INSIDE D3 On Track Alan Doyle releases Now second solo album

THE GUARDIAN www.theguardian.pe.ca Saturday, January 17, 2015 D1 MakingMaking aa differencedifference withwith thethe ChinookChinook AVC students Jason Gray, Rhonda Stone, Sarah Dixon and Leighann Diehl are shown outside Rigolet, N.L. PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GUARDIAN BY DR. MARTI HOPSON

ments. Vaccination is crucial because rabies transmitted from ProjectProject wildlife is a real risk in these northern communities. Moving on to , population 1,400, the first veteri- Veterinary care provided for companion nary team overlapped with the second so there were 14 people animals in the North running a very busy clinic. There were four full days of clinics in Sheshatshiu, an Innu First The Chinook Project was founded AT A GLANCE Nations community located just in 2005 by Drs. Lisa Miller outside Goose Bay. There is a (Atlantic Veterinary College) and Fast facts need here to control the dog pop- Jane Magrath u To learn more about the Chi- ulation, as roaming dogs can (English, UPEI) to nook Project, see www.chinookpro- cause problems. Fighting and provide free vet- ject.ca for blog postings from AVC unwanted litters of puppies are erinary care to students about their experiences animal welfare issues. When a remote commu- this past summer. female is in heat, the male dogs nities in the u Tentative plans for the Chi- will form groups and can fight Canadian North, nook Project for summer 2015 are and injure each other or people. with the support to travel to Natuashish and She- An increased number of roaming Animal of partners and shatshiu. dogs affects humans as well, with donors. increased incidence of dog bites Talk Now co-ordi- er essential veterinary services. and other public health issues. Dr. Marti Hopson nated by Miller This past summer, two different Eighty-six dogs received veteri- and Dr. Marti teams of veterinarians and veteri- nary care in Sheshatshiu, includ- Hopson, the Chi- nary students went to three sepa- ing 52 spay or neuter surgeries. nook Project has, since 2005, rate locations, Nain (second visit), Local support is crucial in all served 10 different northern com- Sheshatshiu and Rigolet, N.L. communities visited by Chinook, munities (six with follow-up vis- Nain is the northernmost com- arranging food, accommodation, its) and ministered to over 1,000 munity in , with a popu- volunteer assistance with admin- dogs. From these coastal commu- lation of approximately 1,000 peo- istration and a clinic facility. In nities, veterinary care is normally ple of and European Sheshatshiu for example, local many hundreds of kilometres descent. organizers and the Sheshatshiu away, accessible only by plane or Like all of the coastal towns of Band Council constructed a clinic boat. northern Labrador, it can only be for the Chinook team inside the Each summer, the Chinook reached by air or sea. It is part of town garage that normally houses Project responds to requests from , meaning “our beau- the fire truck. northern communities and takes tiful land”, which is a region of The second team next visited three or four volunteer veterinari- land of northern Labrador Rigolet, the southernmost Inuit ans and vet technicians and four claimed by the Inuit and under town in the world, which is in a or five students from the AVC to partial autonomy and self-gover- beautiful coastal location with a spend three to 10 days in the nance since 2005. In Nain, the population of just 300. The Chi- communities providing vaccina- Chinook team saw 27 animals for nook team set up a clinic in the tions, wellness checks, spaying spay/neuter surgery and 81 for community centre, and in just 2.5 and castration surgeries and oth- wellness and medical appoint- days saw 86 animals and per- formed 31 spay or neuter surger- ies. The team also helped in a AVC student Meghan Levangie and Dr. John Ruffino (AVC 2010, now practising in home with a serious overpopula- Newfoundland) are shown spaying a dog in Nain, N.L. tion of cats and attended to three PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GUARDIAN BY DR. MARTI HOPSON large working sled dog teams. The Chinook Project would the Rathlyn Foundation, Ann one of the member groups of the P.E.I. Companion not exist without the support of McCain Evans, the Sir James Animal Welfare Initiative (CAWI). Animal Talk is a our partners and donors, includ- Dunn Animal Welfare Centre, monthly column in The Guardian produced by CAWI, ing local community organizers Zoetis Animal Health, Proctor the goal of which is to improve the welfare of who generously provide supplies, and Gamble, Boehringer-Ingel- owned and unowned companion animals. CAWI accommodation, food and volun- heim, Vetoquinol and Air consists of 4-H P.E.I, the P.E.I. Humane Society, teers to help with administrative Labrador. SpayAid, Cat Action Team, P.E.I. Veterinary Medical duties. Travel and shipping of Next month in Animal Talk: Association, PEI Department of Agriculture and supplies to the North is very cost- Improved animal protection leg- Forestry, and Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre ly, and the Chinook Project grate- islation for P.E.I. at the Atlantic Veterinary College. Links to each of fully acknowledges past or cur- these groups are at gov.pe.ca/agriculture/CAWI. rent support of the Newfound- Dr. Marti Hopson co-ordinates the Chinook Project Readers are invited to send questions related to the land and Labrador government together with Dr. Lisa Miller. Dr. Hopson is a council well-being of owned and unowned companion ani- and the Valley Veterinary Clinic, member of the P.E.I. Veterinary Medical Association, mals to [email protected]. A happy ending

“Macadamia (right) was adopted by my brother and his family in May, and Maxx by Mom in August,” says Amanda Henderson-Bolton: “My brother came up for a visit, and Macadamia came, too. He and Maxx are best buddies now. AVC student Rhonda Stone is shown with a patient in Rigolet. They love to steal Grampie’s chair. These little guys have made two families very happy!” PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GUARDIAN BY DR. MARTI HOPSON PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GUARDIAN BY AMANDA HENDERSON-BOLTON