Equal Care. Every Community.

Public Health Impacts

1. Unequal Risk, Unequal Care

The most likely person to be bitten by a dog in this country isn’t a stranger provoking an animal — it’s a child, on-reserve, between the ages of five and nine, on a Saturday afternoon, bitten in the face by a dog they weren’t engaging with.

That’s not random chance. It’s the predictable outcome of 150 years of unequal access to animal-care systems — from basic vaccination and spay/neuter programs to community bylaws and emergency response.

When animal management is treated as optional, people — especially children — pay the price.

2. The Hidden Public-Health System No One Funds

Every healthy community depends on safe streets, disease control, and predictable emergency response. Animal management quietly underpins all three — yet it remains unfunded and unrecognized in most rural and Indigenous communities.

The result:

Rabies and parvovirus remain endemic risks.
Dog-bite injuries place disproportionate strain on small health centres.
Fear of stray animals affects children’s ability to walk to school, play outside, or feel safe in their own community.

Increased ACCESS works to close these gaps by reframing animal management as essential public-health infrastructure, not charity.

3. Trauma and Trust

When children witness dog culls or lose pets in violent or preventable ways, it leaves lasting emotional scars. These moments become community memories — reinforcing fear, mistrust, and grief.

For generations, “animal control” in many communities has meant the sound of a gunshot, not a helping hand. That history doesn’t just shape how people relate to animals — it shapes how they relate to health systems, law enforcement, and outside organizations.

By investing in equitable animal care, we help rebuild something far deeper than infrastructure: trust.

4. The Economics of Prevention

A single emergency dog-bite evacuation can cost tens of thousands of dollars — not counting trauma care, missed work, or the ripple effects on family wellbeing. By contrast, community-based animal-care systems cost a fraction of that, while creating jobs, skills, and safety that last.

Every dollar invested in prevention — spay/neuter programs, vaccination, humane education, mobile clinics — multiplies its impact across health, safety, and social outcomes.

This is not an animal-welfare expense. It’s a public-health investment.

5. One Health in Action

Our approach is guided by the One Health framework — the recognition that human health, animal health, and environmental health are inseparable.

When communities have access to veterinary care, waste management, and humane education, everything improves: fewer bites, fewer zoonotic diseases, safer roads, and stronger relationships between people and animals.

Equal care for animals creates safer, healthier communities for everyone.