By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
When Golden Rescue sets out to find homes for golden retrievers in uncertain – and sometimes dangerous – situations, it doesn’t stop at the Canadian border.
Organization co-chair Viive Tamm is proud of the 4,150 that have been brought into the program over its 30 years, literally from around the world.
“We have a flight coming in – there’s 40 on that flight, all with families before they arrive,” she said, adding that it’s quite an experience to witness an airport arrival.
Tamm also mentioned that it may be one of the last flights Golden Rescue can accept, due to Canadian regulations that come into effect Sept. 28, banning international dogs from 100-plus countries.
“The shelters we work with in Istanbul and Cairo are literally weeping at the thought. They send so many goldens to us,” she said.
“We are going to try to bring another 150 here before the ban.”
Brighton resident Cynthia Howe got her golden Jenny as a result of her good friend Nancy Beatty’s fundraising that paid for three goldens to come in from Istanbul.
“It was the best feeling to go to Pearson Airport and go to where the people are coming off the plane and see the three crates coming down the ramp,” Howe recalled.
They opened Jenny’s crate, and she immediately flopped onto her back for a belly rub from anyone who might care to oblige.
“We knew immediately she would be a great therapy dog. Everyone just fell in love with her instantly, and she has an endearing quality of lifting her paw to everybody.”
True to Howe’s prediction, Jenny now serves as a St. John Ambulance therapy dog with the Northumberland branch. Still, at home, Jenny will still sometimes show little traits that they figure came from her background of spending at least six months in a shelter with at least 1,000 other dogs.
For example, she is on the small side for a golden, and she tends to climb on to table tops.
“We realized that was probably the safest place for her to be among 1,000 other dogs – goldens are not fighters,” Howe said.
“She arrived with nicks above her eye and full of fleas, but she soon healed.”
Tamm has e-mailed a petition she wants to circulate in advance of new regulations, complete with photos of some of the dogs they have saved – including some before-and-after shots.
“Bubba when found in Istanbul with a mangled leg”
“Bubba #3808 today”
“Jake found on a garbage heap in Cairo”
“Jake #3473 today”
“It doesn’t matter the circumstances, we love them just the same,” she declared.
Tamm is encouraged by a similar restriction enacted in the US that was subsequently relaxed, once they amended their policies and vaccination criteria.
“We are absolutely in favour of whatever regulations they want to put in. In fact, Golden Rescue does way, way, way, way more than the government demands as far as bringing them in, as far as their vaccinations and testing, so we know we are doing way more than what we need to do to keep our families and goldens safe,” she stated.
“There may be some rescue organizations that are not following whatever they need to do, but don’t punish the rest of us who are doing it really well. If anyone can help, we would appreciate as much support as we can get.”
If you are interested in finding out more, visit https://action.animaljustice.ca/page/108873/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=u4nbdk2t
