Niagara Dog Rescue, Manitoba groups work to re-home strays and dogs surrendered after wildfires

Justin Chandler · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 03, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Ernie the canine has a location acknowledgment to the efforts of rescue organizations successful Manitoba and Ontario.

And he's not the lone carnal being fixed a accidental to person a spot to belong.

A week ago, Gwen Leong and different volunteers from Niagara Dog Rescue brought astir 30 dogs from Fisher River Cree Nation to Grimsby, Ont., pursuing a spay, neuter and vaccine clinic.

Ernie, a "gentle giant," was among dogs that were either stray oregon surrendered for adoption, Leong said.

Community members had asked Niagara Dog Rescue to instrumentality the Great Pyrenees-Saint Bernard premix in, on with dozens of others, helium said. The dogs besides were putting a strain connected bluish Manitoba communities, immoderate of which were impacted by wildfires.  

"He was a large feline and conscionable benignant of eating their food," Leong said.

"We knew wherever helium was, and each time we would effort and marque friends with him and say, 'We're going to travel for you astatine the extremity of the trip."

Although Fisher River was not straight affected by the wildfires successful Manitoba this spring, immoderate of the dogs from the First Nation had been surrendered, Leong said. They included two expectant dogs that are present successful Ontario. One was owed to springiness commencement conscionable arsenic Leong spoke to CBC Hamilton connected June 26.

Niagara Dog Rescue is tally by volunteers and relies connected a web of astir 150 foster homes as it doesn't person a kennel. 

"Our enactment is global," Roci Freeman, the canine rescue's Oakville, Ont.-based enforcement director.

The enactment has picked up dogs from arsenic acold distant arsenic Ukraine, Mexico and the Caribbean region. It began working with Fisher River 2 years agone and built relationships with Manitoba rescue groups to instrumentality in dogs from passim that province. 

Members from aggregate groups, including The Ark Project, which managed the animal clinic, travelled to Fisher River the play of June 21. 

The Ark Project, which is based successful Winnipeg, works with First Nations communities to spay, neuter and vaccinate pets, find homes for animals successful need and supply favored supplies. This was the 10th twelvemonth it's held a session successful Fisher River, Kayla Simpson, an Ark Project volunteer, told CBC Hamilton via substance message. Seventy animals were fixed and astir 40 were vaccinated, she said. 

Such yearly clinics are portion of the volunteer-run group's regular operations, Simpson said, and thing they're moving to continue as there's much need due to the wildfires.

She said hundreds of animals were near down erstwhile radical evacuated their homes and respective rescues person provided support, including fostering animals until radical instrumentality for them. 

Plans successful the works for different trip

Simpson said it was "great" having Niagara Dog Rescue articulation her squad astatine the clinic. The Ark Project regularly works with different rescues to find homes for stray and surrendered animals successful and around Toronto and Vancouver, wherever determination are much radical looking to adopt, she said.

"We request to absorption connected prevention successful Manitoba, providing spay/neuter clinics wherever imaginable to support pets steadfast and trim the strain connected the colonisation here. One rescue unsocial cannot lick each carnal payment issues successful the country, truthful having rescues consenting to enactment unneurotic is indispensable to assistance the corporate population." 

On their past time successful Fisher River, radical with Niagara Dog Rescue took Ernie to the clinic, wherever helium was neutered, received vaccines and had immoderate 150 ticks removed, Leong said. He seemed unsure astatine first, but rapidly settled down connected the 18-hour drive to Ontario.

Niagara Dog Rescue took successful Ernie's parent astir 8 months ago, on with 8 of her puppies from a antithetic litter. Soon aft arriving successful Ontario, a pistillate who adopted 1 of his siblings besides asked to give Ernie a home. 

"It's conscionable a beauteous communicative from wherever helium was 5 days agone to wherever he's going to beryllium for the remainder of his life," Leong said. "It's evidently precise heartwarming and joyful for america to spot these stories, and I deliberation it's what drives america to bash more, and to assistance much and to proceed our enactment there."

She said her squad is already readying their adjacent travel to Fisher River to get different 20 dogs that weren't acceptable to travel.

The radical said radical looking to follow oregon foster the dogs tin get successful interaction done the organization's website.