While the residents of Fort Simpson, NWT have had to flee their homes because of the wildfire bearing down on the community, some of them won’t have to worry about the animals they were forced to leave behind.
Diedra Villeneuve and her partner, Derek McKillop, have been spending upwards of 14 hours a day driving around the community feeding and providing water and cuddles to pets that had to stay in the community.
“Everyone can be assured their dogs are being taken care of,” said Villeneuve in an early morning interview Tuesday.
Originally, the couple set out to care for their uncle’s dog; he flew to Yellowknife as part of the evacuation but when driving home. they noticed other dogs that had been left. It was then they decided that their contribution would be caring for the canine friends, starting out with 12 dogs on their list.
That list has now grown to 51 dogs at 30 addresses.
The relief effort would have been impossible without the help of the local Northern Store, which has donated 10 large bags of food at this point for pets with some of that kibble allocated for Wrigley, a small community north of Fort Simpson that has also been forced to evacuate because of an oncoming wildfire. A volunteer from that community drove into Fort Simpson late Monday evening to get supplies.
As of press time, they were waiting for the ferry to reopen to deliver it back home.
Villeneuve said she can’t say enough about the help provided by the store and its staff.
In the meantime, she said that the dogs are doing well with lots of water and shade, but seem confused about where their owners are.
“They seem to look around and seem to be saying where is Mom and Dad?” said Villeneuve.
“Most of them are tied up and half are not, but they stick close to home and they are all very happy and nice dogs.”
The pair haven’t yet met an angry or aggressive dog, she added.
They attend to the dogs on their list three times a day.
“We just love dogs,” she said. “They are close to our hearts.”
If they are forced to evacuate, Villeneuve said the couple will grab as many dogs as they can and turn the rest loose so that they can better take care of themselves. However, as Kele Antoine, chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation noted Tuesday morning, conditions had slightly improved with cooler temperatures and dew on the ground.
While their world may be challenging right now, Vileneuve said at least For Simpson residents can rest assured that their pets are doing well.