New Hope Dog Rescue sees increase in adoptions, foster volunteers

Amid the pandemic, some people are trying to find a four-legged friend. 

For the first time in a long time, Tricia McAuley of New Hope Dog Rescue in Saskatoon, said there aren't any dogs available through their website's adoptions page. 

At many of the events New Hope Dog Rescue attends, they often hear families are too busy to adopt a dog. But right now, the pandemic has opened up a lot of schedules. 

"They have that time to introduce a dog to the household and get them into a routine, so that even when they go back to work after all of this, the dog has acclimated to the household," she said. 

McAuley said New Hope Dog Rescue has also seen an unprecedented increase in the number of people coming forward to act as foster families for dogs, something they're always in need of.

"It's just been really tremendous to see the support that we're getting from Saskatoon and the surrounding area," she said. 

'No shame'

While some may be looking to add a new furry friend to their family, others may have come across hard times and have had to surrender their pets. 

"There's really no shame in having to surrender a dog," McAuley said. "Reaching out to a rescue is really hard and there's a lot of stigma attached to that."

She said if it comes down to it, no one should be afraid to call a rescue organization. 

Many rescues are also capable of providing some minor supports if needed to keep the pet in their home.

Long-term fosters find homes

Two animals that were surrendered well before the COVID-19 pandemic recently found their homes.

Krypto was with New Hope Dog Rescue for roughly 1,170 days, while Tiny was with the organization for over 900 days.

"That's a long time to stay in foster care and pretty unusual for us at New Hope Dog rescue — although none of our dogs have a time limit here," McAuley said. 

McAuley said their foster families loved having the dogs with them and sometimes the universe just works in mysterious ways, and the two dogs just had to wait a little bit longer to find their families. 

Krypto, described as a couch potato, found a home where he can be just that. 

Tiny had some medical issues — which were under control — then was adopted by people very capable of maintaining her health.

"Everybody was just over the moon… you see these dogs at our adoption events and you know how fantastic that they're going to be once they get their forever home," McAuley said.