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Chemainus animal sanctuary needs your vote in nationwide contest

RASTA is up for $5,000 from Nutram; contest runs until May 31
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The RASTA animal sanctuary in Chemainus is up for $5,000 from Nutram pet food. (Submitted)

A Chemainus-based animal sanctuary needs your help in a bid for $5,000 from a pet food company.

Rescue And Sanctuary for Threatened Animals (RASTA) is one of 100 animal shelters from across Canada competing online for a donation from Nutram Pet Products. Canadians can vote online until Sunday, May 31, with the top 10 each getting $5,000.

Based in Elmira, Ont., Nutram has seen the need for pet shelter funding due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and wanted to do something for Canadian shelters. RASTA tries to inspire compassion for all animals through education, providing guided tours of the sanctuary and other events, and all those have had to be cancelled.

“In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, it would be amazing,” RASTA founder Lucie Cerny said. “Basically, because we had to cancel all our tours and events, that has led to loss of $10,000. Five thousand would really help us out.”

The facility is home to more than 100 animals, who still need food and veterinary care during the pandemic, Cerny pointed out.

RASTA offers a lifelong safe haven to animals of all sorts, primarily farm animals, most of whom have nowhere else to go, and takes pride in a strict no-kill and cageless policy. Current residents include pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, donkeys, chickens and turkeys, among others.

“What we have on the backs of our shirts is ‘Peace begins on your plate,’” Cerny noted. “So be kind to every animal.”

Started on the outskirts of Calgary in 2001, RASTA moved to Chemainus in 2015 for a better quality of life for the rescued animals, sustainability reasons, and to provide a refuge and advocacy where founder Cerny believed there was a need.

To vote for RASTA, visit https://nutram.com/ca/vote or https://woobox.com/r7hkcb and look for the purple logo with a flying pig. You can vote every day until May 31.



Kevin Rothbauer

About the Author: Kevin Rothbauer

Kevin Rothbauer is the sports reporter for the Cowichan Valley Citizen
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