As of Monday, Sept. 15, members of the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) were still looking for two dogs who escaped when a van towing a trailer with 30 dogs rolled near Olds.
The accident occurred Saturday morning on Highway 2, just south of the Highway 27 overpass. A van towing a trailer carrying the dogs from a Los Angeles shelter to Edmonton for an adoption event lost control and flipped over.
Two dogs were found dead at the scene and two died later. Several were injured and eight were missing. Three were missing as of Sunday, but one was then found, leaving two missing as of Monday.
Two women transporting the dogs were sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. They were treated and released.
Calgary-based AARCS volunteers were called to the scene at about 9 a.m. With the help of bystanders, they rounded up the dogs they could find and held them at a nearby home before they could be transferred to Olds College. The Chinook Country vet took care of the injured ones.
AARCS executive director Deanna Thompson says one of the four dogs that died passed away Saturday afternoon. Another had to be put down.
“One, I actually transported her myself. She had internal bleeding. I drove her to Calgary, but unfortunately the vet confirmed that she was bleeding from her kidneys and was paralyzed, so she was put down later that evening,” Thompson said during an interview with the Albertan.
Thompson says as of Monday, AARCS officials were anxious to find the remaining two dogs –partly because of the cold nights that L.A.-based dogs wouldn't be used to, and also due to potential predators. Also, at least one dog is injured.
One is a brown Chihuahua named Jerry. The other is Donovan, a kind of champagne-coloured red-blonde pit bull.
Thompson is especially concerned about the pit bull.
“He was actually hit on the highway, just south of the overpass. He tumbled a bit and then he bolted and we haven't been able to find him, so we think he's probably injured, getting hit at highway speed,” she says. “We're desperate for people in the Olds area to help us try and locate these dogs.
“They're resilient dogs. They will try and do what they can to survive, but it's going to be tough for both – for the small dog especially, with the wildlife in the area,” Thompson says.
“We saw coyotes yesterday when we were out searching and stuff, so we're really hoping that we can get a sighting soon on them and try and get them into safety.
I'm surprised we got six out of eight – we're very happy about that -- but we're still praying that we can get the other two.”
However, Thompson concedes that may not be easy.
“It's going to take somebody spotting them and letting us know so we can send some teams because they're terrified,” she says.
Thompson says the dog they found Sunday was a real challenge to round up.
“It took a long time for us to catch him. He was very terrified and didn't want to come to us,” she says.
“It's such a vast area and they could be anywhere. So it's going to take people in the area seeing them and then hopefully giving us a call or being able to catch them.
“But I think it's going to be really hard to catch them. It's going to take kind of getting them in an area, feeding them or something, and then calling to try and get some people out to help.”
She says the AARCS may end up having to deploy what she describes as humane dog traps.
