The term "dog shelter" often fills our heads with sad images of barking dogs in crammed cages — or worse. But that's not the case at the Dog Tales rescue shelter in King City, Canada. The facility is located on 50 acres and features walking trails, large fenced-in paddocks, and therapy pools for the dogs. The dogs are also walk eight times a day. Sounds more like a spa!
Founded in 2014 by a married couple, Danielle Eden and Rob Scheinberg, the shelter focuses on rehabilitating elderly, abused, and disabled dogs that are usually the last to find homes. The couple visits dogs all over the world who are in need of some TLC because they want every furry friend to have a chance.
This year, Danielle made an epic move when she visited one particular shelter in Israel that broke her heart. Reportedly, the shelter was infested with rats, dogs were crammed in cages and they had ticks and sores all over their bodies.
"Danielle and Rob have four dogs of their own who they found on the street in Israel," Clare Forndran, a Dog Tales media specialist, told BuzzFeed. "Since they're both from Israel, they love rescuing dogs from this place that holds significance for them."
Danielle is a woman on a mission. "When Danielle visits other shelters, she'll usually make a list of 10 to 20 dogs with serious medical needs and she'll bring them back to Dog Tales where we can care for them," Forndran said. "But this situation was different," Forndarn told Buzzfeed, adding that the dogs at this particular Israeli shelter were merely thrown loaves of bread to eat, and left to fight over them.
Danielle had seen enough at this so-called shelter, so she did something remarkable: She bought the entire shelter and all 250 of its dogs on the spot! At least 25 dogs were well enough to travel back to Canada with her — and that was a great start.
The shelter take over a month to complete; Danielle immediately brought in vets because the dogs, according to Forndran, were in need of urgent care. She also hired a crew to clean up the shelter and put the dogs on healthy diets.
Next up, 90 dogs were relocated within Israel to shelters that Danielle had worked with and vetted in the past, where the dogs will be properly cared for and will have the best chance at adoption. The ultimate goal is to bring the remaining 150 dogs home to Dog Tales in Canada once they're well enough.
Things have already started to look up for the dogs: "After a week, the dogs started to relax," Forndran said. "They could tell we were going to take care of them." The best news of all is that people have been clamoring to take in the dogs — 25 have already been adopted! Want to help? Visit Dog Tales' adoption page.
[h/t BuzzFeed
