Spay & Neuter Clinics
The James Bay coastal communities are fly-in only and have extremely limited resources.
This includes veterinary care: vaccinations, spay and neuter surgeries, deworming, and access to basic canine supplies & dog food.
Our small volunteer team works alongside band councils and community members to keep the dog population controlled and support families with their pets.
One of our main goals is providing the communities with regular spay and neuter clinics and basic veterinary care.
Helping under-served Commnities
The isolated First Nations communities of the James Bay area in Ontario have extremely limited access to spay and neuter services.
These remote communities are fly-in-only and therefore experience significant barriers to accessing pet resources such as spay and neuter services, basic veterinary care and medical support, basic medical supplies like vaccinations or dewormer and canine supplies such as leashes, collars and crates.
Spay and neuter services are “much needed”, says Fort Albany First Nation Chief Elizabeth Kataquapit.
2023 Clinic Stats
How you can help
The communities we support have not had access to community-based veterinary services or spay and neuter surgeries for over five years.
With significant financial and physical barriers to spay and neuter services coupled with the global pandemic, dog overpopulation and stray roaming dogs within the community have been difficult to manage.
This has made a significant impact on the dog population and, in some cases, has become a health and safety concern for the people within those communities.
Our ongoing clinics allow families to have free access to spay and neuter services and basic veterinary care such as vaccinations and deworming, along with grooming, check-ups and food.
Bringing mobile field clinics to the communities removes barriers of cost and travel, making the support accessible. Each spay and neuter clinic in a remote community costs approximately $20,000-$25,000.
Help us bring these essential services to the isolated communities of the James Bay coast by donating today!
For business or corporate sponsorship, Contact Us
Our Goals & Objectives
Our main goal as a 100% volunteer led dog rescue is to improve the lives of dogs and their families by providing on-going support to the James Bay communities.
Rooted in the mantra: healthy dogs, healthy families.
We strive to provide culturally sensitive and ethical support that leads to tangible benefits for remote communities, their people and dogs.
This can only be done in partnership with chief and council, community members and the families.
Our spay and neuter clinics address needs within the communities including:
- The ability to have dogs fixed at a field clinic (removes barriers due to location)
- No financial limitations or restrictions (services are offered free of charge)
- Ability to have dogs medically examined and given routine vaccinations to protect against disease.
- We also offer grooming services (lack of groomers and grooming tools available).
Our clinics also allow us time to be physically present in the community and form stronger relationships with key individuals such as chief and council, influential community members & the families themselves. These relationships are crucial – and trust must be established to provide long term, sustainable solutions.
Health & Safety
in the communities
With significant financial and physical barriers to spay and neuter services coupled with the global pandemic, dog overpopulation and stray roaming dogs within the community have been difficult to manage.
This has resulted in a significant impact on the dog population and, in some cases, has become a health and safety risk for the people within those communities.
Although we do not have studies conducted in the James Bay communities on dog bites, research in other similar indigenous communities suggests that remote indigenous communities are at a much higher risk for dog bites (Daigle et al., 2022).
It is reported that almost half of all dog bites victims are children under the age of 12 years (Weiss, Friedman & Coben, 1998). According to the government of Canada (2022), Ontario has the highest number of reported incidences of rabies (61).
Our ongoing spay and neuter clinics allow families to have free access to spay and neuter services, basic veterinary care such as vaccinations and deworming, along with grooming, check-ups and food. According to recent research conducted by Baker et al., (2021), regular access to subsidized veterinary services is associated with improved dog health and welfare in remote northern communities.
F.A.Q.s
Making a personal donation to our spay and neuter initiatives helps us continue to plan and execute more spay and neuter clinics in the communities of the James Bay area – donations can be made here: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/paws-of-the-north-rescue/p2p/spay-neuter-clinic/
A no-cost way to support our work is sharing our posts and our work with your own network and community.
The James Bay communities we serve are what are considered fly-in only communities. This means that they are inaccessible by land. To take a team along with the supplies required to set up a field, community based veterinary clinic, we must fly into the community.
The cost of fuel and flying is extremely expensive. A roundtrip flight for one person from Timmins, Ontario (where the airport is located) costs approximately $1600 per person. In the winter, we do sometimes have the option of using the James Bay Winter Road (or ice highway) but due to unpredictable weather and changes in the condition of the highway, we cannot depend on it.
Once in the communities, options are very limited for accommodations, meals and the medical supplies required for operating a veterinary clinics.
We support 6 coastal communities in the James Bay area:
- Attawapiskat
- Fort Albany
- Kashechewan
- Peawanuck
- Moose Factory
- Moosonee
These are all First Nations communities.
At this time, we have a long list of rescue based volunteers that we work with to go into the community. We prioritize bringing veterinary care professionals.
Any member of the communities we visit can make an appointment to have their dog seen.
No. The dogs featured or pictured are owned dogs. When dogs or puppies are surrendered, we will share them on our social channels.
Interested in a Business or Corporate Sponsorship of a Clinic?
Reach out to discuss it with us!
Past Clinics
Moose Factory
- Population: 2458 (2016)
- Clinic Date: July, 20XX
- Pets Spayed & Neutered: 12345
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