Any Haida Gwaii dogs celebrating Thanksgiving last weekend must have raised a paw to thank Richard Decembrini and Darleen Wulff.
The Daajing Giids couple already had two dogs and three cats at home when, in late September, the Gwaii Animal Helpline Society (GAHS) put out an urgent call for volunteer fosters.
Sheba, an 80-pound Dutch shepherd mix, had just been surrendered to the society along with eight of her 10 puppies.
They had a full house already, but Wulff and Decembrini agreed to take in all the puppies they could handle so they could be well trained and adopted early.
Wulff has been a foster volunteer for over 20 years on the islands, but mainly for cats and never for so many animals all at once.
“We know our limit now,” Decembrini said, laughing.
“Five is the definite limit.”
For three weeks, Decembrini slept on the living room couch so he could be nearby whenever one of the five puppies woke up and whined to go pee.
Walks were a handful. Wulff and Decembrini leashed all the puppies — Scarlet, Maggie, Moose, Booop and Nessie — at the same time as their own two dogs: a pug-chihuahua and a Masset mystery mix.
The puppies kept trying to eat rocks, and on rainy days the wet-dog smell in the house hit a new high.
But the older dogs quickly taught the pups not to startle at every strange sound in town. And the puppies were a hit at the Daajing Giids Farmers Market, which Wullff suggested visiting to better socialize them all.
Anna Maria Husband, a long-time volunteer and director with the Gwaii Animal Helpline Society, said Decembrini and Wulff put their hearts and souls into it.
“They’ve been doing a fantastic job of house-training them and leash-training them, exercising them and just exposing them to the bigger world,” she said.
Last week, two of the puppies got adopted on island. The BC SPCA brought two more to the Lower Mainland for adoption there.
Husband said the September puppy surge stretched the society’s 20 volunteers to the limit. They had to delay taking in another surrendered pet until more foster spaces opened — something they’re not always able to do.
Foster families can’t be sure how long they may need to care for an animal. Before taking in a dog or cat, Husband said foster families spend time with them to make sure it will be a good fit.
“If they’re healthy young animals, they usually are adopted quite quickly,” she said.
“But the way it happens with us is that we often don’t get the easy animals. We get the ones that are sick, that have behavioural issues, or that are in a kind of traumatized situation because their guardian has died or gotten very ill and had to go into hospice or a care home.”
Generally speaking, Husband said animal welfare seems to be improving on Haida Gwaii.
Feral cats are still an issue, but there are not nearly as many as in past years thanks in part to a trap-neuter-release program run by Gwaii Animal Helpline.
The Towhill Foundation, an informal charity on island, recently gave the society a donation to restart its by-donation cat spay and neuter program.
And the Haida Gwaii Animal Hospital did its part by hosting “Cat Neuterpalooza” last month.
Staff at the Tlell animal hospital volunteered to neuter 20 islands cats for donations of $50 and up, with all proceeds going to Gwaii Animal Helpline.
“They do great work for animals, and not only on the job,” said Husband.
“They’re volunteering to do this on a day off.”
Besides rehoming pets and the trap-neuter release program, Gwaii Animal Helpline also offers financial support to low-income families on Haida Gwaii with urgent or emergency veterinary bills, vaccines and boosters, as well as spay or neuter surgeries.
All the programs are run entirely by volunteers, said Husband, and the society could use more helping hands.
To help recruit more volunteers and take care of those they have, the society recently reviewed its structure, organized cultural sensitivity training, and organized a wellness day and other initiatives to help volunteers handle the stress that can come with fostering pets.
A few new people have already signed up, Husband said. Anyone thinking of volunteering can learn more at gwaiianimalhelpline.com. The website also features photos and stories of several Haida Gwaii dogs and cats, puppies and kittens ready for a forever home.