Roxie the Great Pyrenees-Border Collie cross is having a ball these days running outside, and playing in the snow on her new family farm outside of Saskatoon.
The one-year-old puppy was one of 116 animals adopted over the last two weeks.
Jennilee Friesen says the family made the decision to adopt after the SPCA made an urgent call for pet adoptions and lowered their prices when the shelter had to close to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Low and behold, we found our future farm dog…we met her last Thursday, fell in love and took her home.”
She says so far, their new family member is fitting in well with everyone, including her two young daughters, ages four and one.
“We had an excellent first night with her in her kennel, making sure she wouldn’t run away from the farm,” explained Friesen. “The second night she knew she was meant to be outside and since then she hasn’t run off the yard. She stays close to the house. She doesn’t bark when unnecessary and most importantly, she is the most awesome dog with our girls.”
SPCA Saskatoon spokesperson Jasmine Hanson says while there have been some significant changes to the way animals are being adopted right now, every day there are new pets looking for a “fur-ever” home.
“We’ve posted photos and general information of all of our adoptable animals on our website. When people go to our website, they can view all of our cats, dogs or exotic pets. They can apply to adopt on the website. Once we receive that application, an adoption counsellor will call that person.”
After that, an appointment can be made for the applicant to go in and meet their potential pet and to adopt it the very same day.
Hanson also hopes those who are able to, can donate to the SPCA.
“We are taking a huge financial hit. We reduced our adoption fees because we wanted to get these animals adopted as soon as possible…we also have had to cancel our fundraising events…and finally, we’re struggling with a lot of staffing issues.”
For all those people looking for an animal at any time, Friesen says the SPCA has so many different pets who need permanent homes.
“You never know, you might just luck out with the dog or cat of your dreams.”