August 1/2018

Feature:
It’s Their Heroic Day: Heroic dogs inducted into Quebec’s Animal Hall of Fame

   “…Buffon, a wet-nosed black Labrador mix with a white patch on is chest…is …officially, a hero.
   Last October, Jacques Millette fell out of his wheelchair while trying to put out a fire after a welding torch fell from his hands & filled the basement with black smoke.

   Buffon rescued Millette by dragging him out to safety. Millette clung to Buffon’s fur with one arm & pushed himself along the floor with his other hand to the elevator. He managed to get outside & lay in the parking lot in the rain until a delivery man showed up & called the fire department.

   ‘Without him, I wouldn’t be alive today,’ Millette said…after a ceremony inducting Buffon into the Pantheon Quebecois des animaux, roughly, the Quebec Animal Hall of Fame, created by the provincial association of veterinarians 20 years ago.

   ‘We function like one entity- & we’ve only been together 3 months,’ Millette said, who communicates in sign language because he is deaf & mute…

   ‘And he’s very affectionate. There’s lots of love between us.’

   The only other inductee was Kanak, the Sherbrooke police support dog who has already won hearts for his work with young crime victims. A black Labrador who has his own Facebook page, Kanak is the first working dog of his kind in Quebec. Trained by the Mira Foundation, Kanak started working in 2016 & accompanies young, traumatized victims of sexual, physical or psychological abuse while their cases go through the legal system.

Just his mere presence soothes young victims, giving them support, comfort, & unconditional love, said his handler, Sherbrooke Detective Melanie Bedard…

   …Kanuk was honored for his excellent work, having assisted investigators in nearly 200 cases. Sometimes he sits by victims in court- 7 cases so far- when they confront their aggressors in front of a judge.

   ‘Kanak paves the way for a more compassionate justice. It is pet therapy in a judicial environment,’ Bedard said.

   For the provincial association of veterinarians, it’s important to understand the role of animals considering that 1 to 2 homes has a pet- 23%  have dogs, 32% have cats.

   In Quebec, that’s about one million dogs, 2 million cats, plus horses, birds, & other small animals, said Michel Pepin, who heads the Associatiojn des medecins veterinaires du Quebec en pratique des petite animaux (AMVQ).

   Much has been written about the benefits of this human- animal bond or relationship, Pepin said.

   ‘It’s a beautiful love story,’ he said. ‘And when we (veterinarians) take care of pets, we also take care of the owners.’

…’We wanted to highlight the tremendous benefits we all receive as a society, & to develop & encourage better relationships between humans & animal companions’”

Charlie Fidelman

March 12/2018

The Gazette, Montreal

Cute Critter Pic

Weekly Chuckle