Saint Carol
January 8th, 2010
Carol Hines jumps onto her king-size bed, followed by a pack of senior pooches. “When I first moved here I had a double bed but we soon outgrew that,” she says, laughing. “These guys don’t have a clue they are old; they think they are still vibrant and young.”
Almost every resident at the Senior Animals In Need Today Society (SAINTS) shares the credo: ‘I may be old but I’m not dead.‘
When 51-year-old Hines started SAINTS, she expected that elderly dogs would be well behaved, all sleeping nicely in their beds. Wrong. “They rip up the garbage, they steal cat food from the counter, they open the fridge and steal human food (just last week they found the pizza). But I get home to happy dogs.”
Hines takes a few dozen of her charges and me for a walk on her 3-acre property in Mission, about a two-hour drive from Vancouver. Surprisingly they all keep up the pace although a few are obviously on their last legs.
“This is Dusty, she came from the local pound–her owners couldn’t deal with her medical issues,” says Hines. “And old Cleo never left the farm so her world is scary…and here is Lucky, blind from a breeding fault-the owners surrendered her when they divorced.”
And the introductions continue: Daphne is at the end stage of renal disease; Casper needs insulin and the owners couldn’t administer his meds because he bit them. Fourteen-year-old Lucas was rescued by the SPCA under ‘cruelty seizure’ and little Doris was horribly matted and blind when she arrived at SAINTS-now she has some vision back.
“We call Susie the “Land shark,” Hines adds. “She also had biting issues and we appreciate that she is evil but she doesn’t have to prove it so now she is nice.” All the dogs appear to be best buddies-no one seems aggressive. But Hines adds that many dogs at SAINTS have biting histories; she will accept them as long as they do not bite humans or hurt another dog. “In 15 years of rescues, I’ve only had 6 dogs euthanized for aggression.” Considering over 350 animals have come and gone that’s quite remarkable.
The list goes on. Max is called “Dead Dog Walking” and needs meds three times a day for arthritis. (Amazingly, Hines has a fulltime day job: she is a home health nurse and works with seniors in palliative care and post-op care. She is well-qualified to look after the old-timers at SAINTS.) Hines says she gives out more than 300 doses of pain meds per month and her vet bills this year are about $60,000. Flea season alone costs $600 per month, donations aside. Fortunately, she isn’t charged for veterinarian office visits.
The sanctuary is like a maze: it comprises seven closed-off rooms with three cat runs outside and four yards for the dogs to run. Several bunnies, a llama, horse and cow also call SAINTS their home. “I bought the property in 2004 and have been renovating ever since,” she says. “At first I had 12 dogs, 18 cats, a horse, 3 sheep, 2 rabbits, 4 chickens and some ducks.” (And a partridge in a pear tree?)
Today Hines has 100 animals on the site and they are admitted by priority– animals from the SPCA or animal controls throughout the lower mainland are seldom refused; if not, most of them will be euthanized because they are deemed un-adoptable due to age-related illness or disabilities. She will also shelter dogs with behaviour issues such as dementia or dogs with single biting histories-such as Susie the land shark.
Next in line are calls from vets: usually a senior citizen can no longer care for their pet. “Sometimes the vet or the pound will try to surrender an aggressive dog but we can’t take them because our dogs are frail,” explains Hines. “Cranky is OK but not overtly aggressive.”
At the end of our walk we arrived at the Memorial Garden. I could hear it before I saw it: 150 wind chimes were tinkling in the breeze. “Sometimes our guys get adopted and can go to permanent foster care,” says Hines, “but when they stop having fun and the vet says it’s time, they are euthanized here; they don’t have to be afraid.”
Senior Animals In Need Today Society (SAINTS) is an end-of-life sanctuary just outside Vancouver for senior and special needs animals-mainly dogs– that have nowhere else to go. This non-profit society provides a home for these animals to be loved, cherished, and receive proper medical care for the rest of their days.
