SHELTER VETS

The filmmakers would like to gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council and the Government of Ontario.

Shelter Vets follows Dr. Sarah Kirk and Dr. Jill Kirk, a mother–daughter pair of shelter veterinarians, between their work in shelter medicine and their Niagara farm home, shared with rescue horses (4) and rescue cats (17).

Through conversations, archival footage, and b-roll, the film reveals who they are, why they choose this work, and the lives they have altered—exploring the love, loss, fulfillment, and heartbreak of caring for animals without guardians.

Animal welfare is a mirror of society — revealing who we are through how we treat those who cannot speak for themselves. Animals without guardians end up in shelters or on the streets not by choice, but because of systems built on profit, neglect, ignorance and inaccessibility.

Behind every “no-kill” policy or cruelty case are veterinarians, volunteers, and communities making impossible choices with limited means.

I’ve always loved animals, but since 2020 that affinity became activism. I trained to become a feline behaviourist (cat shrink), and my family and I have since fostered 47 cats and counting — from fragile neonates to amputees to palliative cases. The work is deeply fulfilling and sometimes heartbreaking. Through it, I met many shelter veterinarians and others working within the animal welfare ecosystem.
Inspired by Ben Proudfoot’s directorial style, I asked Sarah and Jill to speak straight to camera, breaking the fourth wall. Their conviction needs no embellishment. This film is my attempt to pay tribute to those who choose this calling and to make visible what so often goes unseen.