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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
NEW 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire': A crowd pleaser that turns it up to 11
Hot on the heels of last year's 'Godzilla Minus One' comes 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' the first ever Academy Award winner in the giant reptile's decades-long film career.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.