(Photo: submitted by Amanda Harder)
A new company based about 30 minutes north of Meadow Lake has the aim to stop dog culling in the province.
Amanda Harder and her partner started the Northern Transitional Dog Rescue (NTDR) in December of 2024. NTDR rescues stray and roaming dogs from northern communities and First Nations and rehabilitates them for adoption.
“We’ve always known about the excessive overpopulation of dogs on reserves, and I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there; you know, people like to blame First Nations people but often times it’s just a matter of the barriers being on reserve; not having accessible vet care and that kind of stuff.” explained Harder. “So, we’ve kind of been saving dogs for a long time, we just now decided to kind of put a plan in place,”
Once the dogs have been rescued, they are taken to the sanctuary where NTDR built a 40×40 heated building to house the dogs which also has three 10×10 kennels for moms and pups. All the dogs at the sanctuary are free roaming and have boundary collars so they can explore the 165-acre sanctuary whenever they please.
Harder is also a professional dog trainer and stated that many of the dogs she rescues from reserves get along great with other dogs but some of them need work when it comes to being comfortable with humans.
“So, we rehabilitate them, we train them, we make sure that they have threshold training, they’re good around kids, we make sure that they have house manners, we crate train them, we do all of those things so that they can be successfully rehabilitated and have a successful adoption,” said Harder.
(Photo: submitted by Amanda Harder)
The Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) only has one building to keep stray dogs in, but it’s unheated and has infrastructure issues. NTDR met with the band and formed a partnership where they take dogs from LLRIB communities for a small fee per dog, and the band also helps out with other costs. NTDR also formed a similar partnership with Waterhen Lake First Nation and plans to partner with others in the future.
“Then we bring them here, we get them veterinary care, we vaccinate and deworm, we spay and neuter then we adopt them out to other homes,” stated Harder.
People looking to adopt a dog from NTDR will be charged just a $250 fee to cover veterinary bills and if you adopt a dog that hasn’t been spayed or neutered yet, NTDR will organize that for you down the line. For more information, you can visit the Northern Transitional Dog Rescue Facebook page or email NTDR2024@gmail.com.