The Hazelton Animal Care and Control Society is trying to get a mobile veterinary clinic to visit to the area.
The society asked the village for a letter of recommendation to accompany their application.
Mayor Alice Maitland was happy to comply.
“We are really on board with that. We haven’t been asked for any contributions just support. We know that the clinic has visited Kitwanga before and they were thrilled with it and it’s not like we don’t need it,” she said.
The Canadian Animal Assistance Team (CAAT) is a group of volunteers that travel to communities to spay, neuter and give vaccines to dogs and cats.
“We are dedicated to assisting communities that want to make a difference in animal heath care and population control that have little or no access to veterinary care, that might mean financially or geographically,” said executive director Chris Robinson.
Yvette Labatt, who runs Turtle Gardens in Topley is helping the society in Hazelton. She said that often dogs from the Hazelton area are sent to her animal shelter.
She sent CAAT all of her statistics about where the animals come in from to help motivate them to visit.
“It is much needed. It made a big difference when they visited Burns Lake. Of the 50 puppies that came in, only two litters came from Burns Lake. They need the help desperately west of us,” she said. “People just don’t have the transportation or the money to bring their dogs and cats to the vet. The puppies coming in lately are in the worst shape ever.”
CAAT completed their fourth annual clinic in the Burns Lake area this past June. After four years in that community, their teams were able to spay and neuter close to 600 cats and dogs and health checked, vaccinated and dewormed many more.
Robinson said this has led to a substantial decrease in impoundment numbers at the Village of Burns Lake pound. She said there has also been a 56 per cent decrease in surrenders of animals to the areas nearest dog shelter. Reducing the population growth has significantly impacted animal health and welfare in the area.
“Burns Lake is now in a much better position to continue to work on maintaining the level of population control locally,” said Robinson.
CAAT is hoping to make a decision in the next couple of months about coming up to the Hazelton area.