Help spay and neuter stray dogs!
That’s right! Pooch Portraits are coming back!
Last year, with the help of 31 dogs, 1 cat, and a whole bunch of animal lovers, we raised $1200 for the Animal Clinic of Regina’s team of volunteers (led by Dr. Lesley Sawa) and their annual trip to the Northern community of La Loche to spay and neuter the dogs in the region. And this year I’m hoping to do even better.
Let’s give a hand to all of those who participated in last year’s fundraising event! Bravo!
But wait! You may be asking, what are you talking about? What are Dr. Sawa and the Animal Clinic volunteers doing? How did these dogs help? Well here’s an article from back in 2010 about Dr. Sawa (then Dr. Sheppard) and what started this annual effort.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-vet-helps-control-stray-dog-population-1.910861
There are a ton of dogs in the area and many of them haven’t been spayed or neutered. So Dr. Sawa and the team gather a ton of equipment, vaccinations and other medications, an autoclave, surgical tools and a handful of veterinarians, vet techs and some passionate animal lovers and drive all the way up to the remote Northern Community of La Loche, Saskatchewan.
I had the good fortune to be able to go with the team last year. We all got together early one morning to load up the truck and trailer and took off!… Only to promptly have a tire blow up on north Albert street. Annoyed, but not deterred, we were delayed by at least an hour but we did got on the road with renewed spirit. 10 hours later, our convoy pulled up to the La Loche school.
Tired and wanting to sleep, we had to get started on setting up. The school gymnasium had carpets laid down so we wouldn’t hurt the polished floors and we quickly got to setting up a registration desk, make-shift operating areas, and the patient prep/recovery area. We also made up baggies of dog food that the patient handlers could take with them at the end of the day. Finally, after a quick bite to eat and a briefing from Dr. Sawa, the team turned in for what would be an early start and a long couple of days ahead of them.
While no one could describe their sleep as “good” (I don’t know about you, but even having an air mattress in a classroom that had been set aside for us, I’m not used to sleeping in a room with ten other people), we got up and started welcoming patients. Residents from the immediate area and some even as far as Buffalo Narrows came in with their dogs to get them a basic check up, vaccinations or medications where needed and also to get them spayed or neutered.
Over the course of the next two days, working 12 hours each day, we saw over 150 dogs, including some repeat patients that had been to the clinic the previous year and just wanted to ensure that their beloved pets were still happy and healthy.
Quite unfortunately I can’t go on the trip this year. But I still want to help raise funds for the cause! The money raised helps to purchase the medications, supplies, fuel and food that the team will need/work with on the trip. I will be doing a special event in the first few weeks of May - details will be released in the next couple of days. So if you love pups and want to help us out, please stay tuned! And in the meantime, check out this link to a video from last year’s trip and the fundraising event!
Video of the Fundraiser Pooches - https://video214.com/play/qeqoJ1LkHK1DEDvxqRtAcw/s/dark
Video of the La Loche Trip - https://video214.com/play/XcEaxnKeFEFRUkTYEr409w/s/dark
Thanks for reading! And stay tuned for more details in the next couple of days!!