Creating a Future, One Step at a Time
The rescue and rehabilitation of the ‘Gull Lake dogs’
For some of us, it was the worst thing we’ve ever seen. For all of us, it will haunt our memories forever.In July, it was revealed that a family in rural Manitoba had been hoarding dogs. When we were notified and asked by the Province of Manitoba to assist with seizing the dogs from the property, there was simply no way to fully prepare ourselves for the months of hardship ahead.
Sixty-four dogs covered in their own feces, painful cuts everywhere and medical issues galore— it was disturbing to say the least, but we, the staff of The Winnipeg Humane Society, were able to somehow push aside the shock and appall and work through helping these dogs.
It’s not easy to describe the way the dog’s smelled, and photos don’t really show the true horror, but what is really hard to explain is what the shelter atmosphere was like when the dogs first came to us. For one, there was a deep, thick and silent sadness that filled the air. Our hearts were broken, we were sick to our stomachs, it seemed hard to breath at times. But mixed in with that sadness was a feeling of hope, of relief; these dogs were rescued and were safe. We were there with them and were working to make each dog as comfortable as possible. The road to recovery had started, and in a way, we were very proud to be a part of it.
During the days following the seizure, many people worked a lot of overtime. In emergencies such as this, it is amazing how everything else in your life seems to stop; all you can think about is helping those in need. However, when we were at home waiting for our next shift to start, you can bet that each and every one of us gave our own pets hugs and kisses and told them how much they meant to us—how much we appreciated having them in our lives.
For the next few weeks, we acted as a holding and care facility for the dogs until the legalities of the seizure were worked out. We weren’t able to make any sort of arrangements for them, such as finding foster homes or performing major surgeries because they weren’t yet officially ‘our’ dogs. We simply cleaned, fed, treated their injuries and quietly sat with them. Every day we took great care in making them feel as safe and comfortable as possible.
Eventually, 25 of the dogs were officially turned over to us, the remainder of the dogs having been either sent to another rescue shelter, or humanely euthanized. It is true the Province had to make the very hard decision to euthanize many of the dogs for several different reasons; their medical issues had escalated to a point of no return, many of them had completely mentally shut down, and a handful of them were deemed very dangerous, even for our most experienced staff members. It was with very, very heavy hearts we had to say goodbye to these dogs but we tried to accept the reality and turned our full attention to the dogs who still needed us. Among many of the medical illnesses and injuries the dogs suffered, all of the dogs in our care were being treated for something called campylobacter—a disease similar to food poisoning that can be transferred to humans. We had to be extra cautious in order to keep our staff, volunteers and other shelter animals from getting the disease. To keep everyone safe, we minimized traffic through the rooms the ill dogs were housed in, which in the end worked in their favour— the dogs were mostly very confused or scared and it was important never to overwhelm them as they had already gone through so much.
Eventually the disease started to clear up and we were able to start other medical procedures such as spaying and neutering, or major dental work such as tooth extractions. Soon we were able to open the dog runs to a few more people and our more experienced volunteers were able to start working with the dogs. Sometimes a session would consist of someone simply sitting outside of the dogs’ kennel, giving him or her and chance to feel comfortable around people. Other times we would take the dogs outside—something some of them may have never experienced. Every day we took little steps and would always reward the dogs for tip-toeing out of their comfort zone.
Next, we were able to begin adoption assessments. There were a few dogs who seemed a little more inclined to be with people, so once they were healthy enough, if they were able to pass an assessment by our Behaviour Department they were put up for adoption. The first dog to be put into adoptions was Copper. The moment we were able to move Copper from our backstage area out to where the public could see him was incredible. We had done it! We had taken a dog who had spent most of his life in a dark, dirty building, with almost no human contact through a process of mental and physical rehabilitation. Albeit, Copper had the least amount of work to do, there was no feeling like seeing him find the family of his dreams. Every single staff member celebrated this triumph when they found out Copper happily trotted out of the building with a bright future ahead of him.
As the weeks went by, a few more of the dogs were able to find their forever homes and others were placed with experienced foster families. We were even able to connect with DogTown, a rehabilitation centre and National Geographic television show, to send seven of the dogs who needed the most intense rehabilitation to their facility in Utah. However, many of them still need us. The dogs still need specialized care and expert behaviour counsellors by their side. Every time we see a dog make a tiny step of progress, our hearts skip a beat and we see the light in their future. These dogs broke our hearts, but as we help put the dogs back together, they help us put our hearts back together. They are the reason we do what we do.
