Booked-up southern shelters put Iqaluit animal rescue in a bind

Forty shih tzus in Ottawa have complicated things for Iqaluit’s homeless dog population this fall, says the executive director of a Nunavut pet rescue service.

The pups poured out of an Ontario puppy mill and into one of the main southern shelters that normally accepts homeless dogs sent from Nunavut Animal Rescue.

Currently, none of the seven southern no-kill shelters that Nunavut Animal Rescue has partnerships with are accepting animals from the North due to several orphaned-puppy booms in their own regions, executive director Samantha Oldham said in a weekend interview.

And then Sydney, a four-year-old husky mix, gave birth to 10 puppies in Iqaluit last month. Bylaw officers brought her and her litter to Nunavut Animal Rescue, where they are now temporarily sheltered.

Their roommates include Beauty, a 35-kilogram, four-year-old boxer mix being treated for allergies, and two cats — Oreo and Lola.

The non-profit organization has space to hold animals during the day at its headquarters at building 37 in Apex but not much. The property is a former veterinary clinic with medical equipment the board purchased two years ago.

In addition to its board, Nunavut Animal Rescue has a full-time rescue manager, several volunteer helpers and soon three full- and part-time animal care attendants.

Currently, there are 15 dogs on the wait-list to be surrendered to Nunavut Animal Rescue. All the organization’s Iqaluit foster households are full.

“We’re having a hard time right now,” Oldham said. “We are kind of at an intake hold, so we can’t take in more dogs until we either find more foster homes or if some of our dogs get adopted.”

Iqaluit resident Miranda St. Laurent and her family have fostered more than 100 pets since 2008, ranging from kittens and puppies to frogs, rabbits and guinea pigs. They adopted one rescue dog, Hershey, she calls a “Kinngait special” ­— a husky, shepherd, terrier and collie mix.

St. Laurent said her family will likely foster a couple of the young puppies housed at Nunavut Animal Rescue when they get a bit older.

“It’s hard to say no, especially when it’s such a much-needed service,” she said. “We usually foster during holidays and when I have time off.”

While Nunavut Animal Rescue does not have an immediate solution to the predicament it finds itself in, the seven-member board remains focused on its other goal of helping control growth of the city’s dog population.

It’s holding a Chase the Ace fundraiser this month to raise $50,000 to cover a free Iqaluit-wide spay and neuter clinic later this winter.

In the meantime, it’s trying to continue its work while being a dozen dogs over capacity.

“We still take in emergencies when we have them. If we get somebody come in with a pet and they don’t have any other options we will take the animal in,” said Oldham.

“We will work our butts off to find fosters; we will reach out to any of our fosters that don’t currently have dogs, or just got back into town. We foster dogs ourselves, quite often.”