🌅 Pets are being surrendered in Victoria
Plus: Van Gogh is coming to town, a spot prawn festival, and more.
Good morning!
I’m sitting here writing this with my cat curled up on my lap, patiently waiting for me to feed him—and it’s made reading today’s top story that much more heartbreaking. People across the CRD are surrendering their pets to shelters in order to find suitable homes amidst the ongoing housing crisis.
Tori Marlan dives into how BC’s strict pet policies are making the housing hunt even harder for animal lovers.
Have you ever given up a pet to find a home?
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NEWS
Victorians are surrendering their animals to find a place to live
Diana de la Vega and her husband, Alex Nuñez, wanted to provide a “retirement home” for a senior cat. They found Lola at the SPCA.
Volunteers were in the habit of leaving Lola’s cage door open. She’ll never come out, they told the couple. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, she's so scared,’” de la Vega recalls thinking. “And we don't have kids or other pets. She would be queen of her castle.”
The couple brought Lola, a 12-year-old brown tabby, back to their basement suite at Villa Marco Polo Inn, where they worked as innkeepers. They expected her to hide under the bed. Instead, Lola hopped on top of it, settled into a spot that looked appealing, and then spent much of the next five years lounging there contentedly. “She smelled like fabric softener because all she did was lay on the blanket,” de la Vega said.
When the pandemic hit and people began isolating, de la Vega and her husband were thankful they had Lola. “She was great company,” de la Vega said.
But after the inn became a casualty of the pandemic, Lola became a casualty of a different kind: the housing crisis.
Read more on how BC’s housing policies are hurting pets—and their owners.
Capital Bulletin
🌤️ Today’s weather: Mainly sunny. Some wind in late afternoon. High 23C / low 12C.
⚾️ Host families desperately needed for HarbourCats players: The local baseball team’s season starts next week, and the team still needs billet families to house players for 2.5 months. [Details]
🌱 Invasive plant removal: Join the Greater Victoria Green Team on Saturday to remove gorse and scotch broom from Anderson Hill Park, 10:30am-12:45pm. [Register]
🚲 BC offers e-bike rebates: The rebate aims to make e-bike purchases more affordable to encourage alternate modes of transportation.
NEWS
Immersive Van Gogh exhibition finally set to begin
Beyond Van Gogh has announced that tickets are live for the multimedia experience starting June 20 in Starry Night Pavilion at Bayview Place in Vic West. The exhibit features projections of 300 of Van Gogh’s artworks and is set to run until late August.
The immersive experience was originally advertised to begin last October, but when customers arrived at Bayview Place, no exhibit was in place even though a delay had not been announced. In November it was revealed that Beyond Van Gogh had not applied for a permit from the City of Victoria until Nov. 21, almost a full month after the event was expected to begin. Beyond Van Gogh’s social media continued to advertise the event in the ensuing months.
This time around, Beyond Van Gogh has secured a permit as of May 24 from the City of Victoria to allow it to exhibit at Bayview Place.
“We are so excited to bring Vancouver Islanders this extraordinary immersive event,” said Justin Paquin, producer of Paquin Entertainment Group, the parent company of Beyond Van Gogh. “We are thankful to the loyal Van Gogh fans who have patiently supported us as we finalized the details for this massive project in Victoria. We appreciate the efforts from the City of Victoria - working with us to share Vincent’s extraordinary talents.”
Capital Picks
🎨 Scattered Artists Studio Tour: Discover locally made art on this free self-guided tour of 30 artists at eight locations across Saanich, Saturday and Sunday, 11am-4pm. [Details]
🏡 Open Houses: Casually browse for your next home. View all the open houses scheduled for this weekend.*
🏉 Spot Prawn Festival: James Bay Athletic Association’s fundraiser at MacDonald Park will include rugby games, live music, and street vendors, Saturday and Sunday. [Details]
🤝 Now hiring: Dental Receptionist at Oaklands Dental.
🎈 Selkirk Waterfront Festival: Enjoy performances, a beer garden, and vendors at Selkirk Green Park, Saturday, 11am-5pm. [Details]
*Sponsored Listing
In Other News
🚨 Police incident near Finlayson Arm Road
West Shore RCMP are investigating a disturbance at a residence near Finlayson Arm and Millstream. An unknown male was inside the residence with a firearm. With the assistance of a police negotiator, the RCMP arrested a 20-year-old male for break-and-enter. He was arrested without incident and police recovered the firearm. The suspect is known to police and remains in custody pending a court appearance today.
🗣️ Cowichan Tribe calls for more public support after death of teen
Leaders of the Cowichan Tribe are asking community members to speak up about criminal activities to prevent violence against the Cowichan people. “We are asking our entire community to come together to support justice for this family,” Chief Lydia Hwitsum said. “Too many of our community members have experienced the unspeakable loss of a family member at a young age.” This call comes a week after the death of an Indigenous teen girl, 15, which is now being investigated as suspicious after police initially claimed no criminality was involved. The teen died 10 days after a local march in honour of the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. [Cowichan Valley Citizen]
🔥 Langford had seven fires in seven days
Each fire was caused by cigarette butts, prompting a reminder not to put out cigarettes in plant pots or on balconies. [Langford Fire Dept.] This came soon after fire bans were put in place across the Island due to dry, hot conditions.
In Case You Missed It
🚐 Tow Away Zone: The housing crisis pressures a UVic student to live out of a van, while his day job finds him speaking to millionaires. [Capital Daily]
📱 Victoria CEO raises $1.24M for referral business: Jeff Duke, co-founder of Locorum, aims to increase traffic for local businesses through a referral program. [Victoria Tech Journal]
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