Michelle Tuma, the northern Canada veterinary specialist with Veterinarians Without Borders, says animals can complicate evacuations
Yellowknife veterinarian Michelle Tuma was having a hectic month even before an encroaching wildfire forced the mass evacuation of her home community., but Tuma focused her efforts on making sure evacuees could take their animals with them and on protecting at least some of those left behind.“I can’t even imagine having to evacuate and not being able to take your pets, and it’s the least I can do to be here and help support those people who are already so stressed and so anxious.
As evacuation orders are issued, people are often loaded into buses or vans and animals aren’t allowed. Pets also aren’t always allowed on flights or are required to be in an animal carrier, which not everyone has. Veterinarians Without Borders also sent in animal crates from elsewhere in Canada so pets could go on planes. Some airlines also loosened rules allowing animals to be on board on leashes.
“We know how to move dogs around,” he says. “If I had to, I’d just move them down to the lake and ferry them out to an island. It’s not like we have to load them up and move them down to Edmonton.”
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