A Victoria resident is hoping to carry on the spirit of Tiny — the badly neglected Shih Tzu found on Prior Street last summer — and open a shelter for dogs rescued from high-kill shelters in the United States.
Sarah Duncan said she first heard about Tiny when dropping off food at the Victoria SPCA, and the story of the injured dog, which had to be euthanized, stayed in her mind.
Tiny was discovered with open sores on her feet and body, severe dental neglect and dehydration that led to organ failure. The owner was fined $250 and banned from owning pets for three years.
After she was laid off from her job at ReMax, Duncan decided to pursue her dream of opening a pet rescue shelter.
“If I won the lottery, I wanted to open a dog rescue, with lots of acreage on a farm,” said Duncan, the founder of Tiny’s Town Dog Rescue. “I hear the odds on winning the lottery aren’t great, but Tiny inspired me to do this.”
Duncan has teamed up with Unity Thrift Outreach and Rescue, based in Taft, Calif., to take dogs from the U.S. and bring them to Canada.
Overcrowded pet shelters with a policy on euthanizing animals have made pet rescuers in California turn to Canada to help find homes for dogs.
“I hope [the partnership] saves lives,” said Linda Hodges, the founder of Unity Thrift. “To me, it doesn’t matter where the dogs come from — they need our help.”
The first four dogs, all Chihuahua crosses, arrived Tuesday and potential owners have already been in touch with Duncan.
Expenses have quickly piled up. Duncan estimates she has spent $150 on each dog for licensing and having them shipped to Canada.
She hopes to recoup her expenses through the $500 adoption fee. Of that, $400 will go to Unity Thrift — for shipping and paying for the dogs to be spayed and neutered — and the remaining $100 will help cover her own expenses.
There’s a six-month window for Duncan to see if the shelter will work and financially sustain itself. She’s also looking into small business grants for the shelter.
“Some people are good at art, others are good with music, I just get dogs,” she said.
