Efforts stall in obtaining abandoned dogs near Burns Lake

Efforts to capture two abandoned dogs near Priestly Hill have stalled according to the Lakes Animal Friendship Society. (LAFS).

They announced on Facebook that the trail has run cold, and it is believed that the dogs have moved to another location near Tchesinkut Lake/Highway 35.

“We think they either followed the power lines across Highway 16 from Priestly Road to the lake and took the frozen lake to Highway 35, or possibly even took the 700 road.They are still being seen separated. They haven’t been running together for a couple of weeks now. Neither have been seen back around Priestly Hill for about a week now, so we think they’ve moved on. We had no tracks around our trap last week,” LAFS) volunteer Brittany Card told Lakes District News.

READ MORE: Unclaimed dogs near Burns Lake remain at-large

Priestly Hill resident Julie Harrison, a dog trainer of 15 years and former vet clinic worker, along with her husband have volunteered to check the traps on a daily basis near Priestly Hill. Now that the dogs have moved onto another area, the traps would have to be moved to the new location.

However, according to LAFS, there is a problem of a lack of volunteers close to Tchesinkut Lake that would have the capacity to check the traps on a daily basis. It is required by law that a live trap be checked at least twice daily.

The LAFS indicated in the post that in addition to the volunteer problems, they may not even have a trap to work with at all.

Northern Lights Wildlife Rescue in Smithers, the organization that loaned LAFS the trap for the cause, needs it to be returned for the time being for the release of a bobcat.

“Rest assured that we are able to borrow the trap again when they’re finished with it, and that we will keep note of any new sightings of the dogs in the meantime and will keep trying to catch them if they resurface in the public eye,” LAFS stated in the Facebook post.

Anyone looking to offer assistance in checking the trap once it’s in the new location, or that has info of recent sightings of the dogs, can contact LAFS via Facebook message or email at info@lakesanimalfriendship.ca.

READ MORE: Update on abandoned dogs near Burns Lake