Project Rescue: Mike!

We here at the BH are thrilled to announce the launch of Project Rescue Mike!

Again and again people come into the shop with foster/rescue pups. They volunteer their time, open their hearts and homes to a dog in need. This is an amazing act of selflessness and of kindness! It is also expensive. Vet bills, food and accessories all come out of the foster parent’s pocket. Because so many of us live paycheque to paycheque, as much as we want to, saving a life isn’t feasible.

We met Dee Thompson when she came into the shop with her foster pup Buddy. Instantly we all fell in love with Buddy and when it came time to find Buddy his forever home we were on a mission. It only took a couple of weeks and Buddy was adopted by Marc Brennan. As sad as it was to see Buddy go we were all overjoyed that he’d found a home in Marc’s family.

Dee emailed me early the morning of October 15th desperately searching for anyone to help out another dog on death row.

Mike is a lab mix who was neglected by his family, so much so that as he grew, his puppy collar became embedded in his neck. It needed to be surgically removed. Open wounds and scars make this pup easy to pass up in a shelter.  Dee explained to me that Mike has been passed up for four weeks and he’s come to the end of the line, October 19th Mike would be placed in the gas chamber.

Having 2 dogs, a baby, my own business and an extremely busy husband I wasn’t sure how I could help…wait a minute, I own a dog store. What an amazing platform to rescue dogs!  I reached out to Chibi, Holly, my amazing friend Rachelle and Jamie Fitzpatrick one of our suppliers to see if collectively we could save Mike. Chibi, Rachelle, Dee and Lauren have offered their homes, Holly has volunteered her time and energy, Jamie and Champion Pet Food have donated 2 large bags of Acana large breed dog food! Wow, here we are a day later, an official foster group!

Our plan is unfolding as I write this. As it stands right now it looks like a late night road trip to Buffalo to pick Mike up is in cards for Saturday.

I will sign off with quote from Dee and pictures of Mike: ” we’re like an undergound railroad for dogs!”

Poor Mike. These pictures really shows his sad and lonely past but we are going to make sure his future is bright and full of love. Stay tuned for updates on this handsome guy.