'I have to try': Calgary charity setting up pet advocacy centre to help disadvantaged

Melissa David knows the importance of having a pet for an individual's mental health. David, who founded Parachutes for Pets, a Calgary charity that provides subsidized pet care, including food hampers and medical treatment, to low-income Calgarians, was in her early 20s when she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. She was single and said her only companion was her dog Charlie, who not only kept up her spirits but forced her to get out of the house. “I wasn't doing that for me. I was doing