Owner wants dogs back

Photo: BC Wildfire Service

UPDATED: 1:39 p.m.

The owner of the five puppies found wandering by the side of Mabel Lake Road wants her dogs back, today. 

Heidi Lang contacted Castanet to say that the 12-week-old puppies were taken by BC Wildfire Service firefighters, not rescued.  

"They were on the side of the road but on our farm," said Lang. "We have 640 acres and the road goes through the farm." 

Lang says that the puppies are guardian dog puppies. A Guardian dog is a type of pastoral dog bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators.

Lang says the location where the puppies were found was only 500 metres from the house. 

Lang claims that a couple of different people spoke with the firefighters, including her husband, and told them the puppies belonged to a farm not far from where the dogs were found. 

In the BC Wildfire post, which has been shared on social media thousands of times, it stated that the firefighters found a group of puppies lost on the side of the road. 

"After contacting local authorities, and determining that there were no houses or properties nearby that the dogs could have wandered from, the crew decided to bring the pups back with them. They are now being well fed and cared for, and the SPCA has been contacted," stated BCWS.

However, Lang says the BC SPCA does not know where the dogs are, and that it was RCMP who told her the dogs were still in the care of a firefighter. 

The BC Wildfire Service told Castanet that the firefighters did contact RCMP, and because the SPCA was closed for the weekend the puppies were taken back to the parent's home of one of the firefighters. 

Whether the dogs were taken out of confusion or with a malicious intent, Lang says she just wants them back today. 

ORIGINAL 7:44 a.m.

Firefighters working in the Monashee Complex rescued a group of lost puppies over the weekend. 

The BC Wildfire Service posted the heart-warming story as it signed off for the evening Sunday.

"While heading back from working on a fire in the Monashee Complex in the Kamloops Fire Centre, this Initial Attack Crew found a group of lost puppies on the side of the road," stated the post on social media.

"After contacting local authorities, and determining that there were no houses or properties nearby that the dogs could have wandered from, the crew decided to bring the pups back with them. They are now being well fed and cared for, and the SPCA has been contacted."

The post has already been shared more than 1,000 times and more than 300 people have commented.

One person posted, "I don’t know which is sweeter, the puppies or the crew holding them. Thank you."

While another person stated, "You are all doing such a great job battling the fires where needed, these lucky pups were at the right spot at the right time to be rescued by you. Thank you for all you do."

According to the BC Wildfire Service website, for 2018 more than 1,890 fires have been reported in the province, burning more than 604,675  hectares of land. In the Kamloops fire centre there have been 376 fires reported, with more than 36,000 hectares of land consumed by wildfire.