In case anyone hasn't seen this yet, there's an excellent article by Linda Diebel in The Toronto Star called Ernest’s big adventure on the underground railroad for dogs. It's about a lovely Lab named Ernest and how he got to be saved from death by gunshot and brought to Toronto Animal Services South. It gives an indication of the amount of effort put in by many good people to get a dog rescued.
It's kind of funny that Toronto Animal Services South is now a well regarded dog shelter especially since only a few years ago they were considered by most people in the rescue community to be just another typical city dog pound where unwanted dogs were unceremoniously deposited and euthanized.
The change has been almost like night and day. Nearly 400 dogs, over 1000 cats and almost 300 small animals were adopted out to new homes from TAS-S last year. The vast majority of those were direct adoptions through the facility but TAS-S also works closely with several rescues in the city and, as the Star article describes, rescues in other jurisdictions.
It goes to show how much affect a few dedicated individuals can have on an institution, transforming it from a place of general misery to a place where hope is given to so many.
That change at TAS is nothing short of amazing. The staff there are great and Jen and James are two wonderful people. I have gotten two animals from TAS who are the best in the world. Loving and well-behaved members of my family. I also suggested to other people that they get their pets at TAS and they have been thrilled with their choices. Funny, I had the same impression of TAS but it is a clean, caring facility that could have taught THS at its worst a few things. I remember once going into THS and the dog area was swarming with little gnats. I couldn't believe that a rescue facility was in that condition. Kudos to James especially, he has made stunning changes at TAS and the rest of the staff also. Also thanks for Ming and MeiMei.
ReplyDeleteFinally, the good City of Toronto has realized there is a animal crisis. The situation is very slowly moving from hopelessness to hope. I have been waiting for this epiphany for a long time. Now if only animal protection laws were stronger... owners need to be severely punished for animal abuse/neglect.
ReplyDeleteExcellent article. It's good to see Jaimie getting some credit for his incredible work. He's made so much difference to so many.
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