'Fur Pets Sake': Non-profit teams up with First Nations to tackle stray dog problem
'It's affecting the people that live there,' says non-profit founder
A new non-profit society is teaming up with First Nations to reduce the number of stray dogs in their communities.
Fur Pets Sake aims to raise awareness about canine overpopulation and animal welfare.
Angela McLaren, the founding member of the organization and founder of the Prince George Humane Society, says First Nations communities tend to be remote and have little funding for animal management.
This is challenging because people have little to no access to veterinary care, and therefore no access to spay and neuter services for dogs.
"Because of that we're seeing a huge increase in overpopulation," McLaren told Carolina de Ryk, host of Daybreak North.
This leads to a large number of stray dogs on First Nations land.
"When there's a large amount of dogs that are free roaming, we see packs of dogs and there's a lot of behavioural issues that come with that," McLaren said.
Some of the First Nation communities have seen adults and children injured by packs of dogs, says McLaren.
"This is an animal management problem. But it's not just affecting the dog population in those communities, it's affecting the people that live there."
Making connections
Fur Pets Sake consults with First Nations communities and helps create connections with third-party charities like Spirit's Mission and Canadian Animal Assistance Team, which provide spay and neutering services as well as rescue services.
Fur Pets Sake recently conducted a pilot project in the Tl'azt'en Nation community of Tachie, a 45-minute drive from Fort St. James. They are hoping to team up with more First Nations.
McLaren says that while spaying and neutering makes a difference, more needs to be done to make these communities safe and help the animals.
"It's a band-aid to the problem and we come up with solutions that create a long-term solution for those communities."
They are working to create bylaws that protect animals, as well as creating an animal management program and a plan within the community for people to have access to education on pet care and health.
Listen to the full interview here:
With files from Daybreak North.