The town may be reintroducing a free rabies vaccination program for dogs before Christmas if the territorial government agrees to fund the initiative.

Sara Brown, Inuvik's senior administrative officer, said the town sent a proposal about two weeks ago requesting that the government provide a supply of vaccines to the community. She said she's optimistic that funding will be approved, and so far Brown said she's gotten "good vibes" from the government.

She said the main reason for the program is to target dogs "that wouldn't get vaccinated otherwise."

The municipality also wants owners to register their animals with the town free of charge. Information including the animal owner's name and address as well as the dog's photograph would be registered in the town database. The dogs would be given a rabies tag with a registration number on the back to identify them.

"We want to be able to return the dogs if they get picked up," Brown said.

Otherwise the dogs will be kept at the pound until they are claimed.

Last month the former town council agreed to waive the registration fee.

Currently the territorial government provides rabies vaccines for communities in the Northwest Territories who don't have a veterinarian to administer the shots.

Brown said the town shouldn't be penalized for having a veterinarian.

"We're arguing that we have a vet but you should be supplying the vaccine if you're doing it for the other communities," she said.

The town is proposing to hold a weekend clinic, probably at the fire hall, where it would pay veterinarian Peter Krizan to administer the shots. Brown said the plan comes with a lot of support from local mushers, many of whom have agreed to volunteer at the clinic if it goes ahead.

Brown said the town has set aside money to pay for the vet fees and registrations, but she couldn't estimate how much it would cost until the town knows how many vaccines it will get.

"It depends on the demand," she said.

If demand is high, she said, the town would probably push to offer free vaccination clinics regularly.

Marie-Anick Elie, a local musher who owns 30 dogs, said she supports the rabies vaccination program for the community as well as for her fellow mushers. She said it costs her $80 per dog to have them vaccinated.

"We have so many dogs," she said. It's expensive but it's great that Peter (Krizan), the town, and hopefully the GNWT would want to support this for the whole community."