It's not uncommon to find dogs, cats caught in 'surprising' conditions: Rural Manitoba Animal Advocate

Dave Baxter, Indigenous Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun

After years of seeing animals in her community suffer “unspeakable” conditions of abandonment and suffering, Michelle Neufeld said she was shocked but not surprised to hear about 70 dogs were removed from a home in Winnipeg this week.

“I'm shocked, but not,” said Neufeld, president of Steinbach and Regional Animal Rescue (SAAR), after Winnipeg Police (WPS) and Animal Services announced Wednesday that 68 dogs had been found and removed from a Richmond home. West Winnipeg.

Animal Services said they were living in “horrendous” and “inhumane” conditions at the home, which was so toxic from feces and urine that workers who removed the animals this week had to wear hazmat suits.

Some of the dogs had feces on their fur, other health conditions, and some of the animals were young puppies, Animal Services said.

The news shocked many in Winnipeg, but Neufeld said for most rural communities in Steinbach and southeastern Manitoba, such as Hanover and Ste. Anna, animals are often found in similar situations, especially when they are bred and kept for profit.

“So it's not surprising here,” he said. “There are people around who see animals as an easy way to make money, and in some cases have no regard for animal welfare at all.

“Some of the things we've seen are shocking.”

Neufeld said there are breeders in the Steinbach area who are well-intentioned and take care of their animals, but there are also those who, he says, are “unspeakably cruel.”

According to Neufeld, this includes leaving dogs, and in many cases newborns, in unheated sheds or other shelters during the dead of winter, and in summer in unventilated shelters with no air conditioning or even windows, and in some cases living shelters. in their own feces and urine during reproduction.

“Trash is piling up on the floor and not even being checked,” Neufeld said. “It's beyond words.”

He said some breeders who abuse animals don't make a profit from them unless they're being used for profit, and there are others in the area who aren't breeders but don't want pets. or it is now a responsibility.

This has led to an alarming increase in the number of people driving to remote areas in southeastern Manitoba and abandoning cats and dogs by the side of the road.

“When they no longer need or want them, they throw them away, which is very common. We get calls all the time about dogs and cats being dumped like garbage. “We got a call from someone who said someone threw a cat out of a car window.”

Animal abandonment issues have become so common in the area in recent years that in January, Ste. Ann, just north of Steinbach, has passed a bylaw and can now fine $1,000 per animal for abandoning pets such as dogs and cats within the RM.

“It's not a new problem, but it's gotten worse lately,” said Ste. Ann Deputy Reeve Randy Eros said in January.

Eros said $1,000 is the maximum fine allowed under current provincial legislation, but he said the RM should send a “strong message”.

Neufeld said SAAR was “ecstatic” when the law was passed, but believes a lot of the reason they're seeing incidents of animal cruelty and abandonment is because the province doesn't have strong laws to keep domesticated animals safe.

“It's not illegal to breed, but I think there should be some rules,” he said. “Breeders should be registered and on file and they should at least be inspected.”

He said SAAR and other animal welfare organizations in Manitoba believe that municipalities, as well as the provincial government, need to be much more aware of the extent of animal cruelty in the province and that they can enact better and stronger laws to combat it.

“We have a lot of work to do to raise awareness of what's going on,” Neufeld said. “We must come together to prevent this cruelty,” he said.

“I think some of the people making these laws should come and spend a week with us and see what's really going on.”

“If they saw what we saw, I think they would change their minds very quickly.”

A WPS spokeswoman confirmed Friday that police do not believe the 68 dogs found at a Winnipeg home were kept for breeding or profit, and said the incident will not be investigated.

— Dave Baxter is a local journalism initiative reporter based out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Indigenous Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.