By: Alison Bressette
Dogs have been indispensable to the everyday life of many Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, participating in transportation, hunting, protection, and holding significant cultural and emotional value, including companionship. To this day, community dogs continue to play a critical role in Indigenous culture, mental health, and public health and safety and their well-being remains intrinsically tied to the spiritual and emotional balance of Indigenous families today.
Unfortunately, a lack of access to veterinary care has had significant negative impacts for community dogs, ranging from injuries and infections that go untreated, to the unchecked spread of preventable diseases. These issues extend well beyond the immediate well-being of animals, impacting the overall public health and safety of Indigenous communities, particularly when zoonotic diseases are transmitted from dogs to humans, potentially causing outbreaks that can further strain already fragile healthcare systems.
Currently, access to regular veterinary care for community dogs is limited at best, and often nonexistent, in many Indigenous communities in Canada. Paralleling similar issues with respect to human health care, this lack of access is a consequence of various factors, including geographical isolation, limited resources, and systemic racism and neglect. Jurisdictional boundaries further compound the problem –veterinary services fall under provincial jurisdiction for non-Indigenous communities, however as per The Indian Act, First Nation communities would have their veterinary services fall under federal jurisdiction.
The repercussions are significant, affecting not only the health of the animals in these communities, but also overall community well-being. The inability to provide adequate care for their own animals can be emotionally distressing and culturally jarring, especially when considering the central roles that dogs historically played in Indigenous communities.
Despite the historical connection of Indigenous communities to nature, the logistical barriers that they face in accessing adequate care for their animals are further complicated by a breakdown of the human-animal bond with dogs. The factors that led to this breakdown are complex, but government policies that forcefully removed Indigenous children from their families to be sent to residential schools, and the dramatic killings of qimmiit (sled dogs) in the North are vivid examples of the changes imposed on Indigenous lives by outsiders that negatively affected this bond.
Therefore, fostering innovative approaches to support access to affordable, high-quality, veterinary services for animals in Indigenous communities can directly support reconciliation by building community capacity to manage and care for their own animal populations and breaking old cycles of dependence on outside assistance.
A multifaceted approach involving all levels of government, non-governmental organizations, the animal health industry, veterinarians, community health centres, and indigenous leaders is needed. Non-governmental organizations and animal welfare groups should actively engage with community health centres and indigenous leaders to co-create sustainable solutions that respect and preserve Indigenous values and practices over the long-term, rather than short-term band-aid solutions when crises due to dog overpopulation arise in communities.
There are many organizations who have recognized this need and are working to address it by providing donations of animal health products and dog food, and developing innovative approaches to vaccination, and heartworm, flea and tick prevention and control. Yet enormous gaps in access to these programs exist across the country, and many communities are still experiencing a total lack of access to basic care, diagnostic tools, prevention and treatment options.
While several programs have been created over the past few years, including partnerships with the Canadian Animal Health Institute, which have helped improve access to rabies vaccinations for community dogs by supporting lay vaccination efforts in communities, more work is needed to ensure Indigenous communities can have the capacity to care for their animals on a consistent, sustainable basis.
Equal access to veterinary care is not a privilege; it is a right that all communities, regardless of their geographical location or cultural background, should enjoy. By ensuring Indigenous communities have access to proper veterinary care, Canada can take a meaningful step towards rectifying historical disparities and promoting reconciliation and community building.
About the author:
Since 2007, Tanya “Alison” Bressette tied her childhood experiences to her passion to help companion animals and their families. Alison is from the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point but resides in London.
As a grassroots advocate who serves several First Nations, Alison formed Aboriginal Community & Animal Advocacy Connection (ACAAAC) for the purpose of providing accessible and affordable animal welfare resources and services, such as veterinary care, for dog and cat populations within communities.
One very important aspect to ACAAAC is to assist First Nation communities to establish long-term partnerships. ACAAAC strongly advocates for the duty to consult and accommodate First Nation communities to achieve reconciliation.
Aboriginal Community & Animal Advocacy Connections operates to bring awareness, to promote animal welfare, the human/animal bond, respect, empathy, compassion and to improve animal health and well-being for First Nations animals.
