07/09/2025
If you are on our local pet pages you may have seen that a dog was abandoned with a note tied to its collar. Thanks to some amazing animal heros he is now safe with us.
Let's talk about the dog situation:
We are not here to judge. Pet ownership is hard, and the vast majority of folks are kind, caring and want the best for their pets. All of us say 'I'd live in my car before giving up my pet', but few actually do. And that's OK, especially in our current economic and housing situation. But it's important to talk about WHY we (and every other shelter), are FULL to the brim with large breed dogs, so we can all work towards a solution.
Animals come to us two ways. 1. As a stray, or 2. As an owner surrender. We are required to prioritize animals that arrive as strays, we are their safe haven while their owners are located. Unfortunately, owners don't always come forward to redeem their pets. PG doesn't have a 'stray dog' population, so every dog that comes in as a stray and isn't redeemed is, essentially, abandoned.
The vicious circle that we are stuck in is that shelters are too full to accept owner surrenders, so we have a wait list. Responsible owners patiently wait for us to have space, while irresponsible owners abandon their dogs, who then end up with us anyway. As more dogs are dumped, we have less room for owner surrenders, and the responsible people have to wait even longer. Adoptions for large dogs are SLOW. All across the province, every rescue we talk to is in the same, 'just-staying-afloat' boat. Any dogs that are big, energetic, untrained or in need of behavior help, are waiting for many months to be adopted.
We know the people reading this aren't the people abandoning dogs, so how to we get the message out that PG is at critical capacity? That 'accidental litters' grow up and fill the shelters?
There's no quick or easy solution, there are simply more large dogs in Prince George than there are homes. So, other than convincing every single person to fix their pets (trust us, we're trying) how can we fix this cycle??
Anyways, meet Grimble. He's frickin' awesome, and we are grateful that the people caring for him tried their best, and left him with a letter. At least we know his likes, dislikes, and other essential details that will help him find a home. He's a tad nervous, but very gentle and kind. We'll update more as we get to know him better.
