With wildfires under control, work turns to reuniting displaced with their pets

By Aviva West

As the threat of wildfire recedes in northern Saskatchewan, residents from across the province are banding together to help reunite owners with pets left behind when they were forced to flee.

Wildfires began raging at the beginning of the summer and since then, more than 13,000 people from 50 communities have been living elsewhere and vast swathes of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan scorched.

On Monday, with the worst of the fires under control, troops began to depart fire-plagued areas of northern Saskatchewan and residents of La Ronge, Air Ronge and Lac La Ronge Indian Band began returning home.

When residents fled their homes and communities, workers from rescues agencies and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) collected as many animals as they could, and have been fostering them all over Saskatchewan. The SPCA says they’ve taken in more than 150 dogs from northern fire-affected communities.

At the height of the Alberta floods in June 2013, there were up to 2,000 dogs, cats and birds that were left behind when residents of High River were forced from their homes.

Laurie Anderson of Weyburn, Sask., followed news coverage of the wildfires and was driven to do what she could to help.

Concerned about the thousands of families pushed out of their homes, she logged into social media and soon after the Saskatchewan Fire Rescues Reunited — an information hub created to reconnect pet owners with the animals they were forced to leave behind — was born. 

Members of the page post photos of their missing animals and list information like distinguishing marks and last place sighted. Individuals also use the page to post updates from rescue agencies and emergency animal shelters, hoping that someone will recognize the pet in the photo. Among the animals listed are dogs, cats and even a dwarf bunny whose foster caregiver recently made contact with his owner.

Anderson says the biggest challenge for those searching for pets is a lack of information. With that in mind, she teamed up with Jennifer Briere, a PhD candidate at the University of Saskatchewan, to create a comprehensive database of lost and found pets.

The purpose of the database is to link abandoned pets with evacuees returning home and create a searchable registry that individuals and rescue agencies can use to match pets and owners.

“Jennifer jumped at the chance to help out when I put out a call for volunteers,” says Anderson. “She brings a wealth of experience and as our resident research nerd, she really has been instrumental to this effort. The registry was her baby and behind the scenes there are a lot of people helping.”

Anderson herself is fostering three dogs for a family displaced by fire; the family is not yet in a position to take them home but is looking forward to a reunion in the near future.

She is also very concerned about the short period of time families are being given to reclaim their pets from the Prince Albert SPCA and theNorthern Animal Rescue.

“Some pets are being given 72 hours to be claimed by their owner before being made available for adoption,” she says. “These animals are spread out all over Saskatchewan, for example the ones I have are six hours from home.”

She adds that owners are being asked to travel down to the Prince Albert SPCA to claim their pets, an additional expense few can now afford.

Other groups and organizations are also pitching in to help animals affected by the fires. The Pack Project has delivered more than 1,814 kilograms of pet food to northern communities and online groups like Sask Evacuations - Helping One Another are also working to reunite owners with their lost pets.

However, Anderson says more help is definitely needed.

“Hurricane Katrina brought about the evacuated animal act (Pets Evacuation and Trnsportation Standards Act) in the U.S. The northern wildfires need to bring it in here in Canada.”