ICAN sets up long term shelter facility

As we all know, when a group of women get together with a goal in mind, things begin to happen! Such is the case of the Invermere Companion Animal Network (ICAN).

In the Spring of 2007 a group of local women said, ‘Ok, we will take in this one cat and find a new home for it’.. and things just grew from there. They saw a need and took it upon themselves to do something about it. From the outset, they were blessed with numerous supporters and volunteers willing to donate time, money, space and love. It didn’t take long, however, before they had more animals than they alone could deal with. So they began a system of fostering.

As many animals as possible would be placed into long term or short term foster homes. ICAN would supply all the necessities to properly care for the animals. And foster parents would in turn supply them with updates on how the animal was behaving in a home environment which would enable them to better place that animal into a ‘forever’ home.

The original core group of women readily acknowledge that they could not have helped nearly as many animals as they have without the support and assistance of the many citizens and businesses of this Valley. To date, ICAN has found ‘forever’ homes for more than 150 animals, including dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and even a snake! And they have utilized the aid of more than 60 foster families. And still the need continues to grow.

ICAN is currently in the process of setting up a permanent long term shelter facility in the community. There will be more updates on that in the weeks to come. And they have recently applied for registered charity status, which should be in place within the next year.

ICAN has a good working relationship with the Canmore SPCA, with Creston PAWS and also with the dog control officer here in town. ICAN is not set up to deal with lost or stray dogs, so those dogs ultimately end up with dog control. ICAN does take in surrendered dogs if they have a foster home in place that is willing and able to take them till a permanent home can be found. As there is no cat control officer, ICAN does deal with strays, ferals, surrendered or abandoned cats. However, they do not deal with bylaw issues involving cats, nor can they deal with abuse situations other than to give advice and tell the caller who to contact for further assistance.

There is a process in adopting an ICAN animal. It involves the application form which is then reviewed by the team. There is also a fee of $100 for dogs and $75 for cats. All animals are spayed and neutered and this is included in the adoption fee. Whether or not to vaccinate is left up to the adoptive parents. Interviews and references are also required. ICAN tries to accommodate people as much as they can in order to expedite the process of adoption but sometimes it can take up to a week. ICAN wants to ensure that both the adoptive family and the animal are a good match.

You can see all of the animals under the care of ICAN at their website: http://www.icanhelpapet.com or you can reach them by phone at 250-341-7888. CVNews will also be featuring ‘Pets of the Week’ in future articles.