In late November 2014, Bright Eyes was contacted by New Hope Dog Rescue in Saskatoon. They had been contacted by a woman on a farm in Southwest SK who was overwhelmed with dogs. It had come to the point that she was not eating properly herself, just so that she could feed the dogs. She had been receiving drop-offs (every farmer has room for another dog, correct?) and despite her efforts to try and separate males and females, accidents and litters happen. With few funds for spay and neuter costs, the situation was out of control, so she reached out for help from Bright Eyes, the closest rescue to her location. It was determined that the co-ordination and communication for the large scale rescue would be our responsibility. A new experience for Bright Eyes, they found that with with an estimate of in excess of 20 dogs, the co-ordination issues were many. It was hard to determine the exact number of dogs at first as she was housing dogs in every small outbuilding on the farm to protect them from the elements. Most of the dogs were social with her but were fearful of strangers, some were fearful of all humans, but all dogs were social with other dogs and cats. It was quickly determined that most of the dogs would need extensive rehabilitative time in rescue prior to being suitable for adoption.

The involvement of multiple rescues was required to absorb the volume of dogs present on the farm. The plan was to remove all vulnerable dogs (moms and pups) immediately dividing them between 5 rescues in 3 provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The first transport off the farm involved 3 adults and 10 puppies on Dec 7, 2014. We returned to the farm on Dec 9 to do a final count, to take pictures of the remaining dogs, and to provide enough quality dog food to feed them until spots opened to move them into rescue. At that time, 2 more dogs, Sky and Honor, came into Bright Eyes’ care. In the New Year, the rest of the dogs were taken into rescue. The five rescues ran a special fundraiser to spay, neuter and vaccinate six of the dogs for the owner so she could have them back as her companions without her worrying about more puppies. A total of 22 dogs and puppies, as well as one horse, were re-homed from the farm. 29 lives, including the owner, were changed that winter. Scout, Leonard and Howard were three of nine dogs fostered and re-homed through Bright Eyes Dog Rescue. See Scout’s Rescue Tail for his amazing story.