes for Pets.

Parachutes for Pets also wants to talk to the AARCS staff who might be interested in working with them.

“We’ve definitely put the offer out … they’re so passionate and amazing in there, we would be silly not to.”

Parachutes for Pets is expected to open at the beginning of May. AARCS will close at the end of March and will continue to adopt out until then.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg