Photo: Corel Arctic

Baker Lake’s MLA Speaks Out in Support of Nunavut’s Inuit Dogs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to follow up on a project that is very close to my heart, the Buddy Fund in Baker Lake, which supports a number of activities in caring for the family, animals, and pets in our communities. The annual Buddy Fund will provide veterinarian services beginning Friday, September 13 in Baker Lake.

Mr. Speaker, the Buddy Fund supports the Canadian Animal Assistance Team in bringing veterinarians into the community for clinics, vaccinations, spays, and neutering. One of the objectives of the Canadian Animal Assistance Team is also to support local mushers in keeping dog sledding and good sled dog lines alive.

As all Members of this House will be aware, the Qimmiq, Canadian Inuit Dog, is the territorial animal of Nunavut, as chosen by our predecessors in the First Assembly of Nunavut’s legislature. Qimmiq has long been part of our northern culture and dog sledding is an ongoing cultural activity. This breed is facing some serious threat to its survival with the lack of access to vaccines to prevent common canine diseases like distemper and parvovirus, as well as interbreeding with non-sled dog breeds.

With so many dogs tethered together in large communities and stray dogs roaming in the area, the spread of disease is hard to control.

Mr. Speaker, while I certainly appreciate our government’s involvement in providing rabies vaccines to sled dogs across the territory as a public health initiative on behalf of our human population, I believe more could and should be done.

As an example of what could be done, the Quebec government recently sponsored veterinary clinics across Nunavik’s Hudson Bay communities providing free vaccinations for all dogs and cats to prevent the spread of distemper, hepatitis, and parvovirus.

Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to note in the media that in the Minister of Health’s constituency, the Cambridge Bay “Diamonds in the Ruff” program recently hosted a very successful vet clinic in their community.

It is very gratifying to see the spirit of community activism for the health and well-being of our pets and animal friends across Nunavut. It is my hope that the minister will consider the importance of our government also supporting an expansion of animal vaccination programs across Nunavut’s communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.