Volunteer Duncan at Victoria International Airport holding one of the two dogs he was able to add to his flight (Photo: Flirting With Fido)
If you have a flight from Regina to anywhere on Vancouver Island in the near future you could help a furry friend find a new home.
The B.C. based non-profit Flirting with Fido works to find homes for misplaced, neglected and unwanted dogs but needs help bringing them from the prairies.
The organization would pay all the fees associated with adding on a kennel to your existing flight and would meet you at the departure terminal in Regina Saskatchewan and at the end of your journey o Vancouver Island to collect the pups.
“We’ve been struggling with having so many puppies in care in Saskatchewan, and we’ve been having to turn dogs away in need away because we don’t have any space for them,” said Heather Doyle who is on the board of directors.
Doyle has been renting a van provided by U-Haul Victoria and driving it over 1,700 kilometres to Moosejaw almost every month bringing back around 20 dogs.
“[it’s] not just puppies though, we’ve been bringing back adult dogs,” said Doyle. “The issue is there are no shelters in the areas these dogs are coming from.”
The puppies and grown dogs are coming from remote areas. They become strays and can go into packs and conflict with communities, something Doyle and the foster based organization are hoping to fix.
Some routes also allow passengers to take more than one dog, and sometimes even bring them into the cabin.
Though due to heavy travel volumes leading to limited space at peak travel times airlines place an embargo on live animal travel, for WestJet it’s from December 15 to January 6.
Information can be found by going to Flirting with Fido’s Facebook page and sending the non-profit a message. There are also opportunities to foster and even adopt the puppies and dogs.
“If required the dogs [in Victoria] will go into a foster home… we’re always looking for foster care homes in Victoria but for the majority of the puppies, for everyone one dog we have in Saskatchewan we have at least 50 applications for adoption,” said Doyle.
The public is still invited to apply for adoption. Doyle says anyone traveling before or after the embargoed dates are invited to reach out to them, she adds that it’s not a challenging experience.
“[Volunteers] don’t have any responsibilities for the care of the puppies, but they are welcome to cuddle them on arrival,” said Doyle.
Volunteer Duncan bringing the two pups through airport security (Photo: Flirting With Fido)
Julian Kolsut
