About

Second Chance Animal Rescue Society acknowledges we are on Indigenous land in Treaty 6 territory. Land occupied, travelled, and cared for by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. SCARS operates within the traditional meeting ground, gathering place, and travelling route of the Nêhiyawak (Cree), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Dene, and Nakota Sioux.

Our mission is to make a positive impact on animals and people by engaging with others to rescue and care for animals in need, share knowledge, and provide access to services and resources.

A world where all animals are valued and treated with compassion, where no animal is left behind.

Inclusion: An environment where everyone feels heard, valued, and able to contribute to SCARS’ mission.

Compassion: Being open-minded, non-judgmental and empathetic demonstrating an understanding and concern for animals and the communities in which we are involved.

Integrity: Consistently acting and speaking in a meaningful manner, that creates trust with our stakeholders and gives a voice for our animals.

Resilience: The ability to learn from and adapt to change and challenges through perseverance, personal strengths and our support systems.

Second Chance Animal Rescue Society (SCARS) is a non-profit Edmonton and Athabasca based registered charity. SCARS relies on money raised through memberships, donations, sponsorships, grants, and other fundraising efforts.

Click here to read our annual reports and member newsletters.

Our charity registration number is 863478467 RR0001.

SCARS helps communities by taking in pets that are unwanted or slated for euthanasia. We take in as many homeless pets as our resources allow. Each one is spayed or neutered, vaccinated, micro chipped and receives whatever care it needs. We typically have over 300 in care.

We collect pets from remote area dog pounds and veterinary clinics that act as the pound. We also take in stray and abandoned pets, many of which are sick or injured. Every animal is given a veterinary and behavioural assessment and any medical care or rehabilitation it requires. We spay/neuter, vaccinate & microchip every animal that comes into our care. We find loving homes for more than 2,000 pets every year.

Preventing pet overpopulation is also a big part of what we do. SCARS actively works within northern Alberta, partnering particularly with First Nations and Métis communities, where there can be a lack of accessible and/or affordable pet services.

Our Spay-Neuter-Return program provides spaying and neutering, vaccination and micro-chipping for owned pets, and our Walls 4 Winter program provides those who participate in SNR with an insulated pet shelter.

Once a SCARS pet, always a SCARS pet. If you can no longer keep your SCARS pet for any reason, please contact us and we will accept the animal back into our care – no questions asked.

We always accept the return of animals adopted from SCARS.

However, SCARS does not typically accept other owner-surrendered animals unless they are from one of our target communities. SCARS has many homeless animals waiting for a spot to become available and their life depends on it, therefore we give priority to homeless and abandoned animals. Many of SCARS animals come from northern communities that have no pound or small pounds that have time restrictions on them.

Many of the animals that come into our care make a first stop at Sylvia’s intake facility near Athabasca. This lovingly cared for property is home to many of our sanctuary animals and many foster animals in our care. Some photos of the facility are shown below.