As residents of Behchoko race to evacuate due to a wildfire, some have had to leave their pets behind.
Evacuee Sandy Young wasn’t able to bring her dog Snowball to Yellowknife and she’s hoping that the NWT SPCA will be able to recover her precious four-legged friend.
“So far, we know she is in Behchoko, and we were planning on making a trip back,” said Young, “but (the SPCA) said that they will go back and pick up the dogs.”
Even when Snowball is back by her side, she’s worried about finding a place to leave the dog. The prospect of leaving her pet at one of the city’s kennels could be unaffordable, Young noted.
Nicole Spencer, executive director of the NWT SPCA, confirmed that the non-profit facility is at full capacity. However, she said they are looking for ways to help more animals, even if that means helping to cover fees to board animals privately in the city.
“We’ve been receiving many messages asking if we have people’s pets,” said Spencer. “It is a bit of legislative nightmare right now, because people are doing things to save pets by bringing them in… but there’s nowhere for people to go to and to ask those questions — but we’re doing the best we can to help.”
Because of the road closure to Behchoko, Spencer was prevented from making another planned trip to the community to rescue more pets.
As of Wednesday, there were already 15 animals on hand from the evacuation. Spencer compared the situation to the Hay River wildfire evacuation in May, which she said was similar.
Veterinarians Without Borders (VWB) has partnered with the NWT SPCA to provide emergency animal care and veterinary services to animals that have been evacuated from the communities. Veterinarian Michelle Tuma, who is based in Yellowknife and co-leads veterinary clinics in remote Northern communities, is encouraging people who have a place for fostering an animal to contact Premier Caroline Cochrane’s constituency office via email to put their name on the foster home coordination list.