Fires in Manitoba strand 700 dogs

Rescue group seeks help from Ottawa

An animal rescue organization in Manitoba has sent a letter to Indigenous Services Canada asking for help with hundreds of dogs left behind when two First Nations communities were evacuated last month due to fire.

Debra Vandekerkhove, director of Norway House Animal Rescue, estimates about 700 dogs — 200 in Pauingassi and 500 in Little Grand Rapids — were stranded after a wildfire forced about 1,400 people to flee.

In the letter dated June 7, Vandekerkhove wrote that the situation has become dire and, if left unchanged, will continue to deteriorate. Many younger dogs have already died and the ones left need to be removed, she said.

There is also a concern the dogs are forming larger, more aggressive packs.

The Canadian Red Cross contacted the rescue group last week because the animals were running out of food. Vandekerkhove said arrangements have been made for more than 6,000 kilograms of food to be flown in, but there are few people in the communities who can distribute it.

“They can’t keep up with the amount of dogs that need to be fed,” she said Friday. “We can’t get up there. We are not allowed because we are not a part of the emergency measures organization.”

The Red Cross is working with Norway House Animal Rescue and the RCMP to distribute the food, said communications adviser Michelle Palansky in an email.

The wildfire that blazed toward Little Grand Rapids, about 260 km northeast of Winnipeg, forced hundreds of people to huddle in a school gymnasium as they waited for the smoke to clear enough for planes to land.

There’s been no word on when people can return.