Yellowknifer rescuing dogs in Behchokǫ̀ stuck in Edzo

For the past few days, Yellowknifer Jason Card has been driving back and forth, rescuing dogs from around Behchokǫ̀.

Card said he started on Monday night. Along with his son and his 80-year-old father, he hopped in his pickup truck and drove to Behchokǫ̀ to evacuate pets. Card said they quickly filled the five crates they had in tow.

Soon enough, Card said word got out about what he and his family members were doing. A Facebook group was formed, where people posted about their pets and where they were located. Wilf’s Restoration in Yellowknife also let Card borrow a van to carry the dogs.

As of Thursday afternoon, Card says he has made five trips in total and transported more than 100 dogs.

“We’ve been concentrating on the animals that we know need to be rescued,” he said. From community members, he and his fellow rescuers have also heard of dogs whose owners aren’t necessarily known, but that need picking up.

“We’re just trying to rescue what we can,” he said.

Card said that a lot of coordination has been happening in Yellowknife to house the animals, including with the SPCA and Michelle Tuma, a representative of Veterinarians Without Borders in Yellowknife.

On Thursday afternoon, NWT Premier Caroline Cochrane issued a call on Facebook for a temporary shelter to be created that can house rescued animals coming in from the Behchokǫ̀ area.

Evacuating pets has meant contending with several challenges, including on-and-off highway closures. On a trip on Tuesday night, Card said he was redirected to Hay River when the road closed. He considered putting the dogs on a plane but decided to drive them back to Yellowknife when the road re-opened.

Now, he’s up against another closure, stuck in Edzo with two female dogs and 14 pups, he said.

“We would go back to Hay River again, but the puppies need some medical attention and at least one of the moms needs medical attention,” he said, adding that the mother looks emaciated.

He suspects the puppies are suffering from smoke inhalation over the past few days.

“The smoke in Behchokǫ̀ is really bad. It’s quite thick,” he said.

He added that it took more than an hour to coax the moms and pups out from under a shed where they were hiding.

“It was just like an eight-inch gap that they had all gone under and decided they didn’t want to come out.”

Card said he’s been in contact with Air Tindi to see if they can get the dogs on a plane to Yellowknife.

“We’re just kind-of seeing what we can do and seeing who can help us get these animals back to Yellowknife safe,” he said, adding that any help getting the animals out of Edzo would be appreciated.

So far, he said, the support from the community has been important.

“It’s the North, right?” Card said. “We all step up and we all try and help each other.”