SMART - Siberian Malamute Alaskan Rescue Team INC.
Rescuing SMART dogs the SMART way!
04/10/2025
DEADLINE FRIDAY!!!!
FOSTER NEEDED! (All expenses are covered, unless caused by foster negligence - fosters must sign liability waiver contract and accept responsibility and expenses for incidents caused by door/gate escapes, etc.)
If not in foster by Friday, she will be euthanized at the shelter. Located in southern Ontario, will be transported to placement.
Good with kids
Unknown with cats
Ok with dogs, but ability to separate from own pets is preferred just in case.
SOUND ON for additional information in the video's audio!
Adoptable Everest thought that a pool noodle was a fun toy to try to chew! What a silly boy he is! Where’s his forever humans? Once he knows you he becomes the silliest dog! He would love to find his new people!
30/09/2025
TRANSPORT IS STILL NEEDED!
Transport is needed on Friday, October 3 and Monday, October 6 as one of our fosters is going away for a weekend.
October 3 - must be picked up by 11am
Leg 1: Peterborough to Marmora - Barbara Benallick-Hutchison
Leg 2: Marmora to Tweed - NEEDED
October 6 - flexible
Leg 3: Tweed to Marmora - NEEDED
Leg 4: Marmora to Peterborough- NEEDED
If you can please help Everest, let us know what time and section you can do! We pay 20 cents per km
28/09/2025
Spencer would like to thank Michele Beauseigle for sponsoring a bag of food for him!
Some more silly pictures of Everest and there’s two funny videos of him reacting to a bone dog Halloween decoration! He’s quite the character! Where’s his forever people?
28/09/2025
Since so many naysayers do not believe the extent of our financial situation or the reasoning for our policy change and keep asking for gofundme links, here they are.
https://gofund.me/5844efc96. The $13000 debt for Maverick's door escape from his foster home. It deposits right to the Foster's bank account.
https://gofund.me/5562df8f1. For the $1200 debt for Sugar's door escape. Pending confirmation, it also deposits right to the foster.
With 2 door incidents in a year resulting in dog fights, both with first time (for us) fosters, it's not a risk we can take going forward. Unless any future fosters are willing to sign out new foster contract that holds them liable in such situations (which our current fosters won't do) we have to go back to being facility only. Which requires a significant expense, but protects us financially in the long-run as well as protects our dogs and public dogs.
To make matters worse, in order to save the 10k fine for Maverick and his life, our legal counsel was able to get the province to drop all their demands, except that he must remain with the foster home, or with us, indefinitely. That means we are still liable for in the event of a future incident . Which is NOT something we can afford obviously.
We will continue to operate as best we can, but without financial support, and with all the negative comments, lack of adoptions for over a year (but we had 2 this month- yay!!!!!!), and constantly being kicked while already down, it's not looking good.
27/09/2025
After nearly 4 years waiting for a home, Shadow has left the building!!!
Happy trails, Shadow. Now please be good!
25/09/2025
Here’s some more pictures of adoptable Everest enjoying himself! He really likes the foster’s neighbours kids as you can tell from the pictures. He’s a very lovey dog. Where’s his people?
25/09/2025
Here’s a couple short videos of adoptable Everest playing with a cat toy, a ball, and one of the other dogs in his foster home! He would love to go home with you!
23/09/2025
Transport is needed on Friday, October 3 and Monday, October 6 as one of our fosters is going away for a weekend.
October 3 - must be picked up by 11am
Leg 1: Peterborough to Marmora - Barbara Benallick-Hutchison
Leg 2: Marmora to Tweed - NEEDED
October 6 - flexible
Leg 3: Tweed to Marmora - NEEDED
Leg 4: Marmora to Peterborough- NEEDED
If you can please help Everest, let us know what time and section you can do! We pay 20 cents per km
23/09/2025
The rest of Sugar's photos from her photoshoot! They were corrupted, but after a bunch of trial and error with the photographer, they came through!
Sugar is in desperate and urgent need for a pet-free placement. She's an absolute doll with humans, but she needs to be a solo pet.
