Turtle Gardens Rescue Flooded - Mandatory Evacuation

Longterm followers of this blog know that I am in awe of the work of Dave and Yvette Labatte, who rescue, rehabilitate and rehome dogs in northern BC. In the past 36 hours, the river near them has overflown its bank as a result of heavy rains and a swiftly melting deep snowpack. Much of their property is now under water, and they are being relocated, with 43 dogs, to a trailer on higher ground in town - in boats, wheelbarrows and wading, as the road out is closed.

Those of you who have known me since 2007 or earlier, will remember the Allouette River flood that wiped out the Hearts on Noses Potbellied Pig sanctuary, putting the pig yards under four feet of water, wiping out fences, knocking the shavings shed off its foundation, eroding the land, washing away pig houses, and pouring mud and silt everywhere.

To our shock, the provincial emergency 'flood relief ' covered only flooded homes in which people, not pigs, live. The Hearts on Noses human home was the only thing that didn't flood, and so neither the relief funds nor private insurance paid one cent towards the repairs to the land - or, for that matter, to the house, into which we had to move nearly 30 wet, terrified, pooping and peeing piggies.

And so I know first hand some of the devastation flooding causes and the money and labour to make the property once again secure and comfortable for the animals.

If you have a wee bit of money to spare, please check out the Turtle Gardens Rescue blog for ways to donate.

Here is a link to CTV's news report on the evacuation of Turtle Gardens: Click here.

And another news report: Click here

And if you have a large cube van (two ton) and you are interested in doing a Turtle Gardens fundraiser garage sale with a truck load of clean, quality, priced and sorted goods - and can pick them up in Duncan on the afternoon of May 29th - please contact me via the 'Email me' link at the side of this blog immediately.