A six-pack of cute, fluffy puppies are in need of names after being rescued and cared for by FVRD staff for the past two months.
On Remembrance Day, the Fraser Valley Regional District’s CARE (Community Animal Response and Education) Centre received a call about a litter of seven abandoned puppies.
The pups were born that cold and rainy November day, and they still had their umbilical cords attached.
“They were freezing cold,” says Jennifer Kinneman, FVRD’s manager of corporate affairs and strategic communications. “Staff immediately started putting puppies inside their shirts to warm them up.”
The first 72 hours were critical. The puppies needed to be fed every two hours, each feeding taking an hour long.
“Animal control staff and volunteers from the FVRD have been working around the clock to nurse these puppies and ensure their wellbeing. I am so proud of our team for going above and beyond the call of duty and doing whatever it takes to save these animals,” said FVRD board chair Jason Lum.
“They’ve been well loved,” says Kinneman.
Sadly, about 10 days in they lost one of the male puppies. It was “very upsetting” for the staff.
But, they kept the puppy love going.
Over the past eight weeks, FVRD and CARE staff have been caring for the four male and two female puppies.
“We are so grateful to the staff who were willing to do this. This is not in their job description,” says Kinneman.
“We are so pleased they have grown. They are absolutely crazy adorable,” she adds.
She and the staff figure the puppies are a cross between a border collie, Akita and lab. There’s one white/blonde female, one black female, three black males and one fawn-coloured male.
They all need names.
“Caring for the puppies has been a real community effort,” said Lum. “Engaging the public in the naming of these puppies was a natural extension of that community effort.”
While the puppies will not be ready for adoption until sometime in February, staff is hoping the public will help name the two female and four male puppies.
Submissions can be sent to info@fvrd.ca until Jan. 31.
