Puppies leap up on the crate at the La Loche Paw Protection Corporation. At the moment, there are about 43 dogs in the shelter. (Submitted Photo/Amanda Black)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Dog Life

A tail of two shelters: Northern animal rescues face overpopulation

Jan 10, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of animal abuse and neglect.

Amanda Black recently faced a moment that forced her to make the heart-wrenching decision to end a life.

She had been sent a photo of a dog three weeks earlier. The image showed a dog that had been seriously abused, and she went looking for him but to no avail. A few days ago, she received a call that there was a dog crying under the steps of her animal shelter, and it was in a lot of pain – it was the dog from the picture.

When Black came across the animal, it was clear he wasn’t long for this world.

“He had maggots coming out of his eyes, he was still alive,” she said.

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“He had holes in his stomach where the maggots were eating him.”

As the founder and sole manager for the La Loche Paw Protection Corporation (LLPPC), Black is on the frontlines when it comes to animal welfare, but running on limited resources, she has had to resort to doing things the old-fashioned way – with a gun.

“I had no choice but to have him put down,” she said having to use a 22-calibre as they don’t have euthanasia medicine.

According to Jeff McCallum, president of the Meadow Lake and District Humane Society board, that is the brutal reality for stays or unwanted pets in the north.

“We had a lot of volunteers and helpers assisting with other rescues trying to move dogs out of northern communities where the population control is a significant challenge,” he said referring to the shelter having nearly 600 transfers and intakes in 2023.

He explained a number of the animals they receive often come from surrounding communities such as La Loche and overpopulation is due to very little, if any, access to vet care in the north as most of the clinics are in larger communities such as Meadow Lake, North Battleford and Lloydminster.

“With no access to vet care, none of the animals in the north are spayed or nurtured on a regular basis. Only certain owners can afford to pack up an animal, bring it down, spend the whole day in a major centre that has a vet and then bring their animal home with them,” he said.

“Just the ordeal of it is prohibitive, not to mention the cost.”

Limited resources

La Loche provides $30,000 to the LLPPC annually and Martha Morin, village administrator and shelter board member said they are working to get charity status and are doing renovations as they can afford to. She explained that the building – a former gas station – was donated as it was, and they didn’t realize the work that needed to be done to make it habitable.

As a result, they are focusing on the areas that need the most work but according to Black, there isn’t proper kenneling downstairs, the flooring is lifting, and the walls have holes in them.

“It’s getting harder and harder for me,” she said, referring to all the work ahead of them.

“The furnace is blasting at 30 [degrees] downstairs and you wouldn’t even think it was blasting at 30 when you walk into here,” added Black of her upstairs residence.

“The heat is distributed in so many different ways and then the doors – there’s gaps under the doors, so there’s cold air coming through the bottom of the doors.”

According to Morin, Animal Welfare had a list of items that needed to be taken care of including building proper kenneling at specific sizes. While there is a garage on the property where the dogs are supposed to be kenneled, there currently isn’t a way to supply heat or electricity and so the animals are in the basement of the shelter.

“The (LLPPC) is a fledgling organization that’s really struggling to try to keep this afloat and functioning well,” Morin said.

The shelter hosts about 43 dogs even though the limit is 30 but she said that’s par for the course living in the north.

“There’s just so many dogs that have been given to her, especially moms with pups and stuff like that,” she said.

“[Black] has been having difficulty finding a place to take them, all the rescues are very full also.”

A dog named Ranger poses mid-climb at the Meadow Lake and District Humane Society. (MLDHS/Facebook)

Overwhelming situation

In Meadow Lake, the two veterinary clinics are overworked too and according to McCullum, they are not only experiencing capacity issues but the MLDHS is having difficulty in getting veterinary appointments.

“With the amount of transfers we do, it’s easier for our organization to just cycle animals from place to place instead of trying to process them up and out in house.”

According to Black, who also works a full-time job, it’s challenging running day-to-day operations though she does have one volunteer who helps to pick up dogs.

“Everything for us over here is resource-based. We don’t have enough of the resources for anything.”

Black explained that from a rescue standpoint, she is the only one in the community, and relies on her parents to help when they can.

“I do have people that sit on the board, but they don’t come here,” she said.

“My dad does garbage and my mom will do laundry the odd time when she needs to. Other than that, medications and anything medical wise is a really hard thing for the animals over here ‘cause I don’t have much of the medical supplies that we need.”

At the humane society in Meadow Lake, because they have had problems with space, the shelter will rescue the animals, keep them for a few days and move them on to larger centres and sometimes out of province – all to give them their best chance at finding a forever home.

“Our capacity for animals is roughly 18 cats at anyone time, give or take and about 14 dogs,” McCallum said noting currently there are nine or 10 dogs – six or seven more in foster care.

Neglect and abuse

It’s also a challenge psychologically. In MLDHS, which runs with the support of core volunteers and an extended group of volunteers. Together, they must move animals, work in shifts, perform day-to-day operations and still manage their personal lives. To help combat the emotional stress of the work, they have created a support network but seeing animal after animal with uncertain futures come through the doors has taken its toll.

“It’s hard on everybody who’s in animal rescue, like there’s only so many resources out there and we’re just a small one in a large region,” McCallum added.

Black too, has seen her fair share of neglect and abuse as people from neighboring communities have taken to dumping dogs along the side of the highway. Other times, she has come upon heartrending scenes that never quite leave her.

“We picked up a set of puppies where they were so starved, they ate one of the siblings that died,” she said, noting birds finished what the puppies didn’t.

“There was just a head of a puppy sitting in the yard.”

As for the shelter’s future, Black is working on getting more funding support and hopes to gain some sponsorship. Morin, meanwhile, said they are open to suggestions and have reached out to other shelters to see how they do things.

“A lot of them have access to more services than we do and are able to count on those when they need support,” she said.

For now, however, it’s about trying to build up support and resources.

“We can’t keep them in the shelter indefinitely,” she said.

“It’s very frustrating and we just don’t have a lot of options.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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