As Manitoba wildfire evacuees try to figure out next steps as they wait to return home, some are also working to ensure their pets are OK.
Heather Lazowski was one of the thousands of people evacuated from Flin Flon last week. She was able to bring her pets with her.
“They’re my emotional support animals. I could never leave them behind,” said Lazowski.
She said her family only had a few hours notice before they had to hit the road.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to pack anything. We had three dogs and two cats to bring with us and my child.”
Lazowski and her family have settled into life at Victoria Inn. She works for the hotel chain in Flin Flon and said she’s one of the lucky pet owners out there.
“We wouldn’t have anywhere to go if it wasn’t for them. They’re very welcoming to our pets as well.”
Unlike Lazowski, many evacuees were unable to bring their animals with them and had to leave them behind.
A number of organizations are working to get food up to evacuated areas, as well as try and bring some of the pets to Winnipeg.
“The community of Cross Lake, for example, is a community of about 9,000 people,” said Melanie Chudyk with Manitoba Animal Alliance.
She called the situation “heartbreaking” but said she understands people were faced with extremely tough choices.
“I understand that if it comes down to life and death, that if this is an emergency situation, your first priority is getting your immediate family out.”
K9 Advocacy Manitoba is also working to raise money to send food to communities.
“So I’m going to be going and trying to get as many pallets of food as we can to try to feed these animals for the indefinite amount of time that they might be up there alone,” said Chelsea Kork, the director of K9 Advocacy Manitoba.
Kork is also bringing cats and dogs to Winnipeg looking for fosters.
“We provide everything, humans just need to provide the home and the love. We provide the vetting, the kennels, the food, every supply you can think of.”
D’Arcy’s Animal Rescue Centre is also trying to help the pets who were able to make it out of the communities with their owners.
“We are getting so many donations of food in just the last weekend. And we have been able to send that and supplies like collars and leashes to some of the community centres that are housing some of the evacuees,” said Annie Johnston, the shelter manager at D’Arcy’s.
She did say, however, she is worried that not all evacuees have pet-friendly places to stay.
“We have already received calls about people being evacuated and they can’t have their animals anywhere. So we already have a waiting list of unfortunate evacuees and other animals to come into the shelter.”
The Winnipeg Humane Society also announced it’s setting up a temporary shelter at the St. Norbert Community Centre to help wildfire evacuees who fled with their pets.
At this shelter, the Humane Society will be able to help about 60 animals, providing them with housing, exercise, and vet care. Families will also have designated visiting hours.
The organization expects the shelter will be ready to take in animals by Tuesday morning.
· With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé
