Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in French and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Halo, loyal viewers, and welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. On today’s program we’ll visit Quebec, Canada to learn about “The Shelter,” which takes in stray and injured dogs and cats and cares for them until they find a forever, loving home.

It is run by veterinarians and veterinary students from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal. The Shelter’s director is Dr. Geneviève Lessard, a professor of veterinary medicine. The university also provides a free, monthly veterinary clinic in Montreal for animal companions of homeless youth called the “Animal Companions of the Young Homeless” project, which is also headed by Dr. Lessard. The clinic was founded by Dr. Diane Blais, director of the Department of Clinical Services at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Let us first learn more about The Shelter which is a no-kill facility, meaning unlike most shelters, an animal will is not be euthanized if not adopted after a set period, rather The Shelter will keep trying to find a home for the animal for their entire life.

If sometimes we have a cat who will give birth, we will try to place her with a student. We are fortunate to have an adoption pool that is a bit different than the average. Because we have 400 veterinary students, 150 at the senior level, about 180 students in animal health technology, so these people have big hearts in general.

And if we need to place a cat, while she has her kittens, where she will have a little more freedom, we have a whole series of people who offer themselves as temporary homes and sometimes it ends up to be an adoptive home. So they are really well treated here.

Dr. Lessard you must have some memorable experiences as The Shelter’s director that you could talk about.

Well, at the moment, we have one that is interesting. It's a little dog, a puppy of about five to six months who was found during the holiday season, who had either run away or in any case was lost in the wild. In any case, he was found by someone and then he was injured at the side of the road. But unfortunately, there was a fracture that we could not correct as such so he had to have his hind leg amputated.

But after a few days or even, I think even the next day or two after the surgery, he was already on his three legs and he was just as active. When we see him, if we are on the side where the amputated leg is hidden, we don’t see it at all. He is not at all affected by this. He is playful, he jumps around, he is full of energy.

So hopefully you’ll find him a foster home soon...

Yes, we are not really worried about him. He is nice, he is calm, he is handsome, he is endearing. Often these animals go even faster because they are so endearing and people easily fall in love with them. Our students also have families. So often they come and see, “Oh, my uncle so-and-so wants a dog.” So we have a kind of network that helps us. But an amputated animal is easy to place; he gets by so well. It's incredible. They do not have the whole psychological aspect of fear. So they make completely normal dogs or cats.

The Animal Companions of the Young Homeless project offers a unique, free, evening medical clinic held at the Dans La Rue shelter for homeless youth which is located east of downtown Montreal. The monthly clinic is immensely popular and has many clients. Participating veterinarians, vet students and animal health technologists give medical assistance to the animals and guidance to the young people about proper care for their companions.

So basically the clinic, we come once a month, 13 times per year with a team of students in animal healthcare and a team of students in veterinary, and we offer free veterinary care to the animals of homeless young people.

Then the type of cases they may have, it is a lot of primary care medicine, so there are many annual examinations and wormer vaccinations. But the animals that come also have many health problems, skin problems, ear infections.

Frostbite.

Frostbite right, during the winter period.

So lot of vaccinations, treatment of wounds, parasites, small common diseases, things like that, and plenty of advice on their diet, on de-sexing to try promoting the de-sexing of the animals to prevent overpopulation, various veterinary advice and basic veterinary care for these young people. Every month we have between 30 and 45 young people and animals because often many young people have more than one animal when they come. So it is roughly between 30 and 45 animals per evening.

We help both the clients and their animals. In informing the clients, it helps the animal. It could avoid problems. In case of vaccination, it will prevent diseases. So information for the client is very important, as well as for the health of the animal.

We can explain to the client, for instance, how to clean their pets’ ears, how to cut the claws.

For people who come here, since they have little means, and they are often in difficulties, it really makes a big difference for them and for the health of their pet. (They) could not afford all this medical care if it were not free of charge.

The young caregivers also appreciate the advice they receive from the vets and are very concerned about the welfare of their animal companions.

They’re very, very dedicated, usually willing to do whatever it takes, all the recommendations that we give, and they have lots of questions. They want to know even about other things and they just want to learn, they want to understand so, yes, (they are) very, very, very close to their animals, for sure.

Clients such as Melissa who has two canine companions are deeply grateful for the care their animal friends receive at the clinic.

When I came here the first time it was more than a routine check-up and definitely they gave you some skills to take away with it, so you know how to keep up with it, not let the problem return sort of things.

Just to prevent something). Yes, exactly, just keep it from coming back, and yes, (the clinic is) definitely, definitely very good.

And students are often very surprised to see the overall good condition of these animals. Sometimes there are those who go with the idea that they must be thin, not well-fed, and not healthy. Instead, the street kids are really good pet owners. So the animals are very well-fed and they really take good care of them, they worry about them and their state of health, to make sure the animal is healthy. So they will comply if they are told you must come and see us next month or for a tetanus booster or other evaluation of a medical condition, they will return.

Well, actually, their pet seems to be really important to them. It's interesting how some are willing to do anything for the welfare of their pets. It really is their companion. Often they are lonely thus their pet is really important.

So these are nice stories we see that even the young people who sometimes need help but offer their aid, rescue cats and dogs and give them care to put them back on their feet again. These are always touching stories too. It opens our minds a lot. Not long ago a cat was found in an apartment and she was really in bad shape.

Then the young girl who found her took her in, really put her back in shape. She took care of this cat a lot. Then the cat was injured, and we treated her. And we saw her again later, she was really, really better then. She recovered very well and we saw that she got back into shape.

The animal is often their only family. Many young people are totally cut off from their families. In fact we were told more than once, “I have no money. I bought a bag of grub for my dog, and I ate from the garbage.” We’ve been told this. So they always find a way to care for their pets. They take care of them, they care for them. They are with their pets all the time. So we see that these are good dogs, good cats, good animals with no major behavioral problems whatsoever.

I’ve been working here for almost four years now. For many of our clients, many of them are very young, many of them are homeless and sometimes their dogs are their only friends and family. And it makes a big difference when we help their dogs, when their dogs are sick and we can help them get better. We see in their eyes they are very grateful when we help their animals, and this is very touching for us, because we know we make a real difference for them.

So it’s a bonus for your profession?

Yes, completely, completely. When you go back home at night after spending a night here you feel absolutely great, because you know you made a difference, you know you helped people and that’s priceless.

For providing charity veterinary care through the Animal Companions of the Young Homeless program and operating a noble no-kill shelter for the gentle animals, Supreme Master Ching Hai is honoring the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal with the Shining World Compassion Award and CAD$10,000 to support the benevolent projects. Further information on The Shelter is available at

Many thanks Doctors Diane Blais and Geneviève Lessard, as well as all others from the University of Montreal for sharing your expertise and time to ensure the well-being of our animal friends. Your dedication and thoughtfulness provide an inspiring example for us all to follow.

For more details on the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal, please visit

Thank you for your kind presence today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May you and your animal companions always enjoy the very best of health and happiness.