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Our Mission:

Pets and Friends provides and promotes the healing comfort and companionship of animals.

Who We Are:

Pets and Friends is a registered not-for-profit society that consists of one part-time Administrative Coordinator, an elected, volunteer Board of Directors and approximately 200 volunteer teams. Each year, our long-running (1982) and highly effective pet visitation program touches the lives of more than 15,000 people in over 200 long-term care facilities across the Lower Mainland.

What We Do:

Pets and Friends provides free pet visitation, on an individual or group basis, to long-term care facilities in the Lower Mainland. We screen and train dogs and cats and their people to interact with the disabled, elderly, chronically ill and mentally ill in an institutional setting. Pet visitation helps relieve stress, increase optimism and address the basic human need for companionship (positive interaction, physical affection and acceptance). It also helps residents who have recently lost their independence to make the transition to facility living.

How It Works:

Pets and Friends screens and trains volunteer pet-owner teams and then helps them select the facilities they will visit regularly for at least a year. During a typical visit, a volunteer team spends about an hour interacting with residents, who quickly form a heartfelt connection with the companion animal. Conversation flows and spirits are noticeably lifted. We make a point of visiting on a regular schedule to maximize residents’ sense of security and promote a positive outlook.


#411-411 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver BC V6B 1X4

604-688-1766