Dire Need for Animal Care in Remote Communities - Part One

Dire Need for Animal Care in Remote Communities – Part One

By: Dr. Gina Bowen, Director of Veterinary Services

Winnipeg Humane Society and Norway House Rescue teamed up in Norway House and Cross Lake Manitoba Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2018 for a spay/neuter/vaccination/wellness clinic. These two isolated communities are about 3 hours drive from Thompson, the nearest veterinarian. Both communities were welcoming and happy to host our team of three: myself, Shannon Dyck, and Sara Milani.  We brought a lot of equipment up with us and set up a temporary clinic for 2 days in each community. Norway House is home to about 5000 people and Cross Lake, about ½ that, the majority of the population is Cree. Both communities face challenges with unemployment, alcoholism, a low rate of graduation from high school, dog over population, and various other social struggles.

Our goals in partnering with these communities are to provide low cost vaccinations/deworming/spay/neuter/veterinary care, provide culturally aware education in helping people care for their pets, provide dog food for people not able to afford it and to provide rescue for injured, sick strays and unwanted dogs who will not be able to survive on their own.  We met our goal of spaying/neutering 20 animals a day and sterilized a total of 80 dogs and 5 cats in 4 days of surgery.  We spent another 2 ½ days out in the community, vaccinating and administering contraceptive implants and well as distributing dog food. During the week, we also sent 10 stray/unwanted dogs to Winnipeg, 8 were taken in by the Winnipeg Humane Society and they have all since been adopted.

This remote clinic opened my eyes to the dire need for veterinary care in Manitoba’s remote communities. With the help of our donors, WHS will continue to provide care for the owned and stray dogs in these communities through spay/neuter, vaccination, education, food and finding homes. Please continue to support us in these efforts.