Manitoba dog rescue overwhelmed, seeking foster homes

WINNIPEG (CityNews) – Manitoba Underdogs Rescue (MUR) has been rescuing dogs and placing them into foster homes for 10 years.

But with COVID-19 and the recent forest fires raging through northern Manitoba communities, the demand has been overwhelming.

“The strain does not compare to having to turn people away,” said Meg Norton, foster coordinator for MUR.

“We see a huge influx of requests to take in either strays or surrender dogs. People have taken in dogs and now they feel they have too many dogs to care for so they want our help. We are also seeing a lot of unwanted litters happening.”

Norton says there are around 100-120 dogs in care right now, compared to a few years ago when they only had 60-70 dogs. She says they always want to help, but it’s taken its toll, forcing MUR to shut its intake for the time being.

“We’re in the thousands of dollars on a monthly basis, we have over tens of thousands of dollars of vet bills that we are struggling to pay off.”

Norton however is hoping to reopen intake to normal soon.

“On average, we have about 80-100 foster homes available to us but currently we have about 110 foster dogs in care, so the math doesn’t add up right now.”

Zuko is 8 months old and came into care as a stray. The McTavish family decided to take him into their home in July to care for him as he was extremely sick.

“He has healed amazingly well, he will be up for adoption, his adoption photos were put up last night. He is friendly, very playful and very good with kids,” said Marlys McTavish, who has been fostering dogs for 2 1/2 years.

She says Zuko has been a great fit in her home.

For those who are on the fence about fostering, McTavish says it’s simple: “Just give it a try.”

Zuko is just one of countless dogs and animals in foster care. Carla Martinelli-Irvine, founder of the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter, says people are now starting to return pets back to the shelters.

“It’s overwhelming and some people were laid off, and then they went back to work and they are phoning us, ‘I got this dog from so and so, I can’t handle it. It’s ripping up our house.’ And a lot of animals are suffering from separation anxiety because a lot of people have gone back to work.”