Due to an incident that resulted in her escape and an altercation with another dog, an extensive vet bill, and possibly future ramifications, she is now muzzled at all times until she can be moved. Please, please help her!
21/09/2025
Broken record here! We posted a few days ago about being completely out of money, and we received 3 donations totalling $90. Thank you!!!!
But, when getting ready for bed last night,
this bill was tossed in my email inbox with a request for immediate reimbursement. We do not have it!
In the interest of transparency, Sugar snuck out her fosters front door and got into an altercation with a neighbours dog. This is the bill for that dog.
PLEASE HELP US PAY IT. THIS IS THE BREAKING POINT. IN ORDER TO PAY IT AS IT SITS, WE NEED TO CLOSE AND FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY. The foster has paid the bill.
This incident has also lead to an immediate policy change and the need to move, build a new big kennel building to house all of our available dogs, and cease using foster homes entirely. This also requires a significant amount of money. The other option is permanently closing our doors.
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SMART
I, Melissa Van Grootel, started out in rescue in 2009. Initially, I was a cross-poster and had an archived list of every husky/malamute/alaskan I could find on pet finder, adoptapet, petharbour, and various other places for people to be able to see them all in one place. From cross-posting, I moved to arranging transports for various rescues and individuals until 2 groups took over the transport network and took the rescue world by storm with their amazing abilities. Near the end of my reign as a transport coordinator, I started fostering. Fostering started as overnighting dogs who were on transport, and moved to when my rescue life really began.
In August, 2014, almost a year after moving to the country, I took on 11 Alaskan Huskies as foster dogs for a rescue group. 11 dogs at once in addition to my then 8 seemed like a lot of work at first. Little did I know, those Alaskan Huskies would be difficult to adopt out as they were all retired sled dogs and didn’t have the typical ‘husky look’ that is so sought after. The first of that batch of foster dogs was not adopted until a little over 4 months of them arriving, and the last of them were transferred to other rescues, with a few adoptions in there, after almost 8 months.
Immediately after that batch left, I stepped into action to assist a fellow musher in doing a drastic downsizing in 2014/2015. In this particular case, the majority of the dogs stayed with the owner until they were adopted. I posted the photos and wrote the bios for each dog, and every applicant went through the adoption process. Only, instead of me making the decision where dogs go, the owner made that call. Each dog was adopted on a contract that required dogs be returned to the owner if things did not work out.
As I was finishing up that mission, and struggling to rehome the last couple of dogs, Alaskan Huskies once again, I was approached by a rescue which hadn’t operated in years, in March 2016. If I accepted the offer to run that rescue as I was already running mine, it would allow doors to open having an official name, and funding would be an option, should I accept the offer. I accepted the offer, and ran that rescue successfully until June 2018 when circumstances beyond control caused a break-up.
I took a couple of month “break”, but still networked dogs and took in returned dogs as per contract. At the end of August, I was alerted to a super sweet girl in a shelter that needed help, and I decided I was ready to start up again. I pulled her with the assistance of another rescue, got her into foster-to-adopt, and so began my brand new rescue all over again.
I pondered for awhile on a name, and operated under my kennel name for the time being, until a name finally popped into my head. SMART. Siberian Malamute Alaskan Rescue Team. Why SMART? Well, There are never enough Siberian Rescues in Canada. There is only one other Malamute rescue in Ontario, and there is NO Alaskan Husky Rescue in Ontario. These three breeds are not the easiest to adopt and typically all-breed rescues and shelters don’t fully understand them. These three breeds are also super SMART. Two meanings in one! SMART dogs being rescued the SMART way.
Here at SMART, we assist owners who can keep their dogs with them until a home is found, we also do shelter intakes based on foster availability and suitability for each dog, and we crosspost for other rescues/shelters. We list dogs across North America, and can do physical intakes from Ontario, Michigan (extreme North only), Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana, northern Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon and Washington at this time. Adopters/surrenders must meet transport along this corridor at the date/time set out by transport, regardless of day or night. We also provide education, not just on the differences between the three breeds and how to keep them, but even on general dog-related issues. We attend various events all year long and are happy to spread our wealth of knowledge with you. How can we assist you?
