ANIMAL WELFARE INITIATIVE
The Ge-Niigaanizijig students showed off their finished work of barrel style dog houses. The dog house build was made possible by collaboration between Aanjibimaadizing, Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag, Four Winds Canine Connect, and Leech Lake Tribal Police. Everyone involved was proud of the work accomplished in one short morning.
By Li Boyd, Director of Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag, Mille Lacs Band member
October and November were both busy and incredible months for animal welfare. In early October, I had the opportunity to participate in a conference called the Gathering. The conference brought people of color from traditionally underserved communities together from all over the country. It's organized by CARE, Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity, which is a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) led organization focused on approaching Animal Welfare in a way that takes into account the needs of both the animal and human communities involved. I'm proud to announce that Native representation at this conference was strong, with participants from Little Earth of United Tribes, Natives in Vet Med, and, of course, Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag.
Presenters talked about everything from veterinary access to building programs that help victims of domestic abuse find safety for themselves and their animal companions. I was given the opportunity to speak on a panel focused on fostering, adoption, and rehoming. Since Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag has a goal of keeping as many pets as possible living happy, healthy lives with their families in our own communities, I was pleased to be able to speak on how we can shift our "rescue" focus into redefining the roles our animals have.
Traditionally, our dogs were intertwined in our semi-nomadic lifestyle as working community members, and some of the issues we face nowadays are that we have a lot of dogs without jobs. This may be a simplification of the issue, but when you think about it, many of our rez dog mixes are part German shepherd, Siberian husky, or labrador retriever. Dogs like these are healthiest and most well-behaved when they are kept stimulated and busy. I had the fortune of meeting another participant at the Gathering by the name of Shahar Fearing. Shahar is a dog trainer and behaviorist who recently started her own non-profit organization named Four Winds Canine Connection. We instantly started coming up with ideas we'd like to try, such as taking some of our rez dogs and training them. They could become medical alert dogs for common issues in the community like diabetes. They could become therapy dogs for our mental health and substance abuse programs. They could even be trained as search and rescue dogs to help the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives movement.
Following our experience at the conference in Philadelphia, we returned home to Minnesota re-energized and ready to get back to work. The weather in Philly had been almost too warm, so when we got back home, it was a stark reminder that winter is coming. A few days after the conference, we got together and decided we were going to plan a dog house building event to coincide with the District I Pet Wellness Clinic. This left us very little time to prepare, but in part due to the connections we made at the conference and in part due to the incredible and supportive network of folks working on Animal Welfare in Minnesota, we made it happen.
Four Winds Canine Connection in partnership with Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag, with assistance from Rick Haaland of Leech Lake Tribal Police, and with the participation of students from the Ge-Niigaanizijig program, built 36 barrel-style dog houses on a brisk Saturday morning. We chose this style of house because of its cost-effectiveness and ease of construction. We could make more of them and make them faster for the oncoming winter. These houses are available to any community member. You may contact Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag at aaa.animalwelfare@gmail.com or 612-655-1449 for information. This was all made possible by grants from the Frances Curran Foundation and Lil BUB's Big Fund.
That afternoon, the Ge-Niigaanizijig students went on to participate in a Community Outreach and Veterinary Education (COVE) event at the District I Aquatic and Community Center. There, veterinary students from the University of Minnesota provided activities that helped our students and Aanjibimaadizing staff to learn about what foods are healthy, unhealthy, or even dangerous to our pets. If interested, students could also accompany veterinary staff to view the active surgeries happening at the time. Shahar, with the help of Snickers, a dog from our own community, also did a behavior and training demonstration teaching participants the basics of using positive reinforcement to promote the actions and behaviors we want to see in our pets.
Meanwhile that very same day, the University of Minnesota Student Initiative for Reservation Veterinary Services (SIRVS) was performing spay and neuter surgeries just down the hall. SIRVS is a student-operated organization that provides veterinary services in Reservation communities at no cost to those communities. Band members may not realize that when these pet wellness clinics visit each district, the volunteers for these organizations receive no compensation from the Mille Lacs Band, aside from a few meals and the space to work. SIRVS and Secondhand Hounds (soon to be The Bond Between), which was also providing wellness exams and vaccinations, donate tens of thousands of dollars of time and supplies each time they visit. These organizations are dedicated to providing veterinary support where it is hardest for us to get it, and their effort and enthusiasm is simply amazing. Most of the volunteers camp out for a night or two at our community centers so they can be prepared bright and early to see to our animals' needs for an entire weekend. Over November 11 and 12, SIRVS provided surgery or medical care to 47 animals while Secondhand Hounds provided wellness and vaccine services to 82.
While this was a great success, I am as aware as anyone that we still have many challenges. Thirty-six dog houses help, but the prevalence of outdoor dogs in our communities makes finding warm shelters a high priority at this time of year. We hope we will be able to have another dog house building event. Furthermore, even though many animals received care at the free clinic, we recognize that one weekend a year per district simply isn't enough. In the days immediately following the clinic, I became aware of many more animals that needed spay and neuter services. There are also multiple dogs and cats who unfortunately do need rehoming, as well as new litters being born all the time.
As robust and dedicated as the Animal Welfare community in Minnesota is, right now it's struggling statewide. Most shelters and rescues are inundated and simply don't have the capacity to accept any more animals. That leaves a community like ours, and an organization like mine, struggling to fill the gap. In our Mille Lacs Band districts, we have no animal control or shelters, aside from what Anishinaabe and Awesiinyag can provide. While we're planning on ways to expand our services, right now my organization is limited by what I can accomplish as a single individual. I'm going to need volunteers and fosters to be able to do more. I'm looking forward to seeing many things happening in 2024.
