Spay, neuter clinics planned for Ontario's remote north

The Feeding Program for Northern Dogs wants to bring spay and neuter clinics to communities in northern Ontario in order to prevent unwanted animals from being killed.

Volunteer Nikki Burns, of Thunder Bay, said the group will hold its first clinic in Wunnumin Lake in September, if it can raise $5,000 before then.

Burns said the cost of medications to operate on 50 animals is between $3,000 and $4,000. That doesn't include transportation or the cost of renting an anesthetic machine. 

But she said finding veterinarians willing to volunteer for the project was easier than she thought.

"We actually received responses from just about every clinic in town, positive responses," Burns said. The were saying "'yeah, this is something that we want to be able to support and take part in,'" Burns said, adding that groups in Webequie and Red Lake have also asked for mobile clinics in their communities. 

The Feeding Program already sends pet food to northern communities to keep the dogs from going hungry and to prevent them from packing. However, Burns said the feeding program and the Thunder Bay dog rescues are only band-aid solutions to the problem of unmanaged pet populations.

She said she hopes it will signal the start of a long-term solution to stray pets in the north.

"We're hoping that the invitation comes from communities that are realizing that they have a pet management issue and that they want to find a more humane solution than shooting the animals."