The BC SPCA honoured two-legged and four-legged heroes from across the province last weekend during its annual awards ceremony in Vancouver.

Two dogs who fought back from near death by starvation, a kindly veterinarian, a cruelty-fighting constable and a pair of generous philanthropists were among the special award recipients.

Animal Courage Award (2)

Trooper, a golden retriever, and Magic, a Malinois, each received the BC SPCA Animal Courage Award for their resilience in the face of suffering.

Magic (orginally named "Princess" by BC SPCA staff) was found abandoned in Burnaby, so emaciated that SPCA staff feared she would not live through the night. While a typical Malinois weights 23 to 27 kilograms, Magic barely weighed 15 kilograms. Despite her critical condition, Magic showed incredible determination to survive and slowly began gaining weight and strength. Today she is a lively, healthy and affectionate dog who loves playing with her canine sibling in her foster home, where she continues to undergo rehabilitation. To find out just how far she has come, read Magic's story.

Trooper, a young golden retriever, was dropped off at the Maple Ridge SPCA shelter in February in the most emaciated condition ever witnessed by shelter staff and SPCA cruelty investigators.  Weighing 11 kilograms – less than his bag of dog food – Trooper was barely one third the weight of a normal golden retriever.  Now a strapping healthy dog, Trooper is the centre of attention in his new adopted family.  As a result of an SPCA investigation, Crown counsel has approved charges of animal cruelty against Trooper's former owner. For more information and photos, read Trooper's story.

Veterinarian of the Year

Despite running a busy veterinary practice, Kamloops veterinarian Dr. Brendan Matthews regularly rearranges his schedule in order to serve as an attending veterinarian in animal cruelty investigations in the region. He often spends extremely long hours examining and assisting animals in the most horrific and stench-filled environments, yet he always steps up when asked to help and he has actively encouraged others in the veterinary community to support the work of the BC SPCA. Dr. Matthews also provides substantial discounts for services provided to the SPCA and has donated hundreds of pro bono hours treating SPCA animals at his clinic, assisting feral cat colonies and attending to animals at the Kamloops SPCA shelter on his own time.

Philanthropist of the Year

Victoria couple Bruce and Nikki MacKenzie have been helping animals for more than 30 years, contributing both time and money toward spay/neuter programs, veterinary care and sheltering of homeless pets.

The MacKenzies have given more than $100,000 to the BC SPCA's Victoria Branch alone to help with the veterinary medical expenses of homeless and abandoned injured animals. They donated another $80,000 toward the building fund for a new shelter in Nanaimo, and gave $40,000 each to the Campbell River and Port Alberni branches for community spay/neuter programs. Their generous contributions total more than $250,000 in the last year. Beyond their financial contributions, the MacKenzies also like to haunt the mailboxes of provincial and federal politicians with appeals for tougher animal cruelty legislation, and they're always urging their friends and family to join their letter-writing campaigns.

Caring Company of the Year

Hill's® Science Diet® has made a tremendous difference for abused and neglected animals in British Columbia, donating food for all dogs, cats, puppies and kittens in the BC SPCA's 37 shelters throughout the province.  This generous gift amounts to about 206,000 pounds (93,440 kilograms) of food per year. In addition to the shelter food program, Hill's® Science Diet® was the presenting sponsor of the 2010 BC SPCA Hill's® Science Diet® Open House Series, which promoted the adoption of homeless animals in shelters across B.C. in May.

Investigator of the Year

Special provincial constable Leanne Thomson responded to 495 animal cruelty complaints in Surrey last year. She also executed 27 search warrants, representing 23 per cent of all the search warrants executed by cruelty investigators in B.C. The 25-year-old lifelong Surrey resident joined the BC SPCA's night emergency team in 2006, working the graveyard shift while completing courses at the Justice Institute during the day to become a constable. She was sworn in as a constable in November 2008, and made an instant impact. Her calm demeanor is beneficial in tense situations, and her attention to detail gets results.

Stu Rammage Award

The prestigious Stu Rammage Award is fittingly presented to BC SPCA regional animal welfare supervisor Kim Monteith, who has been helping both animals and people on the Downtown Eastside for the past 10 years.  Although her job places her in an office above the society's Vancouver shelter for most of her five-day work week, Monteith spends her days off, evenings, holidays and free time before and after work doing outreach in Vancouver's poorest neighbourhood. One of her projects is Charlie's Food Bank, the BC SPCA-run food bank for pets that takes place every Thursday morning at Mission Possible on Powell Street. Through Charlie's Food Bank, Monteith connects pet guardians to food as well as veterinary services, including the BC SPCA's monthly clinic at the same location, and other forms of assistance. Known as "SPCA Kim" in this historic but sometimes rough neighbourhood, she's celebrated as the person to turn to in times of trouble. They can reach her any time, thanks to the metal dog tags embossed with her name and home phone number that she hands out to street people, transients and people living outdoors for their pets. Monteith has helped homeless people get into housing, and addicted people get into rehabilitation programs. She's helped people move, she's cleaned their suites, she's found them jobs, she's given them a shoulder to cry on over coffee and she's assisted with every aspect of pet care that there is. She's also mourned for them at funerals, because a life on the street isn't always a long one.

Branch of the Year

The BC SPCA's Sunshine Branch is one of the society's biggest success stories. The branch rehomed 346 animals in 2009, compared to 285 in 2008, representing a 21 per cent increase. Fundraising also jumped from just $1,000 raised in 2007 to more than $11,000 today. The Sunshine Coast Branch also assists branches in smaller and more remote communities plagued by pet overpopulation. Using the BC SPCA transfer program, Broderick regularly takes in dogs and cats from Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert and places them in homes on the Sunshine Coast.

 Volunteer of the Year (2)

Maple Ridge's Joyce Marhoff and Fort St. John's Wendy Wheat are recipients of the 2010 Volunteer of the Year Award.

A volunteer adoption counsellor at the BC SPCA's Maple Ridge Branch, Marhoff has helped place hundreds of dogs with new, loving families. She began volunteering as a dog walker 18 years ago, but her true talent was in adoption counseling. She once placed a dog with a family who actually came in looking for a cat, and they were so grateful to bring a German shepherd named Jed into their home that they sent her a lovely note, which Marhoff keeps alongside similar notes and cards sent to her from dozens of other appreciative families.

Wheat started volunteering for the SPCA five years ago. She spends about eight hours a week at the shelter walking and socializing dogs. She also takes photos of the animals for their online adoption profiles and posts them on two additional online adoption websites to help increase their exposure. As creative as she is hardworking, Wheat enriched the shelter's cat room by painting murals on the walls; she puts those same artistic skills to regular use making posters to advertise the branch's fundraising events and other activities. Wheat also provides guided tours of the shelter to school children as well as visits local classrooms to speak about dog-bite safety.

The BC SPCA Awards Program honours both people and animals who have made outstanding contributions to animal welfare during the past year. Recipients include veterinarians, staff, volunteers and animal heroes.  

For more information about the awards, and to learn more about the BC SPCA's Staff Excellence and Program Excellence awards please read our full press release.

Each year the BC SPCA helps more than 37,000 injured, abused and homeless animals across the province. This wouldn't be possible without the support of generous individuals like those mentioned above, and without the support of generous donors. Please donate today.

The BC SPCA is a non-profit organization funded primarily by public donations. Our mission is to prevent cruelty and to promote the welfare of animals through a wide range of services, including cruelty investigations, emergency rescue and treatment, sheltering and adoption of homeless and abused animals, humane education, advocacy, farm animal welfare, spay/neuter programs, and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.