By Katherine Svenkeson

Lend a Paw helps dogs in need

Feb 18, 2017 | 3:00 PM

You might lend a hand to someone in need, but a group based largely out of the Battlefords is lending paws to those who can’t help themselves.

Lend a Paw is an animal rescue group that takes in dogs from many rural areas around the province when the animals need veterinary care before they can find a new home. The group is comprised of nine volunteer board members based out of the Battlefords and Maidstone.

Executive Director Wendi Wandler said the animals they care for are often from communities where animal health isn’t a priority.

“Ninety per cent of our animals come from communities with no vet care, and there’s lots of strays,” Walder said. “A lot of them are sick and a lot of them have mange and other diseases now they’re 200 or 300 miles from any type of vet care.”

Because the animals they care for are often sick, Lend a Paw has to keep them quarantined so they don’t transfer any diseases.

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“We get them vetted and we quarantine them for two weeks,” Wandler said. “Once they’re healthy then we either send them out to foster homes or we adopt them out.”

Seeing the dogs recover and leave the group’s care healthy and happy makes all the difference, she said.

“It’s just like night and day, and these dogs they appreciate it,” Wadler said. “That’s why we do it.”

Rescue groups like these are popping up more and more, which Wadler said is the result of humane societies not being able to accommodate a lot of rural animals while also serving their communities.

“Their hands are tied,” she said. “Not that they don’t take rural and stuff like that; they do, it’s just you have to keep space open for the Town of Battleford and the City of North Battleford.”

 The group has two major fundraisers throughout the year; their Valentine’s cupcake sale that just passed and a ladies night fashion show coming up in May. The fashion show fundraiser will be held at Boutique Noir in the Battlefords for its fifth year in a row.

Katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ksvenkeson