'It's difficult': Group details tough conditions for dogs left behind in evacuated Manitoba communities
With several communities across Manitoba being forced to evacuate due to wildfires, many pets are being left behind in potentially dangerous conditions.
Melanie Chudyk, the clinic coordinator for the Manitoba Animal Alliance, said the group is trying to help the evacuated northern communities by rescuing the animals, and reuniting them with their owners.
She said two communities are particularly close to the fires – Little Grand Rapids First Nation and Pauingassi First Nation. The Manitoba Animal Alliance has not been able to get into Little Grand Rapids due to the thickness of the smoke, but have managed to get to Pauingassi via helicopter.
“We’ve gone into the community twice now and removed dogs that were the youngest, the oldest, the sickest, the injured,” she said.
“Those who are most vulnerable have been removed from the community.”
Chudyk said they’ve managed to secure temporary housing for the animals, as the group just can’t take them all in.
“We suspect we’re going to be bringing in probably in the range of 40 to 50 animals that will need housing, and we just don’t have the capacity to house them right now,” she said.
“All of our fosters are completely full.”
CONDITIONS IN THE COMMUNITY
Chudyk said she’s been to Pauingassi twice and the smoke is so thick it’s hard to breathe.
She noted they’ve been finding animals starved for human attention, some that are forming packs and declaring certain areas as their own, and they are also finding some dogs that have already died.
“We have to make some really tough calls,” Chudyk said through tears.
“We have to say, ‘this one’s healthy enough to stay for another few days,’ but it’s difficult. It’s really difficult to make that decision, because we’ve had animals in crates ready to be loaded into helicopters and we’ve had to let them go because we just don’t have space for them.”
Anyone interested can contact the Manitoba Animal Alliance through its social media channels or its website. https://www.manitobaanimalalliance.com/ “We’re looking for fosters, we’re looking for funds to get back up there, we’re looking for volunteers to help transport dogs from planes and airports to fosters, to vet services. We need any help that anyone could give, basically,” Chudyk said.
- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.