Helping hopeless, homeless dogs

Beacher Michael Case is hoping every homeless dog will have its day. And if they don’t find their home right away, his Project Dog Foundation aims to make life comfortable in the meantime.

Case and his wife, Meg, used to volunteer walking dogs at a Toronto Animal Services shelter once a week. Occasionally there would be a dog who seemed to be passed by while younger dogs quickly found new homes.

“There would always be one or two that didn’t, and they would be there week after week, and those ones we felt sorry for. They were old, maybe they weren’t the most attractive looking dog, or they had medical issues, or they had behavioural issues, and nobody wants to adopt a dog that comes with a long list of vet bills,” he said.

Eventually he came up with the Project Dog idea. The web-based charity offers animal lovers who are unable to adopt or foster a dog the chance to help out with those tough adoption cases, by sponsoring specific dogs from various shelters. Even if it’s only a few dollars, 100 per cent of money donated goes directly to the dog, for food, toys, a blanket, training, or vet bills.

Case started Project Dog in his spare time, but the response since launching five months ago has been amazing, he said. Money has been coming in, 10 shelters are now signed on, and about a dozen volunteers are on board, helping with everything from recruiting new shelters, to marketing, to building the website.

“Our volunteers are fantastic. Everyone is really passionate about it and enthusiastic, and they really want this thing to succeed,” said Case.

To date there are more than 50 dogs who have gone on to be adopted after being helped out by Project Dog. Case said his current goal is to have 50 shelters signed up by the end of the year.

“We’re trying to make it a lot bigger than I initially thought it would be,” he said.

While the fast success of Project Dog is encouraging, Case realizes that the success of this venture is still indicative of a greater problem of dogs without a family.

“In a perfect world I’d like to think that in 10 years there’d be no need for this website,” he said.

To find out more about the foundation, visit projectdogfoundation.org.