Saskatoon Dog Rescue desperate for more adoptions

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of families were making the decision to go out and find a new furry friend.

Fast forward to now and it seems to be the complete opposite situation. The Saskatoon Dog Rescue is getting overwhelmed with a large number of dogs that are waiting to find their forever home.

Courtney Fisher, the president of Saskatoon Dog Rescue, said this switch is really starting to take its toll on the organization.

“Things have definitely slowed down a ton, especially compared to the beginning of COVID where there seemed to be a boom in adoptions and everybody was at home,” Fisher said. “Now that we’re moving into the winter months, it has been quite a big drop in adoptions.”

There are currently more than 120 dogs up for adoption.

Fisher says the organization is trying its best with the resources it has, but the pandemic has thrown a wrench in a lot of its plans to get out in the community.

“We’re trying to get our dogs out safely into locations where people visit,” Fisher said. “We host adoption events and we’re also trying to do quite a bit more social media and showcasing the dogs that are coming up available for adoption.

“Obviously, a lot of our in-person exposure and fundraising has been limited due to lots of the (COVID) restrictions.”

There still has been some success on the fundraising side of things with safe outdoor events.

Fisher says those are really the only types of events allowed since there aren’t any indoor fundraising events being held.

“We haven’t been able to do any in-person fundraising as far as steak nights and BBQs since probably February 2020,” Fisher said.

“We’ve had some success recently with outdoor photoshoots at Dutch Growers, Wilson’s, and Crossmount Cider. Those have been really big for us.”

For an organization that relies solely on donations, times have really been tough.

However, the group of volunteers has managed to stay afloat and maintain a high standard with the number of animals growing into the hundreds.

“Basically between fundraising, adoptions, and donators, that’s entirely our income basis,” Fisher said.

“We did struggle with engaging our volunteers. It was frustrating for a period of time when there were no volunteer opportunities.”

In Fisher’s time with SDR, she says this situation is completely brand new.

“I’ve been with Saskatoon Dog Rescue for six years, and I’ve definitely never experienced anything like this,” she said. “It’s almost like a complete gamble with how fundraising is going to be (and) how adoptions are going to be.”