1. Rescues and Shelters!! Everything you need to know and more!!

2. What are they for? Rescues and shelters are for helping abandoned and homeless animals find a new home.

3. What are rescues?? A rescue is an organization that is dedicated to pet adoption. They take in any unwanted, abandoned, abused or stray pets that are in need of new homes. They usually do not kill the animal instead they keep trying to find the right place for the animal. Many are created by and run by volunteers who take the animals in and care for them. That includes training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behavioural problems. Rescues could be for any animal including rabbits, cats, dogs, horses, cows, pigs, snakes, chickens and many more!

4. What are shelters?? In the past shelters were known as pounds where animals would be poorly treated and kept in small pens. Today there is a much better organization called a shelter. Shelters are a facility that houses the homeless, lost or abandoned animals (usually cats & dogs), but they might still put the animal down that is not adopted in a certain period of time or has behaviour issues. The goal of today's shelter is to provide a safe environment until the animal is claimed. Animals may be tested to see what type of home they need like: a home without cats or a home without other dogs.

5. Winnipeg Animal Services WAS or Winnipeg Animal Services is a shelter that picks up stray dogs and finds new homes for some of them. The ones who can’t be returned to their homes are sent to another organization , euthanized or put up for adoption. Some of the dogs are kept in the shelter and others are at foster homes. WAS has volunteers who help people find the dog that suits them. If you would like to know more they are on Facebook or visit their website.

6. P.A.W.S. P.A.W.S. or Portage Animal Welfare Societyis a rescue and their mission is “To improve the quality of life of stray and abandoned companion animals in both the City and R.M. of Portage la Prairie”. They take in animals that have run out of time at their local pound. The animals go to foster homes until they are adopted! P.A.W.S does lots of fundraisers for the care, and expenses for the animals. P.A.W.S. also has a website where you can see what animals they have for adoption.

7. Manitoba Canine Recovery Many of you may not know that my family was a rescue. We would mainly take in dogs, cats, and chickens. We were a rescue for almost 6 months but then we decided to take a break. We have adopted out many dogs and some chickens. The cats we had are ours now except for Clover who found a home. Some of the names of the dogs that we have adopted out are Nikki, Gabby, Toby, Baby New Years, Joe Murry, Cassie, Moe, Jack, Rosy, Stella and Snowball . We still have Lily and Shasta. My experience with the rescue was great. My favourite part was going to the different places and bringing home new animals for us to help. With my awesome experience I would love to have a rescue of my own someday!

8. Gabby This is Gabby, one of our fosters. She is one of my favourite dogs that we fostered. Gabby is a Collie.

9. Rosie Rosie was found on the side of the road with her ten puppies, one died and the other nine found homes. Rosie had no where to go because she was aggressive with other dogs, but my mom fixed that and she found a good home.

10. Joe murray Joe Murray lived on a reserve for about two years. A nice teacher fed him every day but wanted to find him a home. We took him in and found out that he does not like cats, but otherwise was a great dog. He had a lot of scars from fighting.

11. Joe murray This is Joe after he was rescued. He was fostered by Mrs. Robinson for a little while and was adopted by Mrs. McNeill.

12. Cassie Cassie and her brother Moe came from a puppy mill in South-eastern MB. They were living a metal crate outside for a year and were very scared of people. Our family helped them to trust people and found them both good homes.

13. Stella This is one of the American Eskimos that we rescued from a breeder. She lived in an outdoor run and had one baby, Snowball on a property that had about seventy other Eskimos. Stella is now with her new mom and dad in Penticton ,BC.

14. toby Toby is also from a reserve. He was found with his buddy Baby New Years in freezing cold weather with no shelter, no food and no water. He was scared of other dogs, but we helped him and here he is in his new home in Winnipeg.

15. Lily and jack Lily, Jack and their sister were dumped on Mrs. Carlson’s driveway a couple of months ago. They hadn’t had much attention, were really dirty, skinny and full of worms. Lily is the only one still looking for a home.

16. Shasta Shasta is a mini Eskimo and is from the same place as Stella. Shasta was kept in the house with many other dogs. She only likes to listen to one person, my mom and loves to go outside with Angel, our adopted dog. She squeals evey time.

17. Marigold Mary inspired my family to help more dogs. She lived for seven years in a grain bin and was forced to have puppies all the time. When she came to our house she was terrified of everything and didn’t know how to act like a dog. She is much better now, but it took a long time and she still has a lot of emotional scars.

18. Thank You!!!