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Frustration lingers over efforts to bring in stray dog

Jan 24, 2019 | 4:21 PM

Efforts continue in trying to capture a stray dog living on the streets of Deer Park for over a year and reunite it with its owner.

Darlene Burt with Calgary-based K9 Recovery Services says they are working with the City of Red Deer Animal Services department to help capture the dog, but laments there are some in the neighbourhood working to prevent that from happening.

Burt says ‘Mission’ has been roaming the area since escaping from his owner on Dec. 10, 2017.

“My suspicions have been confirmed that other people are pursuing this dog, they are not stepping back as they have been asked and they have no respect for the bylaws that are out there. In their mission to catch this dog, they are creating more and more problems for this dog.”

Burt says residents have repeatedly been asked not to feed the dog as she wants him to be hungry and gravitate to one food source to lure him into an enclosure. She says that would result in a positive outcome for the dog, his owner and the residents of Deer Park.

“I’ve witnessed it first-hand and I’ve had other people verify they are feeding this dog,” says Burt. “It’s getting to the point now where everyone is getting exhausted. The dog has been pursued to a point where he’s become agitated, he’s no longer calm.”

Burt says it’s unfortunate there are some whose actions are counterproductive towards a positive outcome.

“There are too many people out there pursuing him, confusing him and changing his behaviors to a point of unpredictability,” she explains. “The majority of the residents in the neighbourhood and surrounding areas have been 100 per cent understanding. However, I have personally encountered verbal attacks on myself, accusations being made to myself and at all hours.”

Burt says some have even gone out of their way to come outside to actually interfere with the process of capturing the dog.

“They don’t take the time to know what needs to be done because they’re angry with the situation, they want it resolved” states Burt. “Or there are those I’ve encountered personally that have their own ideas as to how this should be done. I have become the face of this dog in the neighbourhood and because he is still a ‘nuisance’ as they put it, I have taken on that role of representing the dog and I am becoming the ‘nuisance’ of Deer Park.”

Burt says it’s important for people to know the position the dog is in.

“If there’s going to be multiple groups or individuals pursuing this dog, they are setting themselves up for failure,” exclaims Burt. “Someone is going to take matters into their own hands and that threat has come verbally, so I fear for this dog. If they would take the time to understand it, there is a process when it comes to catching a dog in this situation, educate themselves, understand that without a team in place and that means the community coming together as one entity for this dog and work together and stop their antics of trying to be this dog’s hero, we are not going to accomplish this.”

Burt says if you spot ‘Mission’, contact Alberta Animal Services at (403) 347-2388.