Flying from Winnipeg to Ottawa? Dog rescue effort needs your help

If you ever fly on WestJet from Winnipeg to Ottawa and love playing with dogs, you’re in luck.

Karen George, who rescues dogs by moving them each week from northern Manitoba to Ottawa, needs volunteers to check the dogs, all expenses paid.

The benefit for the traveller? They get to play with the dog in Winnipeg before the flight takes off.

George works with several partner organizations, but she’s a one-woman show when it comes to transportation planning.

“I’m not an organization, I’m just one crazy lady,” she said. “It’s just me and the dogs, and they don’t really do anything.”

George says she focuses on northern Manitoba because many communities there organize dog culls, something she understands.

“When they start packing up, (the dogs) become dangerous,” she said.

The rescued dogs are flown from the northern communities to Winnipeg, where they’re spayed or neutered and given all required shots.

Once they’re in Winnipeg, George plans for the dogs to be moved to Ottawa, which involves recruiting volunteers booked on WestJet flights. George can add several dogs to their boarding passes.

She said she preferred WestJet because the cargo holds of the airline’s planes have temperature controls, so they can take dogs year round, but she’ll use Air Canada if need be.

George began her efforts in 2017, when she discovered two stray German shepherd puppies in need of rescue in the northern Manitoba community of Red Sucker Lake. She said she learned about the transportation process involved and established a network of connections. Later, she decided to continue rescuing strays.

George moved 150 dogs from northern areas in 2018, and this year will have moved more than 80 by Saturday.

Volunteers pick up the dogs once they arrive in Ottawa. George works with the Freedom Dog Rescue, a group that helps ensure they end up in shelters across Ontario.

George said dogs are flown in weekly so she always needs volunteers. Anyone arriving in Ottawa from Winnipeg who is interested in helping to transport a dog can message her on Facebook. lcarroll@postmedia.com