Pickup and delivery

That's a long drive. Eva and her mother left Montreal SPCA at 8:15 in the morning with 15 dogs in the back of the van. That's 15 dogs that had to be crated and packed and secured inside the van so I'm guessing they started at least 2 hours earlier. They're transporting the latest shipment of shelter dogs from Quebec to Ontario where the dogs will hopefully find new and better homes. Toronto Animal Services South is the transfer point this afternoon where various rescues will come by and bring back with them the dogs they've arranged to foster.

Eva and her mother arrive at Toronto Animal Services at 2:00 p.m. and the unloading begins. We start with the two biggest dogs, a beautiful but very underweight female brindle Great Dane. She looks a little dazed coming out of the van but maybe she just woke up (it usually takes my Dane, Stella, three to four hours to wake up and then she's tired again from all that effort). She's going to make someone a very proud owner.

Next is a German Shepherd cross who is quite happy to be out and stretching his legs. Both these dogs are taken by Pawsitive Praise dog rescue located in Chippawa near Niagara Falls.

I help out with the uncrating of the rest of the dogs and they all look to be in average to good shape except for two. One is a Shitzu with a back leg that won't bend. At first I think its knee is locked or something and then realize that this particular leg is actually shorter than the rest. Maybe it's a birth defect, maybe something worse, I don't know. The little guy falls over a lot when it gets excited, bumping and playing with the other dogs.

The other is a poodle who looks like a stick. It had been found in a cage with dry urine saturated hair which had to be all carefully shaved off revealing the skin and bones underneath. Nevertheless, it's a happy dog and its tail constantly whips back and forth. He's one of the guys I'll be transporting.

It looks like there's a mix of puppy mill dogs and "regular" pound dogs here but I can't be sure. It was supposed to be all mill dogs but something got a bit messed up and substitutions were made. Not important, though, as long as all the dogs eventually find homes.

Cathy from the Owen Sound Animal Shelter shows up next and we sort out which of the 5 dogs she'll be taking. At first it looks like there may be a poodle gone missing but it's found buried deep in the crates and Cathy's got her full house.

In this shipment, TAS only has one dog, a little fatty of a Wirehaired Fox Terrier and judging from its temperament and cuteness profile, won't last long on the adoption floor.

That leaves just four dogs unclaimed as I load up my three into the car to take to Leaside Animal Clinic. Dr. Ruth Weintrop is taking in these three little ones to put up for adoption at her clinic. She's getting two Shitzus along with the skinny Poodle. The Shitzus both seem relatively healthy.

As I pull out of the TAS parking lot, the last rescue driver shows up so the remaining four dogs should be well on their way. Once those dogs are off, Eva and her mother will be making the long drive back to Montreal.

My much easier drive up to Leaside Animal Clinic is quick but not quick enough for the cow patch coloured Shitzu in the passenger seat beside me. Every few minutes, he looks over and quietly barks for attention. I didn't know dogs could do quiet barks but there you go. A finger scratching his nose satisfies him and he settles down for a few minutes. The two in the back don't make a peep.

At the clinic, I'm greeted by Joanne who helped arrange this first time adoption try-out between Dr. Weintrop and CAACQ in Quebec. She helps me bring the three refugees inside and they're promptly examined by the vet. A couple of the dogs need some teeth cleaning and the Poodle, aside from needing to gain a substantial amount of weight, has a bad case of ear mites. All fixable. Dr. Weintrop's only concern is the kennel cough symptoms a couple of the dogs may be displaying. If they've got kennel cough, they'll have to be quarantined until they're better which means quite a bit more work for the staff and adoptions may be delayed. Still, it's all doable.

I'll be keeping track of how these guys come along over the next few weeks. When the adoption information for any of the dogs comes up, I'll provide the links and we can keep track of them together.

Update on Great Dane here.