Canada bans import of dogs from 100 countries

Eight-month-old Nike is a new arrival to Canada from the country of Oman.

“We were able to bring him to Canada along with two other little wadis,” said Anne Hoekema, a volunteer with Extraordinary Galgos and Podencos.

Nike has already found a new life and forever home with a family in Esquimalt. He and his sisters are lucky, because life in Oman can be hard for dogs.

“What happens to these little wadi is quite horrendous,” said Hoekema. “They are shot, they are beaten, they are left abandoned and many of them starve to death.”

As of Wednesday, the government of Canada has banned the import of dogs from 100 countries, including Oman. The reason? Those countries have a track record of canine rabies. Canine rabies was eradicated in this country decades ago through a successful vaccination program.

“Rabies is almost 99-per-cent fatal if you don’t catch it before clinical symptoms,” said Dr. Adrian Walton, owner and lead veterinarian at Dewdney Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge.

Walton agrees with the ban. He says a lot of dogs are entering the country that aren’t properly vaccinated for canine rabies.

“Some of the vaccines that they are using are not licensed for use in rabies for here in Canada,” said Walton.

He cites an example from a dog owner who recently came to him. That dog owner allowed him to share their information with CTV News.

The dog was vaccinated, but with a long-expired vaccine.

Penny Stone, the executive director of the Victoria Humane Society, says every dog deserves a good life, no matter where they are from. She believes the positive side of the ban is that more domestic dogs could find a forever home.

The humane society currently has more than 100 dogs up for adoption. On Wednesday, workers there were showing off a new batch of puppies to a group of provincial government employees.

“Unfortunately, with COVID, animals didn’t get spayed and neutered like they should have in remote communities we work in,” said Stone. “There’s a lot of babies having babies.”

Stone estimates there are hundreds of thousands of dogs that need homes in Canada.

Back in Esquimalt, Nike managed to get out of Oman at the 11th hour. As of Wednesday, no more dogs will be allowed into Canada from that country.

As for the Extraordinary Galgos and Podencos group, it says Spain is one of only a handful of countries where the ban does not apply. The group says it will continue to bring dogs from that country into Canada.

Extraordinary Galgos and Podencos has been bringing Spanish greyhounds to Canada since 2016.