Chow For Now

14/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19VKXkDhvL/

🚨 CALL TO ACTION – THE TIME TO FIGHT IS NOW 🚨

‼️ As of right now, 2,136 people have signed the BC SPCA’s petition calling for changes to the Controlled Alien Species (CAS) legislation in BC — aiming to ban more “untraditional” pets like servals, and potentially many more species.

This is not just about one animal — this is the beginning of a broader push to ban responsible private ownership of a wide range of species that are already safely and successfully kept under strict regulation.

🛑 If you care about exotic animals, science-based husbandry, or your rights as a responsible keeper — we NEED YOU to speak up.

📬 TODAY, WE NEED YOU to send the following email, POSTED AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST AS WELL AS POSTED IN THE COMMENTS, before it’s too late.
🔗 [email protected]

Let them know:
✔️ Bans don’t stop people from owning these animals — they just drive them underground. This leads to worse outcomes for animal welfare and public safety.
✔️ There are no properly funded or equipped facilities in BC to take in displaced exotics like servals. Where will those animals go?
✔️ Abandonment, illegal release, and quiet suffering will increase — just like it has in other countries that tried this.
✔️ Animal rights groups are pushing an agenda, not science. Their goal is to eliminate all exotic animal ownership — not improve welfare.
✔️ This is reactive, fear-based legislation — not a solution rooted in evidence or compassion.

👀 Silence right now means surrendering your rights later. The government is listening to voices calling for bans, we need to be louder.

💥 PLEASE SHARE. PLEASE EMAIL. PLEASE STAND UP FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

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Subject: Strong Opposition to Proposed Ban on Servals and Other Exotic Species under CAS

Dear Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship,

I am writing to formally oppose the proposed amendments to the Controlled Alien Species (CAS) legislation that would ban servals and other additional exotics in British Columbia. While these changes may be well-intentioned, they would be catastrophic for both animal welfare and responsible exotic animal stewardship in this province.

Banning these species will not eliminate demand or ownership — it will simply drive them underground. When keepers fear legal repercussions, they far are less likely to seek veterinary care, proper support, or disclose animals in need of surrender or rehoming. This leads to unseen suffering, as animals may languish in poor conditions, injured, ill, or abandoned, with no access to professionals who could help them.

There is currently no facility in British Columbia equipped or funded to house and care for displaced exotic animals like servals. If ownership of these species is banned, what is to become of the animals already here? Without real solutions for surrender or transitional care, animals will be left in limbo — or worse, illegally released, euthanized, or trafficked. This is not protection. It is abandonment by policy.

We need only look to other countries to see the results of such bans. Following exotic animal restrictions in several European jurisdictions, animal abandonment increased dramatically, and rescue networks were overwhelmed. In many cases, animals were left to suffer in secret, out of reach of any welfare support, and law enforcement was ill-equipped to deal with enforcement or care.

Furthermore, this type of policy sets a dangerous precedent. If bans are enacted based on species’ popularity or public image — rather than data, individual keeper responsibility, or husbandry outcomes — reptiles, amphibians, birds, and invertebrates will be next. Animal rights organizations pushing for these bans do not stop at cats — they oppose the keeping of any non-domestic species, regardless of scientific nuance or individual care standards.

It is also important to recognize that many of the calls for bans on exotic animals are driven by animal rights organizations that routinely exaggerate or fabricate statistics to support their agenda. These groups often rely on isolated incidents, outdated information, or undocumented claims to paint a misleading picture of exotic animal ownership. Their goal is not better welfare through regulation — it is the complete elimination of all exotic animal keeping, regardless of the quality of care or scientific evidence. This approach does not help animals; it vilifies responsible keepers and promotes fear-based policy-making rather than informed, balanced decisions rooted in facts.

This is not a solution rooted in science or welfare. It is reactive, emotion-based legislation that ignores the real-world consequences to animals already in care, and those that will be acquired regardless of legality. These animals deserve better than to be treated as liabilities.

Bans will not stop people from keeping these animals — but they will stop them from doing it safely, openly, or humanely.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
[Your Full Name]
[City, BC]
[Optional: Exotic Animal Keeper | Educator | Animal Advocate | Concerned Citizen]

21/05/2024

Coolest place to stay in Qualicum!
Check it out, whales, eagles, and otters!
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084428622979

Bright 2 bdrm walk on ocean front cottage. It has a loaded kitchen with appliances, laundry facilities, walk-in pebble shower and quaint living room that exploits the central Georgia Straight. The area is rated some of the best drinking water in the world

20/05/2024

I am once again looking for Guardian Homes!
I do not like my dogs living in kennels or homes with more than 2 or 3 dogs! Please no hate... I just feel if you have 3 or under dogs all the dogs get more attention.
I want all my dogs to have have wonderful, loving families of their own. It is incredibly important to me that all my Costars are well cared for and experience their best lives! This means lots of human attention, daily walks, hikes, car rides with the new families. They must be allowed to live in the house & be included as part of the family.
Dogs that live in a kennel OR dogs that live a life in a dog pack are often not properly socialized and trained & rarely get the same amount of attention as dogs that live as a 1-3 dog home... With some exceptions of course!
Breeding dogs that lived their whole lives in kennels when "retired" and/ or sold to adoptive families now have a dog that lacks social skills, it may or may not be house broken and has a completely foreign life to adjust to in their pet home. Being a pet in a family home is VERY different from a kennel or a dog pack situation. Our breeding dogs & film dogs are placed with their forever families as soon as possible and never have this upset when they retire. This is a much fairer option for dogs.
How it works
A Guardian Home receives a breeding/ film dog as their forever dog. Some dogs are older pups & some are adult dogs with a lot of training. The Guardian Home then adopts their dog/ puppy and continues on a training and socialization (which should be done with ANY puppy/ dog anyways). The Guardian Home agrees to care for a breeding dog and some of the inconveniences that go with it. Sometimes the dog comes back for film work others may come back for breeding.
The payoff to the guardian? You get a top quality dog that has had training for free or at a very discounted price. Most of the dogs available have already appeared in film. Some dogs were taken in due to hardships of their original owners. Many of the dogs have been purchased for up to $10,000.00 & then have months of training on them. All dogs are healthy, are up to date on their shots, listen well and are snuggly & sweet.
But don't get too excited we have some requirements (the main ones listed below).

Requirements of the Guardian Home:
- Fully fenced and secure yard
- Continue obedience training so it stays reliable in the basic commands.
- Interested in training cute tricks & socializing with dog.
- Feed our Raw Diet
- Live within 3 hours of Aldergrove, BC OR be willing to transport the dog, upon request, if outside of 4 hours (it is not our preference to have dogs no farther than four hours from us).
- Flexibility to allow for breeding and/or vet appointments or film projects.
- Keep the dog safe from other dogs attacking or bullying it.
- Keep the dog groomed
- Keep the dog healthy
Feel free to contact us for a copy of the Guardian Home Contract.

By becoming a Guardian Home, the guardian agrees that they are responsible for the "everyday" cost of their dog: feeding, grooming, veterinarian expenses, etc. The dog is the guardian's family dog. Canine Costars retains the rights to breeding and all the responsibilities that are associated with breeding. We do not release breeding rights to new owners at any point. Canine Costars also retains all film rights, the dog can not work for any other company in film throughout its life time! The dog remains the property of Canine Costars until such time as the breeding contract is fulfilled. At that point Canine costars will send approval to be spay or nuetered in writing & the dog will be signed over to full ownership to the guardian.

If for some reason the dog must be rehomed it must be returned to Canine Costars. Canine Costars retains the right to take dogs back that are not in a happy, healthy, safe homes.