Kelowna man rescues 52 dogs about to be euthanized





Spencer is just one of 52 dogs rescued by a group of Okanagan dog lovers last week.

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Spencer is just one of 52 dogs rescued by a group of Okanagan dog lovers last week.
Photograph by: Julia Wong, CHBC News

A group of rescued dogs is slowly adjusting to life in the Okanagan.

The dogs, including Chihuahuas, Rottweilers and Poodles, were at animal shelters in Los Angeles about to be euthanized.

When Steve McTiernan of Kelowna’s Top Dog Kennels heard the news, he jumped into action.

McTiernan, along with other dedicated dog lovers, drove to Los Angeles last week in a large van and picked up 52 stray or abandoned dogs.

“They would have been euthanized that morning, the morning they left,” McTiernan said.

The dogs were brought to shelters across the Interior and Lower Mainland.

Rescuers say many of the dogs will be adopted but their future didn’t always look so bright.

Beth Gibson, of Between Friends Animals, says many shelters in the U.S. are overrun with dogs; she attributes this partially to the recession.

“Dogs are either getting dumped at the shelters or they’re turning them loose because the shelters are full. They’re being picked up by animal control so three days and they’re basically dead,” Gibson said.

This is the fourth rescue mission McTiernan has been involved with this year.

Since this latest mission came up suddenly, he says many of the dogs still need permanent homes


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/thewest/Kelowna+rescues+dogs+about+euthanized/4034247/story.html#ixzz19UQipEWL

God bless them for helping the dogs.