Dozens of puppies arrive at Sudbury shelter in need of homes

‘Bark bus’ rolls into Greater Sudbury Dozens of rescue dogs from the north arrived in Sudbury on Monday looking for a new start with a new family.

A busload of dozens of dogs and puppies arrived in Sudbury over the weekend in need of homes.

The dogs were transported via the Bark Bus, which has transported thousands of animals to shelters in southern Ontario.

The team of volunteers made 18-hour trips in blustery conditions, travelling from northwestern communities.

PetSave director Jill Pessot said some of the puppies were orphans and only a few days old. During the trip, some of the drivers had to learn how to nurse the puppies to keep them alive.

"We received a call that we had a community in dire straights, so we agreed to take a load of dogs," said Pessot.

Sixty-three dogs were dropped off at PetSave Sudbury, a non-profit organization, assisted by numerous volunteers.

Most of the dogs are under a year old and a third of them will be going to other shelters.

Pessot put out the call on social media seeking help. PetSave is in the midst of moving locations and she said there were challenges taking on the additional dogs.

"Because of our new location, a lot of our equipment had already been moved to our new location which will be open in a couple weeks, so we had a great team show up," she said.

Chantal Gillis has been a volunteer at PetSave for more than five years and has helped when the rescues were dropped off via the Bark Bus.

"There were volunteers washing puppies, which is a fun job," Gillis said.

"Helping with feeding, walking, there's so many aspects to it but overall it went exceptionally well."

EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE

Gillis said seeing the dogs arriving is emotional.

"I get a well of emotions," she said. "And it's overwhelming to see the number of people that can help."

Pessot said in the last few the years, the organization has had to limit the help it gives to northern communities due to the capacity limits.

"Populations in the dog world have gotten out of control and we're in a crisis situation," she said.

The new facility is just up the street from the old facility in Lively. It is 7,500 square feet -- almost double the previous building -- but still, there's not enough space.

"That (new) building is already filled, so we were hoping to have more space, but our demand is so great, we will fill it quite quickly," Pessot said.

She said the situation is worse now than it was 20 years ago.

"With the pandemic, the result of people breeding, the demand was there for dogs, and of course it was also lucrative for people to breed their dogs, but unfortunately it's left us in such a crisis population of dogs," she said.

"We are in big trouble here. It will be decades until we feel an improvement because people still breed their dogs, but there's not enough homes."

Pessot said PetSave is currently desperately in need of foster parents to have a place for the rescues to stay. For the duration that someone is fostering, she said all expenses are paid.

"It doesn’t cost anything. It's just giving us your home for a short period, so we just need someone to donate their home, space and time," Pessot said.

Additionally, PetSave is looking for volunteers. Pet food donations, like pee pads, toys and canned puppy food, are needed.