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CDART helping to care for evacuated pets and animals

A group of volunteers are setting up shelters for pets of evacuees from local wildfires.
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The Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team (CDART) has set up at the Kinsmen Arena with temporary shelters for companion animals such as dogs and cats.

Ron McConnell, CDART national vice-president, says the organization has been operating for the last three days.

“Right now we have just about a half a dozen volunteers that are just rotating through there,” said McConnell. “…we are always looking for more volunteers.

“What we’re looking for is people who can, for example, work in the shelter, take dogs for a walk, if they need to, or clean out cages and kitty litter, feed animals, greet people and talk with people, people who can do administrative duties, sign people in because every animal that comes in has a paper trail with it.”

McConnell says demand is building.

“I think, now that people know we’re there, the more they know that there is somebody there to help, the more they’ll come forward,” he said.

A bigger animal shelter is also in the works for larger animals that will be located close to town very soon, he added.

McConnell said he was able to take advantage of exhibition grounds out near Princeton when the fires were burning in the Interior, which helped CDART safely protect larger farm animals.

“Because it’s set up for rodeos and cattle and sheep and goats and chickens and all that, it was absolutely perfect. At one point, I had almost 500 animals,” McConnell said.

“There’s always a good chance that you’ll get these hobby farms that in a lot of cases, that’s their livelihood, the egg farms and things like that, the local people that come into the farmers’ markets. You look at someone like Sharon Mielnichuk out at Fort Steele Farms, where would she take her animals? She’s got all those chickens; she’s got all those eggs. She’s got horses, llamas, and everything else. You can’t just pack up a dozen horses and move them.”

Evacuees who require CDART assistance must report to the Emergency Reception Centre to request help for their animals, including the rescue of animals from evacuated properties.

If anyone is interested in helping out with donations, whether it be financial or through supplies such as pet food (or food for the volunteers), shelter help, fuel cards for volunteer haulers and other items, contact the shelter manager at 778-205-4995 or email at cdartanimals@gmail.com.

A local furniture business even donated three beds for the volunteers to sleep in, McConnell added.

“That’s where, whether it’s a couple of local people who have some extra dog crates in the back yard or the garage, or a local business that might be able to donate a couple bags of dog food or cat food - those types of things,” said McConnell.

“Our volunteers need to be helped out as well. None of us get paid, we’re on our own expense for meals and travel and things like that.

“…We want to be able to feed our people and take care of them.”

Even if any evacuees weren’t able to bring their animals with them, CDART has specially trained volunteers who can go into the evacuated order zone — if it is safe — to attempt to retrieve an animal or even leave out food and water for them.

Some evacuees from Moyie came into the reception centre and told the volunteers that they had to leave home, and the cat was outside when the evacuation order came down.

“Our team said, ‘We’ll go take a look’,” McConnell said. “About four hours later, they had the cat. So the cat has been reunited with its family.”



Corey Bullock

About the Author: Corey Bullock

Corey Bullock is a multimedia journalist and writer who grew up in Burlington, Ontario.
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