137 dogs seized from home outside Winnipeg were largely in distress, unsanitary conditions: province

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Peggy

The Winnipeg Humane Society says it’s ‘bursting’ with an overwhelming number of animals in its care after the province seized more than 130 dogs from a home outside the city last week.

Manitoba’s veterinarian and animal welfare office removed 137 dogs while searching a home north of Winnipeg on Aug. 1, a provincial spokesperson told Radio-Canada on Tuesday.

Many of the dogs were in distress, in unsanitary living conditions and needed medical attention, the spokesperson said. The dogs were seized under Manitoba’s Animal Care Act and into protective custody. None of the animals were euthanized.

Jessica Miller, CEO of the Winnipeg Humane Society, says the organization is caring for many of the seized dogs.

She could not offer many details about the dogs as the province’s investigation continues. However, she said they are a mix of adults and puppies, and that they’re all small breeds, though not each of the same breed.

“Large removal of animals — be it from backyard breeders, puppy mills, whether it be a mental health situation — puts a tremendous strain on our shelter,” Miller said at a Tuesday morning news conference.

“We’ve been at capacity for so long, almost since post-COVID.”

A woman with medium-length, dirty blond hair and wearing a black dress speaks at a podium. — Jessica Miller, CEO of the Winnipeg Humane Society, says the number of animals seized in Manitoba this year has already surpassed 2022 and 2023 totals. (Corentin Mittet-Magnan/Radio-Canada)

The humane society has frozen intakes of animals because it has more than 600 in its care, with nearly 300 in its shelter, Miller said.

“This not only stretches the space of our shelter, but our staff’s capacity,” she said. “Staff are working extra shifts, coming in on days off — they worked all weekend this long weekend.”

It also forces the organization to deal with animals in ways it prefers not to, she said. While the humane society prefers to give each animal its own space to sleep, eat, play and relieve themselves, Miller says it has had to place two to three dogs in a single cage.

Miller is asking the public not to call or email the humane society about the dogs as they are not ready to be adopted yet. She says their website and social media accounts will be updated when the animals are ready to be fostered or adopted.

The humane society is asking the public for donations as it continues to feed, shelter and care for the dogs.

Last week’s seizure comes just months after the City of Winnipeg’s Animal Services Agency took 68 Maltese dogs from a home in the city, bringing them into the humane society’s care last May. Miller said two subsequent seizures pulled a total of 110 animals in the city.

As of Tuesday, the humane society says it has taken in 678 animals the province seized under the Animal Care Act — more than double last year’s total of 256.

‘Unsustainable and sad’

Miller says while a variety of factors are at play, backyard breeders are one of the biggest, as small dogs became in-demand and highly profitable when people were stuck at home during pandemic lockdowns.

“I think what we’re finding now is there’s no market for this, so we’re seizing a lot of these animals that have nowhere to go,” she said.

“We’re seeing them dumped on the side of the highway because some backyard breeders are not selling them.”

For backyard breeders to continue to produce more animals when the humane society is “bursting” creates a situation that is “unsustainable and sad,” she said.

The organization hopes to work with the province to strengthen licensing regulations and stop backyard breeders, Miller said.

In the meantime, she urged Manitobans to adopt animals and not to buy them online.

“People need to adopt and not shop — it’s just not the time for that.”

Anyone with animal welfare concerns in Manitoba can contact the province’s animal care line at 204-945-8000, toll-free at 1-888-945-8001, or by email at animalcare@gov.mb.ca.