The Truth About The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together Program: I Will Not Be Silenced
I started this blog for one specific reason: to document my experiences in real time and create an unedited, honest record of my journey. Today, I am taking that transparency a step further. I have officially created a Facebook account dedicated to sharing my lived experiences and broadcasting my blog post.
I never thought I would be using Facebook. It is a bit funny to find myself back on social media, but it has become a necessary outlet. People need to know exactly what is happening behind the scenes with The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program. I am using this blog as a vital cognitive behavioral technique to process severe stress, and anxiety I put my experience out there, and speak my truth. Whether the foundation likes it or not, I have the absolute right to do so.
The Missing HR Structure and Targeted Actions
I had been a participant in this program for almost six years, from 2021 to 2026. I have seen, heard, and documented everything. I do not delete anything; my email records span this entire five-year period. Because of this, I know exactly how this organization operates.
The executive director of The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program, Kathy Powelson, has been actively waiting for an opportunity to terminate my 13-year-old senior Papillon for the past year. She took the specific initiative to wait until the Board of Directors President was away which my 13-year-old senior Papillon was under his care she executed not but 2 termination letters then lawyered up.
When a conflict like this happens, an organization should have a neutral party to handle it. However, The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program has no Human Resource coordinator. If you have an issue, you are forced to contact the exact same person who is causing the conflict, creating the drama, and manufacturing problems that do not exist. This setup causes immense, unnecessary stress and anxiety for vulnerable participants.
The Empty Car Analogy: Stop Supplying the Gas
Let’s use an exact analogy to look at how this organization functions. Think of The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program as a car. The foundation itself is just an empty physical vehicle. The donors, the donations, and the corporate sponsors are the gas. Without that gas, the car cannot run, move, or operate.
By continuing to provide them with gas money, the community is fueling a machine that treats humans and animals poorly. The public needs to stop fueling this organization. The 80% funding utilized by the foundation does not belong to the foundation or Kathy Powelson it belongs entirely to the donors and sponsors who give their hard-earned money to a cause they see on a website.
Right now, The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program is using that community gas money to pay for a costly lawyer to come after me, try to shut me up, and silence my voice. That valuable donor money should be going toward animals in need, specialized diets, and senior dog medical care not legal fees to suppress a disabled participant's story. They use the vulnerability of participants to keep them quiet, expecting them to shut their mouths, pay their portion, and take threats without speaking out. I refuse to do that.
A Fundamental Misunderstanding: Animals vs. Humans
One of the most irritating arguments used by The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program is the statement, "You are no longer enrolled in the program."
Let’s get something straight: a human being is not the one enrolled in a veterinary assistance program. The animal is the one enrolled in the program. The dog or the cat is the entity seeking medical attention and requiring care. Terminating a file means intentionally pulling medical care away from an animal and causes then harm.
Any dedicated pet owner will tell you that they would completely neglect their own medical or dental needs to ensure their animal receives veterinary care first. The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program knows this, and they use that deep bond to hang medical care over vulnerable people's heads as a tool for control.
The Reality of False Advertisements and False Resources
On their platform, The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program claims to provide extensive resources for disabled individuals, including help with pet food delivery and transportation. In my six years with the program, they never once helped me with transportation. I had to pay out of my own pocket for pet food delivery via Uber carrier buses ubers cabs.
Furthermore, the organization has poured resources into a central "Hub" warehouse. For a permanent HandyDART user like myself living in Surrey, this location is completely inaccessible. HandyDART transit has a strict policy: an animal cannot board the bus unless it is a fully certified service animal.
I am a disabled person living with fibromyalgia, severe complex PTSD, severe OCD, and other complex health conditions. My physical reality makes simple travel agonizing:
Back in June 2025, my senior dog required consecutive weekly clinic visits for nine straight months following a full dental operation and a bladder stone removal.
Because no transportation assistance was provided, I had to carry my dog in a bag, walk 20 minutes to a bus stop, take a bus, transfer to a second bus, and walk another 20 minutes just to reach the vet clinic and then repeat that entire grueling process to get back home or a uber or cab if I could afford most the time I couldn't.
At the time, I thought this excruciating pain was a sciatic nerve issue, but it was actually the physical toll of fibromyalgia.
When I finally advocated for my health and stated we needed to slow down the weekly visits because my dog's UTI had cleared, the pushback and threats from the organization began.
The Current Financial Impossibility
Today, I am looking after a 13-year-old senior dog who requires an expensive, highly specialized medical diet. At the same time, I have a puppy who is currently in training to become my certified medical service dog. To finish her certification, she requires mandatory vaccines, routine veterinary exams, and strict health clearances to ensure she is physically and mentally fit to assist with my disabilities.
I survive on a fixed income via provincial disability PWD. I am asking a direct question to the community or anyone : How is a disabled person on income assistance supposed to suddenly fund the specialized medical care of both a senior dog and a training service puppy completely alone?
You cannot. That is exactly why public community foundations are funded by donors. The Paws for Hope Foundation Better Together program is a public community resource; they do not own the funds, and they do not get to subjectively dictate who gets community aid based on personal conflicts.
I know there are others out there who have faced similar censorship, deleted reviews, or shifting rules such as the organization suddenly trying to change a signed 20% co-pay contract into a 33% demand via a secondary manual. If you have experienced this, or if you have had a lawyer set on you by this foundation simply for speaking your truth, please reach out to me if you feel comfortable.
© 2026 Laura. All Rights Reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, copied, or used without explicit written permission from the author.
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