Mira. Taken Nov. 25th at AARCS Safe Haven. (Aleah Jacobson, CMRU.ca)
Unwanted puppies, kittens and other animals are often abandoned in rural areas that have limited, if any, animal control services or support programs. The pets are left to fend for themselves.
Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society
Talking to Coreen Herring, volunteer and foster, at the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) I found out how bad this could be. “With this cold snap we have seen that there’s lots of cases. Like I saw a post yesterday and they needed rescue to take some animals because one of the pups had already frozen to death.”
AARCS works with rural and remote communities and rescues these animals or provides support programs such as spay/neuter assistance. Many animals who come into their care have to be rehabilitated and treated for various medical issues, porcupine quills, broken bones, parasites, and gunshot wounds.
Medical treatments can range from $100 to $10,000 and are given to any dog, cat, rabbit or guinea pig in need of them. AARCS provides vaccinations, deworming and permanent identification to animals in their care.
No matter the costs, they make sure that these animals are not only in good health but also find a home where they can be loved unconditionally.
Fostering
Once the animals have had proper veterinary care, they are placed into a foster home, with people and families to look after them until they are adopted.
AARCS has a list of requirements for their foster homes to both protect the animals and ensure they are well cared for. The first and most important of the list being that they are loved and cared for by the people taking them into their homes. The rest of the requirements being:
- Transportation for vet or shelter for appointments
- Animals are well fed
- Animals will get basic training
There are plenty of animals with different needs and AARCS’ team will help match you appropriately with an animal in care seeking placement.
Beyond that, they also have medical and behavioural foster homes for animals that need the extra attention. Anyone can apply to become a medical and behavioural foster home if they have basic knowledge on animals and are willing.
AARCS provides their foster families taking in these special cases with behaviourists, veterinary team and staff for continuous support.
Ways to Help
There are plenty of ways you can help these animals stay out of the cold this Christmas season.
- Volunteering
- Fostering
- Having Fundraisers for AARCS
- Becoming an AARCS Member
- Becoming a Sponsor
- Gifting a Wish List Item
- And by Donating
They always need clean towels in both their locations, Calgary and Edmonton, so people can drop off wish list items to whichever location is closer.
Cute Video
Now that we’ve seen a bit about the people and the organization, it’s time to look at the adorable stars of this organization and get to know them.
So, if you haven’t gotten your puppy fix or kitten fix this year consider volunteering at, fostering or adopting from AARCS.
Reflection
This has been a wonderful experience. I’ve gotten to know a bit about the people who work and volunteer at AARCS and have a glimpse as to what their day to day looks like. It can be busy and chaotic, but not boring which I love. I think the hardest part about doing these interviews and going to the shelter is that I couldn’t take all the puppies and kittens home. I’m pretty sure there was a brown puppy who was staring into my soul each time I came to his kennel.
Overall, this seems like a hard job, especially witnessing the state of these animals when they’re first rescued, but also very rewarding. I’m hoping this blog and the videos helped spread that extra bit of awareness and support for AARCS and what they do.
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