After receiving more than 500 suggestions, the litter of six orphaned puppies at the Fraser Valley Regional District’s (FVRD) CARE Centre now have names.
“Our inbox was constantly flooded,” says Jennifer Kinneman, FVRD manager of corporate affairs and strategic communications.
The woman who manages the email address “couldn’t get over how thoughtful people were,” she adds. People were writing lovely, personal stories behind the names they submitted.
Back in November, the FVRD received a call about the litter of abandoned puppies in Chilliwack who were born on a cold and rainy autumn day. After two months of around-the-clock feedings, care and love, the they asked for the public’s help in naming the six pups.
“We have a very engaged and creative community,” says Jason Lum, chair of the FVRD. “There were so many interesting themes put forward, from the NATO alphabet, to rivers and landmarks in B.C., to television and movie characters, the CARE Centre now has a very robust list of names to use when lost or stray dogs come into our care.”
So how did they decide?
They discuss politics every day at FVRD, but “this became the big political discussion here,” says Kinneman.
Four staff at FVRD, including Kinneman, sat down once the mass of emails had subsided to go through the hundreds of names.
They picked a bunch of names that they all liked, and went from there. When the name Poppy came up everyone loved it since the pups were found and rescued on Remembrance Day.
‘Poppy’ was submitted by the PAWS (Protecting Animals With Students) Club at Vedder middle school. Along with Poppy, the students submitted Piper, Sarge, Bailey, Winston and Tank.
All six names were a hit with puppy-naming panel.
The two female puppies will take the names of Poppy and Piper, and the males will own the names Sarge, Bailey, Winston and Tank.
“With the added connection to Chilliwack’s military history, it seemed like a good fit,” says Lum.
“They had taken such a kind and loving approach to our story, and we wanted to honour that as well,” says Kinneman.
The PAWS club also held a bake sale and raised $120 to help support the costs of saving the six orphaned puppies over the past three months. The money will go to the FRVD’s CARE (Community Animal Response and Education) Centre.
Before any of the six puppies are adopted, they will go through a trial adoption with their new potential family.
Sometimes a family who’s wanting to adopt a dog already has another dog or a cat, and CARE wants to ensure there are no problems introducing a new pet to the family, says Kinneman.
“The CARE Centre reviewed dozens of adoption applications for these puppies,” says Lum. “It is very gratifying to know that they will continue to be well cared for, and we hope that this good news story encourages the community to consider the many other dogs available for adoption through the CARE Centre.”
Some of the rescued puppies are currently on trial adoptions, but there are still some that need homes.
Anyone interested in adopting one of the puppies, or another dog, can fill out an application form from the CARE Centre by calling 1-844-495-CARE or online at fvrd.ca/CARE.
jenna.hauck@theprogress.com@PhotoJennalism
