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La Ronge Council reverses decision and pays for feral dog damage

Oct 22, 2018 | 2:00 PM

La Ronge Council has backtracked on a recent decision not to cover the costs of damage done by a feral dog at the municipal pound.

That’s according to Northern Animal Rescue (NAR) chairperson Genevieve Candelora who said the town not only went ahead and repaired the damage, but council also decided not to bill them as well. At a regular council meeting Oct. 10, the decision was made to initially charge the non-profit for the wreckage as council deemed NAR was responsible as per its contract with the municipality.

“People were unhappy with the decision about town council deciding not to cover it,” Candelora said. “Because it was not a super expensive fix so far, they decided to go ahead and cover the cost, which does help us a bit.”

Before that happened, however, residents began rallying behind NAR as some community members reached out to donate their time to fix the repairs. Others like Shala Ricklefs, of Air Ronge, wanted to help the organization financially and she set up a GoFundMe account, which totalled nearly $1,400 by Oct. 22. Candelora noted some of the cash has already been transferred to NAR to assist with expenses.

“That was an incredible feeling to have the community step up so much,” she said.

Even though repairs are finished, Candelora added the organization is waiting for results of samples to come back from the lab, which should be in this week. There are concerns about possible asbestos contamination and mould, she said, and the executive will decide what to do next depending on the results. Candelora also didn’t rule out the possiblity of future air quality testing as well. 

 

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno