Free pet care for those in addictions treatment provided by new Vancouver Island organization

The founders started the Recovery Tails Society to bridge a gap they felt was preventing people from entering drug treatment.

Seeing people wrestle with the prospect of giving up their pets in order to get the help they need has inspired two front-line workers on Vancouver Island to start an organization that provides free pet care to people who enter addictions treatment.

Kayleigh Busch and Priya Sharma founded the Recovery Tails Society to bridge a gap they noticed was making the decision to enter treatment more difficult.

“It’s so heartbreaking every time we see somebody have to decline and turn away a treatment bed because they just can’t find the support that they need for their animals,” said Busch.

“They are family members,” said Sharma.

The society currently has 15 confirmed foster homes across Vancouver Island, and works to match animals with an appropriate placement when their owner goes into treatment.

For now the only ask from the society is that food for the pet be provided to the foster family for the length of it’s stay.

“Eventually when we do have a fund built we want to be able to provide all the food and all of the necessary things that their animal will need,” said Sharma.

Mike Manhas, the founder of the Rewired Recover Foundation as well as SoberFest, applauded the “absolutely amazing” initiative.

”What a beautiful idea to come out and provide a missing piece of recovery," he said.

Manhas’ work has seen him send more than 100 people to treatment. He knows addiction personally and says often those seeking treatment have already lost many of the close relationships in their lives, leaving their pets as the only stable relationship they have left.

When people learns they can’t take their pet with them to treatment, they’re faced with another difficult decision.

“Where does the animal go?” Manhas asked. “It’s either a shelter or you struggle to find a place to take them and hope you get the dog back afterwards. Nobody will do that.”

He says this service is what is needed for pet owners seeking help with their recovery.

Recovery Tails soft launched in June fostering three animals while their owners got well. The society’s founders said the response from those pet owners was overwhelming.

“They are just so beyond grateful for the support and the time that we take in order to take care of their animals when they are away,” said Busch.

“We’re seeing the owners come back and being like, ‘You have no idea what this did for my recovery and how much stress this completely took off of me,” said Sharma.

The pair is now looking to grow the society’s reach, searching for more foster families as well as donations in order to remove a major barrier in the recovery journey of pet owners.