These two dogs caused a brief traffic jam on 100th St. this week when they chose to play in the middle of the road. (Facebook/Bill Ironstand)

By Josh Ryan

Stray dogs

Stray, runaway animals populating the Battlefords this spring

Apr 22, 2022 | 2:06 PM

UPDATE: The owners of the two dogs (named whiskey and Tango) reached out to battlefordsNOW to say that they were found. Joleyne Whitton said it was a stressful day for her and her husband.

“We were actively searching for hours in our own vehicles,” she said. “They love to dig, we do have eight-foot high fencing, and unfortunately we just happened to miss one of the holes they dug under the fence.”

Whitton stressed that the dogs are also chipped, vaccinated, spayed and neutered.

“I feel bad for those poor CSO’s,” she said. “Whiskey has a bit of anxiety around new people, so I’m sure she was quickly taking off.”

Moving forward, Whitton said they will keep an even closer eye on their dogs while in the yard.

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

'Either way, the government ends up winning': Concerns surround capital gains tax increase

20h ago

Chamber nominations

Nominations for 2025-26 Chamber board announced

21h ago

City preview

North Battleford council to set appointments, receive notice of retirement in first regular meeting of 2025

23h ago

—

The population of stray and runaway cats and dogs remains an issue in the Battlefords heading into spring.

Earlier this week, a pair of pooches disrupted traffic on 100^th St. while running back and forth across the road. Community Safety Officers attempted to corral the canines, but were unable to do so.

“I lost them by the railroad tracks, they took off towards Highway 4,” SC Austin Higgs said. “Then we got another call by 1:00 p.m., but they ended up running across a field and we couldn’t catch them.”

battlefordsNOW spoke with the owners of the two dogs, who said they were able to find them.

Higgs noted that they deal with this type of situation frequently in the Battlefords, with as much as three or four calls in a week. While it doesn’t always result in a high-traffic area being congested, it’s still a possibility.

“We get lots of calls regarding dogs running loose and cutting through traffic,” Higgs said. “Normally it’s not on 100^th St., it’s usually on 102^nd, 103^rd, 104^th, less busy streets.”

In addition to stray dogs and cats breeding together, thus creating more strays, there’s also animals that make repeated appearances. Higgs said officers often bring the same animal to the Battlefords Humane Society.

“We find them new homes and they run away and end up on the streets,” he said.

Mitigation efforts

Humane Society Michelle Spark noted that issue with animals repeating behaviour, which is why they consistently make several recommendations to prospective owners and those whose animal is being returned to them.

“If we’re seeing “jack the border collie” eight times in a month, we’re going to suggest to that owner to check their fencing,” she said. “Maybe don’t leave him outside all the time, only let himself out to go to the bathroom and play and make him a house dog.”

“Maybe he wants more attention and needs to walk more often cause of excess energy. Put him through obedience lessons. We always recommend those steps to people, but owners have to make the conscious decision for that commitment.”

(Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW)

The Humane Society continues to deal with capacity issues, sitting at 108 animals in care and close to 100 of those are cats. Spark said that’s normal for the spring, with cats bolting out of the house once the weather warms and that she isn’t surprised when she hears about dogs and cats populating the community.

“Ninety-five per cent of our intake are strays,” she said. “It’s not uncommon to see that on streets.”

In addition to the initiative for owners to take with their pets, Spark mentioned some ideas to improve the stray’s situation, including a “lost and found detective” that would coordinate between the shelter and homes where strays dogs and cats are found.

“It would drastically decrease our intake because then the animals aren’t just coming into the shelter, they can be in someone’s house for a few days and give us a chance to find the owners,” she said.

Another possible solution is incentives for owners to vaccinate, microchip and spay and neuter their pets.

“This would make licensing much more expensive for pet owners who haven’t had them chipped and allow us to more easily find the owners,” she said.

Spark specifically highlighted microchipping to aid making those searches more expedient. She noted that the cost of doing that right away is a saving compared to dealing with a lost or runaway pet.

“Get your animals microchipped, because then we can always return them to their owner.”

More information for pet owners can be found at the Battlefords Humane Society and their website.

—

josh.ryan@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports