SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife woman had to apologize to get her family's dog back after her online complaint led to several angry phone calls from supporters to the Great Slave Animal Hospital where the dog was being kept.

The Christensen-Blondin family: Jocelyn, left, Edze, and Grant, are happy that their dog Jake has returned from Great Slave Animal Hospital, where he was kept for 45 days. - Samantha Stokell/NNSL photo

Jocelyn Christensen-Blondin and her family lost their five-year-old black Labrador retriever in early February. On March 30, she saw an NWT SPCA ad in Yellowknifer with a picture of her dog Jake under the name "Winston," pleading with readers to adopt him.

She said she hurried to the vet clinic with two eager children in tow only to find the dog had already been adopted and was about to be shipped to Hay River on April 3. Christensen-Blondin said she was told if she wanted the dog back she would have to pay an $1,880 fee to cover the cost of boarding the animal for 45 days, a city bylaw fine and veterinary services.

The woman said she called the animal hospital repeatedly after Jake went missing but staff members told her the dog wasn't there. Vet clinic staff say they have no record of Christensen-Blondin's calls.

She said her family couldn't afford the fee, but didn't want her dog adopted out of town, so out of desperation and unhappiness with the way she said the hospital had treated her, Christensen-Blondin campaigned to bring attention to the situation by posting a lengthy letter on a local trading website on March 31.

The result was a storm of negative attention towards the animal hospital. Employees there said they suffered harassment and abuse from Christensen-Blondin's supporters. At least 20 people called the hospital on the morning of April 1, some warning that a protest was being planned to get the dog back, said Velcho Petrov, a veterinarian at the hospital.

"I feel personally offended," said Petrov, last Friday. "I feel like we're doing a good job and people are angry at us and saying we charge an arm and a leg for our services."

After getting wind of the controversy, the Hay River resident who was planning to adopt the dog backed away. The vet clinic offered to cut the $1,880 fee in half, but demanded Christensen-Blondin apologize for the letter posted on the trading website before agreeing to give the dog back.

"There were not whole truths in what was documented in the (ad). I was not asking her to apologize for what other people did," said Laureen Schidlowsky, manager of the hospital. "It influenced people and caused an outburst. It could have been settled another way."

On Saturday, April 2, Christensen-Blondin apologized in front of the Yellowknife fire hall to shelter employees, bylaw officers and interested passersby.

"I apologized that it had to get this far," Christensen-Blondin said. "My intent and the result were not the same thing. But the result is dissatisfaction from an issue."

With the apology pronounced and half of the $1,880 fee paid in cash to the hospital, Christensen-Blondin and her family got the dog back.

The hospital has now adopted a policy that forces owners with missing pets to visit the animal shelter at the hospital to see if their pets are being held there, rather than just call.

Schidlowsky recommends that owners micro-chip their pets so if they do go missing, the shelter can immediately identify and contact the owners.

"Why did this happen?" asked Schidlowsky. "The dog had no identification on it. Make sure your pet is micro-chipped, it provides permanent identification."

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