Friendly giants find homes through rescue.
Jack is one of the large dogs who has found a home through Friendly Giants Dog Rescue.
Submitted photo
Kim Knapp began a dog rescue organization in 2009 after
friends told her about the number of large dogs being put down due to a lack of
space and resources.
“Basically we rescue, we rehabilitate and adopt out dogs
that are sitting in high-kill shelters,” she said. “I started to see the
growing need as people are discarding animals. We’re trying to educate people
about proper ownership, spaying and neutering. People who think there's no
alternative to behavioral issues except to dump them in a shelter.”
Small dogs are adopted more quickly, said Knapp. So she
created the Friendly Giants Dog Rescue to help find foster and adoptive homes
for large and giant-breed dogs.
“Large and giants are usually the first on the euthanasia
list,” said Knapp, who's been involved with rescue groups for 20 years. “They
sometimes only have 72 hours to get out of the shelter before they're put to
death.”
The rescue is based out of Ottawa
and Sarnia,
Ont., but there is no physical shelter. Instead, Knapp relies on foster
families to house the rescue dogs until they’re adopted.
Katimavik resident Brenda Doughty has been fostering an
American bulldog-mastiff mix and is in the process of adopting the one-year-old
pooch after finding the dog’s listing on kijiji.ca.
“Because of his medical condition they wanted to have me
foster him until we were aware of how much medical attention he would need,”
said Doughty, who took up fundraising initiatives for the rescue after becoming
a foster home.
The rescue pays for all the medical expenses for rescued
dogs until they’re formally adopted, the funds coming from Knapp’s pocket.
“Everything is funded out of pocket but the adoption fees
generally cover what is spent on the dog,” said Knapp, who has seen numerous
medical cases – including heartworm infestations and a dog that needed its leg
amputated.
The not-for-profit rescue takes in dogs from Canada and the United States, which has a larger
number of high-kill shelters.
“They have more gassing pounds than we do,” said Doughty. “Dogs,
when they're brought in either as strays or owner surrenders to certain
shelters, they have a policy on how long they can keep them depending on how
busy they are. Friendly Giants Dog Rescue goes in and rescues the dog before
it’s euthanized.”
The rescue and foster homes assess each dog for temperament
and behavior – if the dog is good around children, if it’s skittish or if it
likes a lot of attention – and then each dog is given a profile on the rescue’s
website, kijiji.ca and usedottawa.com.
Sometimes, as in Doughty’s case, the foster family becomes
the adoptive family. It can take months to find dogs a home and in that time
period the family becomes attached and can’t bear to part with the animal, she
said.
The rescue has about 30 dogs available for adoption between
the Ottawa and Sarnia branch. In 2009, 35 dogs found homes.
Last year, that number rose to 140.
“This year we’ve already adopted out 40 to 50 dogs and we’re
only in February,” said Knapp, who just held a meet and greet-type fundraiser
at Dogs at Camp, which is located 20 minutes west of Kanata.
Families were able to come out and meet dogs up for
adoption.
“(We) thought it would be a great idea to hold an event
where people could come meet all the dogs in one place,” said Knapp.
Five dogs found homes through the event, said Doughty, and
some applications are still pending.
Knapp added that the rescue is in need of foster homes in
the Ottawa
area.
“There's a never ending supply of dogs but finding good
committed foster homes is a big deal,” she said. “We’re really desperate for
foster homes.”
Friendly Giants will be at the Rideau Carleton Raceway on
the first Sunday of every month for its flea market.
“We’re going to have a little booth to talk to people if
they have questions,” said Doughty, who added they’ll be selling things like
t-shirts and have profiles of dogs waiting to be adopted.
The rescue is also putting on a dinner and dance to help
raise funds on June 25. Ticket prices and information for the event will be
posted on the website in the near future, said Doughty.
For more information on Friends Giants Dog Rescue, visit the
website at www.friendlygiantsdogrescue.com
or email friendlygiantsdogrescue@gmail.com.
jessica.cunha@metroland.com