Owner of puppies rescued by B.C. Wildfire crew says they weren’t lost

VERNON – The owner of the five puppies rescued by B.C. Wildfire firefighters on the weekend says she and the puppies' mother are very eager for the dogs to be returned.

A B.C. Wildfire Service Facebook post announcing the dogs' rescue by firefighters returning from the Monashee Fire Complex was widely shared and reported by the media, but the dogs' owner Heidi Lang says they shouldn't have been taken in the first place.

"They are not like little pets that get lost," Lang says.

Lang says she owns a 640-acre farm which crosses both sides of Mabel Lake Road, where the dogs were picked up, around 500 metres from her house.

The 12-week old puppies are guardian dogs, a working dog breed, bred to protect livestock that live in a barn on the property, she says, adding the puppies' mom is also looking for the dogs.

B.C. Wildfire says the rescued puppies would be taken to the B.C. SPCA in Vernon today, Aug. 21, and the dogs would have been taken there immediately but the animal shelter was closed over the weekend.

Lang says she plans to pick-up the dogs from the shelter today but doesn't see why they couldn't have been returned directly to her.

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