Danielle Eden is no stranger to pet adoption as the co-founder of Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary, an animal rescue organization in Ontario.
She has been to numerous animal shelters across the world and has saved many puppies from these facilities, particularly those in the most desperate need of assistance.
She was startled, though, when she visited a dog shelter in Israel since it was the worst shelter she’d seen so far. More than 250 canines were crammed into a rat-infested room built for only 70, and the animals had to struggle over crumbs of food.
“It is the worst place she’s ever seen,” Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary’s media director, Clare Forndran, tells The Dodo.
“Dogs were fighting over a loaf of bread,” Forndran explains. “There were more rats than there were canines.”
She didn’t know which one of the dogs to save because they were all in such bad shape. So she chose them all. She acquired the entire shelter and was determined to find them permanent homes.
Dog Tales has since taken over ownership for all 250 dogs. Over the course of two months, they were able to relocate 90 dogs to Israeli shelters where they will be adequately cared for and have a far higher chance of being adopted.
Another 25 were taken to the Ontario Sanctuary. And, thus far, more than half of the dogs in Ontario have now been adopted.
The other 150 people are still in the shelter, but thankfully, it is being renovated. The responsibility of making the shelter more habitable and comfortable for the canines was handed to an Israeli team.
When they are healthy enough to travel, they will be transferred to Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary in Ontario, where they will be placed in loving homes.
