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All these dogs want for Christmas is a home

Only five remain.
WEB-Milk-River-Dogs
Miss Daisy

Only five remain.

It will be exactly one year on Dec. 24 when the Red Deer and District SPCA took in 40 dogs of the 76 dogs cared for in Central Alberta as part of the efforts to bring back-to-health the 201 dogs rescued from a Milk River-area property.

The shocking case was one of the worse cases of animal neglect in the province.

Seventy-one of the dogs cared for at the Red Deer and District SPCA, Klassic Kennels and Alberta Animal Services have found permanent places to call home.

Two large bonded pairs are still seeking homes – Kena and Miss Daizy, two Huskies, and Burke and Britz, two Wolfhound crosses.

Amy Corpe, SPCA Animal Care manager, is hoping for a Christmas miracle.

“All month we have been trying to get them a home for Christmas,” said Corpe. “I have received a tremendous amount of emails but no one concrete has followed through or come down to meet them.”

Part of the adoption criteria includes no small children and the dogs must be adopted in pairs. Corpe said the pairs will be a handful of work and the two dogs may not necessarily work with a family with small children. Both sets of the dogs have had the most behaviour and medical challenges.

Copre said they are great dogs who are a little timid because they never had a normal puppyhood. She said both pairs have shown a lot of progress in the year that they have been at the SPCA.

“We would consider separating them but they are so bonded,” said Corpe. “For their own sanity and mental health it is in their best interest to keep them together.”

Klassic Kennels took in 14 dogs, of which a komondor-cross just returned to the shelter after being placed in a home shortly after he arrived at the north-end shelter from Milk River.

Owner Jim deBoon said the “quirky fun guy” would be perfect for a home with children aged 16 and up with no cats.

“He is just a beautiful dog,” said DeBoon. “He is really good with other dogs.”

The 201 dogs — a mix of huskies, Irish wolf hounds, malamutes and komondors — were found in horrendous conditions at the rural property. Some were chained to fences while others were in kennels. Most were emaciated, dehydrated, dirty and in overall poor conditions.

The seizure was one of the largest removals of animals in the SPCA’s history.

Contact Corpe at acorpe@reddeerspca.com to find out more about adoption or visit www.reddeerspca.com and Klassic Kennels on Facebook or at www.klassickennels.com.

crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com