Group tries to reunite northern Saskatchewan dogs with owners

Now that the northern wildfire crisis is over, efforts are underway to reunite pets with their owners.

During the evacuation of many northern communities, hundreds of dogs were taken to rescue shelters across Saskatchewan.

While many dogs have been placed back with their owners, around 50 dogs still need to be reunited.

"We're hoping they come forward and get a hold of Northern Animal Rescue out of La Ronge and the Prince Albert SPCA," said Brent Arstall, founder of We All Need A Rescue K9 Rescue near Saskatoon. "And then they can look at some of the pictures of the dogs and give a description."

While many of the dogs weren't licensed or tagged, rescue groups photographed each dog and made a database of their findings, keeping track of where each dog was taken from. Still, the process hasn't been easy.

"People's emotions are high.'- Genevieve Candelora, co-chair, Northern Pet Rescue

"It's a lot of work still," Arstall said. "Now, it's a question of getting the dogs back into their community, back into the homes where the dogs were removed from."

The situation is complicated by the fact that some dogs that were picked up may have roamed into a community from somewhere else, or may simply be strays, said Genevieve Candelora, co-chair of Northern Animal Rescue.

She agrees getting animals back to their owners has not gone smoothly in every case.

"It's been very difficult because people's emotions are high, not only from the stress of having been evacuated and then coming home and trying to resettle into life, but then the process hasn't been very quick for a lot of people," Candelora said.

It is taking time to bring some animals back from foster homes where they were placed, some as far away as Humboldt and Regina.

Candelora said some rumours have been going around social media that pets are being adopted out after 72 hours — but that's not true she emphasized.

It's a learning experience.- John Morash, executive director, Prince Albert SPCA

As time moves forward, groups are trying to decide what to do if they can't track owners down. Adoption into southern Saskatchewan homes may be an option.

"I think we need to discuss that as a group," he said. "We need to figure out, if nobody's come forward after 14 days, I think that's a sign that the dog needs to find a home."

The Prince Albert SPCA took around 150 dogs during the evacuation. If a similar situation comes up again, organizers hope owners will tag and identify their pets.

"This probably caught the northern communities by surprise," executive director of the Prince Albert SPCA John Morash said. "It's a learning experience."

Candelora agreed, saying she does not recall a pet evacuation like this ever having taken place before. Her group will look at what didn't run so smoothly, and try to plan better for the next time.