WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE OF AN INJURED DOG.
Photo courtesy Robynn Templin.
Paulatuk's pooches will soon have a shot at visiting the vet after a dedicated volunteer dog rescuer managed to book in Vets without Borders to drop by the community.
It's just the latest effort by self-described dog lover Robynn Templin and her husband Richard to help the community out with its four legged citizens. She's been helping out with the pet population for the last three years.
"What I would really like to see is mostly neutering," said Templin, who also works at the canteen when she's in town. "If there aren't as many animals, there won't be as many strays and they won't be suffering.
"Dogs are starting to be a bit of issue. So we're getting the dogs the shots they need."
On top of bringing a vet to the hamlet, Templin, who also lives in B.C. but spends a portion of the year in Paulatuk, said that with the help of the hamlet she and a group of volunteers have rescued 19 stray dogs from the hamlet. With the assistance of the Arctic Paws Foundation in Inuvik, the dogs have been found homes in Yellowknife and beyond.
Photo courtesy NWTSPCA.
Before the dog gets shipped out, a photo of the pooch is shared around the hamlet to make sure it wasn't someone's pet that got loose.
Many of the dogs found have medical conditions they need help with as well. One such critter, Pekoe, ran out to Templin from underneath a house with a collar embedded in her neck. Templin said the dog was able to be moved to the Yellowknife SPCA with the help of Inuvik's Arctic Paws Foundation and taken to Great Slave Animal Hospital for treatment. She's now recovering and looking for a loving home.
"She was nearly decapitated by a collar," said Templin. "We kept her and gave her antibiotics and treated her for two days until thank God a flight came in, then we got her sent to Yellowknife for emergency surgery.
"She is doing well now."
Templin thanked the Hamlet of Paulatuk for writing a letter of invitation to the vet and said she hoped the visit would alleviate concerns about the dog population but also concerns about any diseases they might pick up as strays.
"There's a lot of dogs that people can't take care of and there's so many puppies born that get loose," said Templin. "So we get them out to the NWT SPCA."
If you would like to adopt a dog rescued from Paulatuk — or any other animal in need of a loving family — visit the NWT SPCA website.
