Merritt ‘pet sleuth’ rescues pets from evacuated homes and reunites them with their owners

Over four years after working with the RCMP in Merritt, British Columbia, Const. David Feller received a new title: animal detective.

Mounted police on Tuesday named Feller their “own pet sleuth” for helping rescue pets from evacuated homes and reuniting them with their humans, who were ordered to leave Merritt on November 15 afterwards. that a state of emergency was declared due to flooding.

Feller says he’s saved more than 100 pet birds, cats, lizards and hamsters, feeding them for one to two days before returning them to their owners, which he’s trying to locate using social media.

“I was happy to help these people,” he said on Tuesday to host Shelley Joyce on the CBC show. Dawn Kamloops.

“I know a lot of them are gone [their homes] with very few possessions, and it’s pretty hard for them to leave their animals behind… so I figured I could just give their lives some comfort. “

About 1,500 Merritt residents were allowed to return home on Tuesday as part of the city’s three stops. “Return home plan. “

Kimberly Jylha says she left her Maine Coon cross at home in Spring Island Mobile Home Park, near the north shore of the Coldwater River. She says she appreciates Feller’s help in feeding the cat animal feed donated by local businesses.

“Knowing that there is someone out there looking out for him makes coming home a little easier,” Jylha told CBC in a separate interview.

“[Feller] is an amazing man… he needs to be recognized for what he does. “

Nikki Stapleton, also a resident of Spring Island Mobile Home Park, says she is grateful to Feller for saving her pet fish.

“He saved my fish, put the aquarium, the pump and everything to safety… [he] managed to save three of the four fish and then delivered them to a friend’s house, ”she said. “He would risk anything to check and save the fish – it’s amazing!

Taylor Cox, a resident of Lower Nicola, BC, thanks Feller for bringing her grandmother’s cats, who has lived in Merritt for six decades, to the local SPCA.

“He just did an amazing job,” Cox said. “Cats mean everything to my grandmother she cares about them more than humans.”

Feller says he continues to work with the SPCA to track down animals left behind and ensure they are well fed and cared for until their humans return home.