"Our oncologist can offer intricate chemotherapy protocols and our surgeons can do very extreme and elaborate surgeries, including mass removals, amputations and bone transplants from cadaver dogs."

This fall, when Canada's fifth vet school opens at the University of Calgary and C.A.R.E. becomes part of its teaching hospital, its referrals are likely to grow even more.

That's where millions of Bootses and Buddies and even Dobbinses have a decided advantage over their human owners in this country. If you are going to be sick in Canada, you are much further ahead being a beloved dog or cat. Even pet horses have far better prospects for healthier lives now than they ever had before.