ommunity EDITOR JENNIFER FONG THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2012 7 Not your average veterinarian From prairie dogs to chameleons, John Anderson has seen them all By BRANDON REID | terinarians get to do every- thing — today I’ve taken teeth out of a puppy, yester- day I fixed a broken leg and the day before I took care of a turtle.” That was the word from veterinarian John Anderson, founder of Anderson Animal Hospital on Granville St. For 25 years, he has specialized in treating exotic and small animals. In addition to dogs and cats, Ander- son has treated prairie dogs, bearded dragons, hedgehogs and chameleons to name a few. “Tt makes it very fun for me, I never know what I’m going to do,” he said. “Not only are we generalists, we’re also surgeons, we’re also dentists, we’re also dermatologists.” Anderson recalls being surrounded by livestock on the farm during his “T always had lots of animals and pets, so when I was 10 or 12 I wanted to be a veterinarian,” he said. “For people that are lucky like my- self, in that they get an early inspira- tion, it’s just wonderful.” Anderson was 23 when he graduated from Ontario Veterinary College. He decided to settle in Vancouver af- ter working in Calgary and Richmond for several years. “When I entered practice in B.C. there were probably 600 veterinarians provincewide and currently there’s probably closer to 1,200,” said Ander- son. “There was a barrier to veterinari- ans coming to B.C. because you had to write a separate exam, whereas nowa- days, you don’t have to.” Pets used to be considered family possessions, but nowadays they have become family members, says Ander- “A lot of people consider themselves the mother or the father of the pet,” he said. “They say ‘I’m the mommy,’ ‘I’m the daddy.” He says his proudest accomplish- ment is continuing to enjoy his practice after all of these years, and still getting a kick out of fixing legs. “Bone plating is something that I en- joy doing,” he said. “It’s always extra rewarding when I can see them come in with a severely broken leg and they go home the next day walking.” Anderson says clients are more knowledgeable now because of the In- ternet, though he still encounters old wives’ tales from time to time. “Yow ll hear someone’s dog scooting its butt along the ground, and everyone thinks that it’s worms,” he said. “It’s not. It’s a problem with their scent childhood. son. glands.” BRANDON REID photo John Anderson poses with one of his happy clients. Anderson has been a veterinarian for 31 years, 25 of them at his clinic on Granville. Plug into this: More electric vehicle chargers to come Vancouver spends nearly $1 million in a bid to become greenest city in the world within 10 years By STACY THOMAS nounced it will spend $800,000 on a pilot project bringing 67 new elec- tric vehicle charging stations to the city by the end of 2013. The locations have not been decided yet but will in- clude malls, parking lots, condos, and curb spaces across the city. The project was funded by the fed- eral government ($350,000), provincial government ($261,000), BC Hydro ($119,000), and the City of Vancouver ($70,000). “We're just at the beginning of the process,” said city communications manager Alex Russell. “We don’t want Te City of Vancouver has just an- to just install them willy nilly.” Once they have been installed, they will not be removed. The project is called Charge and Go Vancouver. It will assess, through user response, where stations are needed, costs, and potential barriers. More stations will be added once the data has been collected. Vancouver is aiming to be the green- est city in the world by 2020. In 2009 Vancouver became the leader in EV policy when it ruled that all new condo buildings must include EV chargers in 20 per cent of its parking stalls, and all new single-family homes must be out- fitted with the outlets as well. The project is meant to encourage the future use of electric vehicles in Vancouver by providing a more com- prehensive charging network. “This pilot is another significant step forward toward our goal of supporting sustainable transportation options for all Vancouver residents,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a media release. The charging stations will be placed strategically around the city, and ac- cording to Russell, in such a way as to still encourage walking, biking, and public transportation as ideal modes of transport. Sunset Community Centre in Mar- pole has had two electric vehicle charg- ing stations since 2008, when the centre was opened. According to community recreation supervisor Doug Newstead, they get used about twice a month. The cost and maintenance of the sta- tions is minimal, he said. “In the long term, they’re going to be well used,” Newstead said. “In the short term, because there just aren’t that many electric vehicles [in] Vancouver, it’s going to take a while to get people to use them.” “It’s also going to take a while to build up the inventory of cars. At least we'll have the infrastructure in place.” ELECTRIC car stats HE Owned by less than one per cent of Canadians HM Cars start at $40,000 HE Cost to charge: $1 an hour HE Cost to install your own charging sta- tion: $2,000 HM Full charge lasts 160km on average Source: Vancouver Sun Big drive, big plans, for moms in need Bring your gently used baby toys, clothing, and other infant necessities to Oakridge this weekend By QUINN MELL-COBB event to collect items for mothers in need, is set for March 22 and 28 at Oakridge Centre. All proceeds from the drive are slat- ed to go to the Metro Vancouver YWCA. Basic infant necessities such as clothing, blankets, toys, strollers and baby diapers of all sizes — especially 4, 5, and 6 — are needed. Donations, including monetary ones, will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event itself is organized by an- other non-profit association — the apt- ly-named One Big Movement, led by Joseph Choi, director of project devel- opment; Lynn Shinto, director of com- munity development; and Mercedes Book, director of marketing. According to Choi, inspiration for the event, and the organization itself, came directly from his co-organizer. “We were inspired to create the Big Baby Drive because Lynn Shinto had been working with low-income wom- en,” said Choi. He added that the wom- en were taught about nutrition and fi- nancial literacy to help better their lives. Another factor that led to the drive’s creation was B.C.’s_ child poverty rate, which has been the high- est in Canada for the last eight years. The number of children living be- low the poverty line has increased T° inaugural Big Baby Drive, an JOSEPH CHOI Event organizer by 16,000 since 2010. 66 In terms of an Were ideal outlook for . the event, Choi has exp ecting high cxpeciations to gather or what will hope- fully be achieved. at least “We're expect. 1,000 pieces ing to gather at ° least 1,000 pieces of of clothing clothing from do- from nors,” said Choi. donors “We've set up a strong relationship with the SFU Hu- man Resources Association and their project, Spring Soiree.” “They’re donating half of the pro- ceeds from that event to the Big Baby Drive, so we'll be able to help more people with the YWCA.” After March 23, the group’s end goal will by no means have been reached, says Choi, foreseeing “big things” on the horizon for the future of One Big Movement. “We definitely want to create more long-term projects that create a lasting impact in the community,” said Choi. “We're actually looking into educa- tional projects to aid low-income home- less individuals to get them back on their feet, so they can get their lives back together once again.” Choi also added that the Big Baby Drive would “probably” be held again, depending on the amount of donations the event accumulates.