Sask. town lends a helping paw after Manitoba animal rescue’s van stranded during winter storm

A Manitoba animal rescue organization is thankful for the help of residents in a Saskatchewan town after the rescue’s van got stranded in a snowstorm this week.

K9 Advocates Manitoba was transporting 75 cats and dogs, en route to British Columbia, when a winter storm Thursday left them stranded in Moosomin, Sask., just over the Manitoba border and about 200 kilometres east of Regina on the Trans-Canada Highway.

“None of us knew anyone in Moosomin, so we were frantically calling the RCMP and fire halls and boarding kennels,” said Chelsea Kork, one of the rescue organization’s directors.

Parts of the Trans-Canada highway in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were closed Thursday and into Friday as a dump of snow and heavy winds made driving treacherous across the southern Prairies. 

Kork said K9 Advocates members worked the phones and Facebook into Thursday evening, looking for a place to keep the animals in Moosomin warm for the night. 

Residents of the town and the local vet clinic quickly stepped up to help take care of the animals all night.

WATCH | Manitoba animal rescue grateful for Sask. town that stepped up during storm: 

“The town of Moosomin came out — kept them in a vet clinic overnight, walked them, fed them, changed cat litter boxes,” Kork said.

She said she and the rest of K9 Advocates Manitoba can’t thank the residents of Moosomin enough for their help.

“It was amazing.”

Kork said the animals were headed to British Columbia — part of frequent trips K9 Advocates takes to Vancouver and Toronto, where animals are adopted into homes. 

“We’ve learned that nothing ever goes perfectly smoothly, no matter how hard we try,” Kork said. “We weren’t expecting this at all.” 

The animals were returned to Winnipeg on Friday.

Kork said they’ve been placed in foster homes for now, and the group planned to attempt another trip to British Columbia after the weather improved.