he Furever team interviewed Brenda Bunn, Founder of the all breed rescue organization LOYAL Rescue, a member of the Furever Network. LOYAL Rescue is known as the Yorkie rescue in Ontario, Canada. Though it is an all breed rescue in its overall mission, it tends to work primarily with small breeds in each of the territories in which they operate – Ontario, Michigan, Ohio and New York. We’ve excerpted a portion of Brenda’s excellent interview here, along with the video itself.
LOYAL Rescue makes puppy mills rescues a priority
I founded LOYAL Rescue seven years ago now. We currently have about 80 dogs in rescue and about 145 volunteers in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio and New York. Last year we adopted approximately 260 dogs out. I think we’ve hit 300 in the past so that’s about what we average 250 to 300 dogs adopted every year.
I kind of jokingly say that we specialize in rescue GOKW – God Only Knows What. We don’t care what the breed is, if we have a foster spot for the dog then we take that dog in. Generally its mostly smaller dogs. We try and take in puppy mill dogs if we can, that’s our passion to help, but we will rescue any kind of dogs as long as we can get a foster home. If you decided to take a pet from the our shelter, then pay attention to our recommendations for small dog water bottle, which will help you to provide maximum comfort for your dog!
LOYAL Rescue is known as the Yorkie Rescue in Ontario
There’s no breed specific but we are also known as the Yorkie rescue in Ontario. So we do take in an extra-ordinary amount of Yorkies compared to most rescues. We probably have 50 Yorkies in rescue at any one time.
People surrender dogs for any number of reasons. With the puppy mill dogs, the mill operators are finished breeding the dogs so we get asked to take them in. It might be a senior moving into a retirement residence and they can’t take care of the dog anymore. We had one CKC registered breeder who feel ill very suddenly and her family surrendered her 8 dogs to us at once. Any number of reasons.
A very large majority is neglect – it could be if they were a stray they can’t take care of themselves. They struggle to survive, to eat. A lot of times its due to people just not taking care of their animals, then they surrender them when they are tired of them, or when they have other things to do, or the kids have gone away to college now … the “justifications” are endless.
Under the care of LOYAL Rescue
When dogs come into our care, the first thing we do is have them fully vet checked. They are all spayed or neutered. A very large majority of our dogs need to have dental procedures done, an issue prevalent with small dogs and Yorkies in particular. They get their vaccines, they are heartworm tested, any medical needs are addressed. Of course LOYAL Rescue covers all those costs.
They can be with us anywhere from one week to years. We don’t abandon them whether we find a home or not.
Then the dogs go into the foster home where the foster families work with any of these medical, or any behavioural issues. Finally, when LOYAL Rescue and the fosters feel the dog is ready, their notice for adoption goes up on our website.
Help a Yorkie Rescue
We applaud the hard work of rescue organizations that help small dogs and Yorkies in need, including Furever Members LOYAL Rescue and we urge you to help. Here’s how you can:
- Visit LOYAL Rescue and volunteer your time
- Offer to be a loving foster home – critical for every dog rescue organization!
- Give a small donation
And did you also know that you can help by means other than time or money?
More awareness means more dogs adopted and re-homed, so you can help just by sharing and spreading the word!
Take a few minutes to share on Facebook and Twitter – we wrote the status update for you!
Copy and Paste on Facebook
I just learned about LOYAL Rescue at Furever.ca! If you’d like to adopt, volunteer or just show your support click http://bit.ly/14Xb5GS
Copy and Paste as a Tweet
Help a Yorkie rescue by visiting LOYAL Rescue at @fureverca! http://bit.ly/14Xb5GS