Canada bans street dogs from more than 100 countries starting Wednesday

Dog rescue organizations inCanada hope the federal government will have a change of heart over its ban on street dogs from more than100 countries.

In June, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)announced that commercial dogs dogs intended for resale, adoption, fostering, breeding, exhibition and research at high risk for rabieswill be banned from entering Canada starting Wednesday, Sept. 28,regardless of whenimport permits were issued.

Rabies is a viral disease that attacks the central nervous system of mammals, including humans, the government's website notes.The CFIA said dog rabies kills 59,000 people every year in countries affected by the ban, including Afghanistan, Ukraine and mainland China.

"It's very disheartening," said BaladiDog Rescue of Ontario co-founder Lindy Lystar. The London, Ont., group has been working with a rescuer in Cairo and has flown some 30 dogs to the region.

They're a little bit scared, so they do need some extra care and love and training, but they're great dogs.- Lindy Lystar, BaladiDog Rescue of Ontario co-founder

"We have some very close friends in Egypt that are out there on the street every dayand they see the horrors that these dogs have to go through," said Lystar.

"She'll come out of her house and there's 10or 20 dogs poisoned on the street, and she feels so helpless," she said, referring to just one of the horrible ways street dogsare treated generally.

Most of the regions affected by the ban are in Africa (including Egypt), Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense," said Lystarabout Canada's ban.

The dogs in Egypt are given vaccinations including against rabies their blood is tested for diseases, and they'respayed or neutered before making the trip to Canada, Lystar said, adding there'salso a requirement that they be testedto assess a dog's immunity to rabiesbefore theyleave Egypt.

"They're a little bit scared, so they do need some extra care and love and training, but they're great dogs," said Lystar who has her own Egyptian dog, a short-haired, pointy-eared blondpet named Louise.

"They're loyal dogs. They're protective. They're so intelligent."

Rescuers rush to bring dogs to Canada before ban

2 years ago

Duration 2:01

Animal rescuers are rushing to bring dogs into Canada before a ban on importing dogs from 113 countries considered high risk for rabies comes into effect.

CBC News reached out to the CFIA for comment on the ban.

On Thursday, the agency said in an emailed statement that it had "consulted with public health authorities regarding the human health risk, and it was determined to be significant enough to warrant the implementation of a measure that prevents the introduction into Canada of the rabies caused by canine variant viruses."

"In both July 2021 and in January 2022, the CFIA's laboratory in Ottawaconfirmed two cases of dogs imported into Canada that were infected with a canine rabies virus variant (dog rabies)," the email said, noting rabies isover99 per centfatal for humans and dogs once they start to show symptoms.

"The importation of even one rabid dog could result in transmission to Canadian humans, pets, and wildlife."

Vet association's past president says ban needed

Canine rabies has become a growing concern in Canada since the U.S. implemented a similar ban last year, prompting some rescue groups to redirect their efforts to send more dogs to Canada,Louis Kwantes, past president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, told The Canadian Press.

"We always knew that the risk was there," Kwantes said. "But when it's actually in your country, that theoretical risk becomes a real and present danger."

While the CFIA's stance may seem severe, Kwantes said he believes it's warranted given the risks that canine rabies and other contagions that are endemic to other countries pose to Canada's human and dog populations.

Two cases of rabies in dogs imported from Iran one of the banned countries have been confirmed in Ontario since July 2021, according to the province's Agriculture and Food Ministry.

Both dogs had received rabies vaccines that aren't licensed in Canada before their arrival, Ontario officials said. A total of 49 people who came into contact with the dogs received rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, a type of treatment that is estimated to cost about $2,000 per person.

Kwantes said these cases are illustrative of the danger posed by even a single case of canine rabies making its way into the country. While dogs are routinely vaccinated against rabies, most Canadians are not, he said. Given the close relationship between them, the canine variant is cause for concern, he said.

Many of the banned countries don't have robust veterinary systems, said Kwantes, raising concerns about fraudulent vaccine certificates or inadequate inoculation.

Ways dogs treated 'breaks your heart'

Ahead of the government's ban that begins Wednesday, Fida Kablawiof London, Ont., returned with nine dogs from Egyptafter a two-month stay in the capital city.

"I'm an animal lover, and it breaks your heart, and there's so many of them.

"It's sad. It's surprising, shocking sometimes," she said. "There's a lot of poverty. [People]have so many other problems to deal withthat to them a suffering dog on the street is not a priority."

Kablawi first visited Cairo in 2020 on a work trip, and was so taken by the city's street dogs that she's returned multiple times to fly dogs back with her. She works with Baladi Dog Rescue and through fundraising, pays for the dogs'medical bills, the paperwork and the flights.

The dogs are only allowed to leave the country once Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture checks them out andsigns off on the paperwork, said Kablwai.

"Most of the ones that we pick have had a really rough timethey've been neglected or they've been tied to aroof and chained and starved," she said."The ones with the tough stories, the ones that we feel need the most love, the ones who havehad it the worst, we try to bring over to give them a better life.

"I do believe Canadawill change this [the ban] with just maybe some stricter laws when the dogs enter the country," she said.

Rescuers have been calling forbetterregulations, including quarantining,vet checksandbehavioural assessments, to ensure the safety of both the dogs and families who will home them.