Jim Atkinson (Treasurer) has been an animal lover for years. He lived in one of the most beautiful parts of Canada -- Jasper National Park in Alberta -- for 25 years. As a locomotive engineer with Canadian National Railway, Jim became concerned with the problem of wildlife mortality on the railway tracks. Together with the Jasper Environmental Association (JEA) and the Jasper National Park warden service they were successful with several initiatives to reduce wildlife deaths and injuries. These included persuading the railway to purchase a vacuum truck to clean up grain spills along the tracks that attract wildlife and installing fencing to protect a herd of sheep. Jim is still working on this issue with the JEA and the warden service.

Jim is married to a fellow board member, Judy Taylor-Atkinson. Judy is a long-standing member and is his inspiration as an animal lover.
Anne Carchesio (Secretary) has been a member of The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals for about 30 years, and was a volunteer director during the early 1980s. She has always had a deep love and respect for animals, and was raised in a home with many rescued animals.

Anne works full-time and spends her free time volunteering with other animal rescue groups. She and her family share their home with a rescued cat named Emma.
Irene Griswold (President) was born in Vancouver in 1941, and has remained in the Lower Mainland all her life. She obtained a Certified General Accountants’ designation in 1974, and later a Masters in International Business degree in 1992. Irene worked for 11 years as an accountant in business and in public practice until she started teaching accounting at Douglas College in 1975. She taught there until she retired in 2000 and resigned from the CGA Association.

Irene is currently a member of the Renfrew-Collingwood Senior’s Society’s Board of Directors; the College and Institutes Retirees Association Board of Directors, and is also a Leader of the Stephen Ministry (the church she has attended for over 60 years). Irene also dedicates her time as a volunteer for a cat rescue organization. Irene shares her life with her husband and is blessed with children and grandchildren plus two fur-bearing dogs.
Owen Patterson (Director at-large) was born in Toronto, into a pro-animal family, he moved to Vancouver in 1958. In the late 1970’s, while driving on Broadway in Vancouver he spied a ‘ban leghold traps’ bumper sticker. The next day he visited The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animal's office and met George and Bunty Clements. Inspired by their knowledge and dedication, he joined up on the spot and has been active ever since staffing booths, picketing fur retailers, and distributing flyers.

Before hearing about our Association, Owen opposed hunting and wrote letters to the editors of the Vancouver Sun and Province. Many were published and resulted in feedback from hunters. Now semi-retired and after 33 years of active membership and volunteering, Owen welcomes the opportunity to serve on our board of directors.
Judy Taylor-Atkinson (Vice-President) has a life-long dedication to animal welfare. From her first childhood rescue of a baby robin (and digging up half the backyard looking for worms), to travelling to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with Noah's Wish, (a rescue organization devoted to rescuing and sheltering animals after disasters), Judy has been involved in many organizations who advocate for animals and the environment.

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