WIIKWEMKOONG—When Jean Flamand, lead volunteer for the Wiky Rez Dog Group, returned home to Wiikwemkoong from teaching up north, she noticed a lot of dogs running around loose in the community and could see “that they were very skinny and could tell that they were neglected–either they were abandoned, or they didn’t have a home, or if they did have a home they weren’t very well taken care of.” She also heard from other teachers that these dogs were taking lunches away from children on their way to school. The dogs weren’t doing any physical harm to the children, but rather they would steal the lunches and run away. This regular occurrence led Ms. Flamand to the realization that something needed to be done, but at the time, she didn’t really know where to begin.
After about a year, in an effort to reduce the population of dogs, whenever she would hear of puppies being born in the community, with the owner’s consent, she would pick up the puppies and take them to the SPCA, at her own expense. This eventually led to caring for injured dogs as well, who would also be taken to the SPCA after vet care. Ms. Flamand explained to pet owners that getting these puppies and adult dogs to the SPCA would be a chance for these dogs to live a better quality of life and so they agreed. As she saw the need, Ms. Flamand also began rescuing cats and kittens.
As word got around that she was doing this work, community members began contacting her to let her know whenever they learned of injured animals or of puppies or kittens being born in the community that needed to be rescued. Ms. Flamand knew, however, that something more needed to be done and set out to set up a spay and neuter program to reduce the overpopulation of dogs and cats. With funding from the chief and council, Ms. Flamand was able to set up a spay and neuter program, which provided partial funding to community members to not only spay or neuter their cats and dogs, but also to assist with emergency medical treatment. In 2015, the Wiky Rez Dog Group was successful in getting the Welland Spay and Neuter Mobile clinic to Wiikwemkoong and they continue to bring their mobile clinic to Wiikwemkoong every September. The mobile clinic provides basic medical treatment services in addition to spaying and neutering. Both programs have helped immensely in reducing the cat and dog population.
The Wiky Rez Dogs group also continues with its rescue program, sending surrendered dogs to “Finding them Homes,” a rescue program in Barrie as well as “Manitoulin Rescue” here on the Island. They also regularly host bingos in order to continue raising the profile of the group in the community and the services it offers.
Ms. Flamand, who feels strongly about ensuring that animals are cared for, has been actively helping the animals in Wiikwemkoong, on a volunteer basis, since 2007. In this time, she has worked with a lot of vets and animal care providers and, as a result, has learned a lot about animal care herself and has been able to assist community members with basic animal care, education, and even transportation to vet appointments.
In order to ensure longevity of these programs, Ms. Flamand is currently working on securing funding to create a paid position to ensure this work continues beyond her and her volunteer time. She also wants to encourage community members to pursue studies in veterinary care.
Ms. Flamand acknowledges that all this work is not possible without help from a dedicated group of people and credits current and past members of the Wiky Rez Dog Group, especially Rachael Maiangowi, Bruno Henry, Jenni Manitowabi, and Myles Webgamigad for helping with the well-being of the animals of Wiikwemkoong.
