Vernon resident rescues a dumped dog on the run for two weeks
A Vernon woman was finally able to get a stray dog that had been running loose, evading capture for weeks, into her vehicle and on the road to recovery.
Suzanne Lapierre was at Marshall Field on Saturday, July 15 when a dirty, severely matted dog started playing with one of her dogs, then followed her to her vehicle.
The dog wasn’t with an owner and not wearing a collar. It was in need of grooming and bathing and had a limp, so Lapierre took it home.
“I took a leash and lassoed him and then I didn’t know what to do with him but everyone there was encouraging me to take him because he’d walked to my truck and tried to hop in,” she said.
Lapierre posted a video of the dog to social media, and quickly learned a rescue mission for the dog had been underway for well over a week. The dog is believed by rescuers to be a Labradoodle that was dumped in the area.
Lapierre cut off the dirty mats and phoned Regional District of North Okanagan Dog Control which picked it up and took it into care.
“Dog control came and got him, said they’d been getting calls of reported sightings for days, and took the dog straight to the vet,” Lapierre said.
Lapierre said the dog had zero aggression and just wanted pets.
Angie Mendes first spotted the dog while working on a forestry site in a semi secluded area in Okanagan Landing. She initially worked with Dog Control to track its whereabouts but after no progress was made reached out to experienced dog catcher Vanessa Robert at Crate Escape in Vernon.
READ MORE: 'Unprovoked': Pitbull attacked by stray dog in Kelowna
Robert set up a live trap with a large crate but a few days later the dog left the area.
Robert is a dog behaviourist who specializes in lost dog recovery. After five years working in the Vernon area, Robert is seeing an increase in “dumped dogs” and believes this labradoodle is another one them.
“We're seeing more dumped dogs, usually found in secluded areas," she said. "It’s a sad result of a COVID puppy boom where people wanted dogs to have a companion at home with them. Backyard breeders kicked up their production to an overwhelming amount of dogs. The puppy boom slowed down and there were no buyers. Some people will surrender dogs to rescues but sadly some are just abandoning them.”
READ MORE: TRENDING NOW: A cat on a watermelon
She said the best thing people can do is stop purchasing puppies from online listings like Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace. Gold standard breeders will have proof of veterinary checkups, like hip x-rays, cardiac exams and eye checkups to ensure they’re providing good quality puppies.
“If we keep buying from low quality breeders, they’ll produce another litter and keep the cycle going,” she said. “If we stop, that breeder will get stuck with a litter they can’t sell and be more willing to surrender and stop breeding.”
Lapierre named the labradoodle Marshall Field from where it was found. She likely will not be adopting Marshall Field because she has too many dogs already and does not know where the dog is or whether it will be up for adoption.
Dog Control with Regional District of North Vernon did respond to a request for information on the dog’s current whereabouts in time for publication.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
