Best help for street pets

Ever wonder how people living on the streets with dogs or even cats manage to keep their companions fed and healthy? Ever heard of Charlie’s Food Bank (543 Powell Street, 604-879-7721)? Charlie’s was started in 2000 to provide those living outdoors with some extras for their beloved pets. Most shelters don’t accept animals, so a lot of people choose to stay outside. Charlie’s provides free pet food and treats, basic training, and free neutering or spaying. Each month outside Charlie’s—on Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to noon—about 5,000 pounds of food are distributed. Donations of pet food and treats, kitty litter, leashes, harnesses, and birdseed may be dropped off at the B.C. SPCA Vancouver Shelter (1205 East 7th Avenue), any Lower Mainland B.C. SPCA shelter, or your local food bank.

Best way to get Hitchcock flashbacks

At dusk, look up. You may well observe an enormous flock—or murder, as they are called—of crows darkening the sky as they head eastward to assume their sleeping perches near Burnaby Lake. It’s more than a little creepy.

Best way for you and your bulldog to find love

Must Love Dogs

Tired of prissy Yaletown boys who don’t get along with your Bernese mountain dog? Looking for a lady who knows how to treat your Jack Russell right? The Must Love Dogs fundraiser will be taking over the Coast Plaza Hotel (1763 Comox Street) on November 12 in support of the Vancouver branch of the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. For $100 per human (canines get in free), single men and women will sample wine, snack on hors d’oeuvres, and bid on silent-auction items while their best friends sniff each other to see if it’s love. There will also be a dating game and, dare we say it, a pet fashion show. Tickets for women have sold out, and the few remaining tickets for men will be sold at the door starting at 6:30 p.m. Ruff!

Randall Cosco photo

Best urban chicken outfitters

Now that it’s legal to keep back-yard chickens—you’ll likely be able to do so by late fall if the city gets its guidelines in place—the Web site www.chickensinvancouver.com is city-chicken central. It has info on where to get a chicken coop (Both Feet on Main Street Shoe Repair, 4410 Main Street—seriously) and chicken feed (Tisol, 2949 Main Street), details on urban-chicken workshops, a blog, and more. The city’s policy on back-yard chickens can be found here.