Happy Dogs on their Way to Canada

AUTHOR: Rosie Castle

At 7 am on Thursday, July 8th, 2021, El Refugio Costa Ballena began the process of sending nine of our wonderful dogs to Canada. Our nine lucky dogs joined another 79 dogs from other shelters on a private flight in one of the largest international charters from Costa Rica that we have seen in recent years.

Although our planning and preparation started months before… Let's rewind to May 5th, when we first got a call from Tania Cappelluti of Charlie's Angels, who partnered with "Save our Scruff" in Toronto to send as many dogs as possible to Canada.

We didn't hesitate to get involved and immediately started considering which dogs in our care needed a second chance, working out the costs for such an expedition, and how we could make this happen. Thankfully, with the help of your generous donations, our dedicated volunteers, and all of your continued support, we were able to send nine beautiful puppies off to a new life up North.

Paloma, Domingo, Bruno, Bianca, Marley, Benjamin, Estrella, Zorro, and Mila, were rescued from the streets, some severely malnourished, others with life-threatening diseases, and some with serious wounds. Now, they are all settling into life in Canada in carefully picked foster homes, ready to find their forever families.

El Refugio works tirelessly to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome dogs and cats in the Southern Pacific Zone. Now, as one of the last standing, fully-functioning rescues in the area, our work is going to get a lot harder. Within a week of sending the lucky nine, our shelter was filled to capacity again, which means we desperately need more resources to continue helping the many dogs and cats in need.

With this in mind, we have exciting news! We have started plans to build a new, larger shelter and are looking for land and financing to make this happen. We have plans for an education center, double the number of dog kennels, a larger treatment room, and accommodations for long-term and visiting volunteers. We have big dreams, and we can't wait to get things started with Your help.

El Refugio is a nonprofit organization run by volunteers, and we rely solely on your donations. Since our inception in 2017, the number of animals and families needing help has only seemed to increase, even more so due to last year's restrictions and the rise in unemployment. We need people like you to help us accomplish more, to be able to grow, and save even more animals in need.

Please consider supporting us by donating and spreading the word of our mission; share our posts, join our mailing list, or even adopt a dog or cat, if you can!