A love for animals and natural desire to care for others drove an Okotoks woman to head up a rescue organization that has now been running for 30 years.
Gabriele Barrie immigrated from Germany 40 years ago, where she had been a pediatrician, and settled in Okotoks. Here, she noticed an alarming number of feral cat colonies and stray dogs, and decided something needed to be done.
Okotoks Pound Rescue was born, and although Barrie has been working with animals and their owners for three decades, the organization has only officially existed for 24 years. It took time, but many of the issues with strays in and around Okotoks were handled.
“There are no stray dogs anymore. It was a huge problem 30 years ago, there were lots of dogs running around and they were just nobody’s dogs,” said Barrie. “That is not the case anymore. This has changed a lot. Basically there are hardly any strays or ferals in Okotoks, which is great.”
The organization takes in animals in dire straits and helps rehabilitate them with veterinary care and treatment or re-home them, depending on the situation.
It comes at a fairly high cost, and while typically Okotoks Pound Rescue is well-supported, she said during 2020 people have other concerns and animals are not the same priority for many as they have been in the past. At the same time, the number of animals being rescued has increased.
“We have as many dogs and cats as never before,” said Barrie. “I think people are now preoccupied with COVID, with maybe losing their jobs, there’s an uncertainty of the future and they think less of their animals, and animals are just not as much spayed and neutered.”
Okotoks Pound Rescue is one of seven charities receiving funding from the 2020 Western Wheel Cares Campaign. Other groups include Rowan House Society, Foothills Country Hospice, Foothills Advocacy in Motion Society, the Magic of Christmas, the Okotoks Food Bank and the Sheep River Health Trust.
Barrie said every little bit helps this year.
“It’s just very difficult,” she said. “We have no fundraisers, no little gatherings where we can tell people what we are doing, so many people now start to not know us anymore. And obviously there are less donations because we cannot have such a big profile, and secondly because people are being more careful with their money.”
During trying times it’s not unusual for donations to be smaller, as money grows scarce for many families.
It’s particularly hard for an animal-based organization, because for the most part when the going gets tough people come first, she said.
“In good times they donate to animals causes very generously, but right now if you have the choice to donate to children or to puppies, obviously children come first,” said Barrie.
Money is low but needs are high for Pound Rescue. There are more sick animals than Barrie has seen in many years, primarily because people can’t get an appointment at the vet, where hours and procedures have changed, because they can’t afford treatment, and in some cases because they’re afraid.
“People have sick animals, some maybe have broken legs, just lying there with broken bones and they are not taken to the vet,” said Barrie. “Animals don’t have the same importance to them anymore, and these worries and problems in some areas are huge, and they feel if they call us that these animals never go back.”
The organization has taken in many pets throughout COVID-19 in situations where families have suddenly found they can’t afford their pets anymore, and there has also been a rise in the number of kittens and puppies because it’s difficult to get a vet appointment for spaying and neutering.
Pound Rescue volunteers have worked tirelessly at re-homing cats and dogs looking for new families, but Barrie said they have to be careful and tune in to peoples’ motives.
“Times are bad now and people feel lonely and think they’ll get a dog, but what about in a year, when everything hopefully is back to halfway normal and people have to work again?” she said. “We try to avoid to adopt out to people who are just now having the time for a dog but later on won’t anymore.”
It also puts pressure on foster families, which are taking in more animals than usual. There is always a need for more foster homes, because otherwise rescue would not be possible, she said.
There has also been some help from the community with non-monetary donations. With COVID regulations in place, dogs are shown to their potential new owners outside, while cats are able to be shown at Pet Valu in High River and PetPlanet in Okotoks, she said.
To help those who find themselves struggling to put food in pet dishes, she said Pound Rescue receives donations from food companies, which can then be given to those who need help feeding their cats or dogs.
“It’s important that people can hang onto their animals when they’re unemployed or they don’t get enough money,” said Barrie. “Adding those animals to the number of animals being born right now, it would just be awful.”
To donate to Western Wheel Cares: mail cheques to Box 150, Okotoks Ab. T1S 2A2 or click here for a Paypal donation link.
As well, you can drop by to the Wheel office at 9 McRae St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch.)
