Golden Rescue gives a voice to the voiceless

Julie Hendren was scarred after witnessing hostility towards dogs in Egypt and Turkey.  

Some animals with eyes gouged out and others set ablaze.

Hendren said she didn’t last thirty minutes there and broke down after seeing the dogs’ condition in the shelters while she was on a rescue operation in Cairo.

She said she wasn’t sure if this was their way of euthanizing them, but she believes there has got to be a better way.

“Poor things, yeah, it didn’t last, I told myself I will be strong today, I’m not gonna cry and I did,” Hendren said during the interview.

She is Toronto’s Golden Rescue’s chair of education and advocacy, which donated 1,100 coats to a shelter in Cairo to protect dogs from the winter cold after a Canadian national dog rescue ban left thousands to suffer.

Golden Rescue, a volunteer-run non-profit charity, is one of Canada’s largest single-breed rescue groups. Two volunteers visited a shelter in the Egyptian capital In December and saw what they called a devastating situation. 

The shelter was filled to overcrowding, with about 3,500 dogs, freezing and struggling to survive with minimal resources. 

The rescue launched a Coats for Cairo campaign, and Canadians responded in force.

Hendren adopted Jacey and Rudy with the help of Golden Rescue and is devastated by how many dogs are dying after the ban has come into effect and is so “unCanadian.”

The co-chair said she just wants the authorities to amend the ban so they can continue working towards their goal.

The federal government restricts “all commercial dogs” from countries considered high-risk for canine rabies and includes a long list of nations in Africa, Asia and war-torn countries.

She said the dogs are titer tested when they come here, the dogs she adopted were sick when they got here but nothing contagious which they made sure of.

“A titer test is done to determine your immunity so if you have a rabies shot and you titer test for rabies before you leave that means you have immunity to rabies, so they’re not taking rabies with them,” Hendren said.

She adopted two abused dogs who adapted to a new life in Canada well.

Hendren picked up Jacey from Istanbul eight years ago after the dog suffered physical abuse by having acid dumped on her back. A vet couldn’t guarantee the fur would grow back and yet it did. 

“It just took a couple of months of good eating, healthy food, and some love, and all the hair grew back,” Hendren said.

She said Rudy came from Egypt and is an absolute “cuddle bug” but is afraid to interact with other dogs.

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Vivve Tam, the co-chair at Golden Rescue, is the person who made the international rescue possible by collaborating with shelters.

“Canadians care deeply, and this campaign proved that so why is our government making it impossible to help these dogs? Let us rescue within stricter protocols. Hear us out work with us. Give us a chance to help them,” Tam said.

She said this started when almost a decade ago the rescue was approached by a group of shelters in Cairo to help rescue some golden retrievers which at the time were recently introduced to Egypt as a status symbol.

Tam said the dogs were now thrown out the streets and with their gentle nature they just could not survive because “they are lovers, not fighters.”

“I actually ended up in the hospital when I came back (from Egypt) because I was so distraught with what I saw in Egypt, dead dogs on the side of the river, just awful conditions. It was soul-destroying,” she said.

Tam said Golden Rescue has held a couple of rallies, one in Ajax and another in Ottawa, marching outside Canadian Food Inspection Offices (CFIA) offices to try to get them to amend the ban.

“We don’t necessarily want them to reverse the ban. We think keeping Canadians and our pets safe and if that means strengthening the protocols a little bit, I think that’s a good idea,” she said.

Tam said rabies is 100 per cent preventable and their rescue ensures all the necessary precautions are taken.

She said the rescue is in dire need of medications for the dogs but there are laws against shipping medications, so they ended up sending some warmth with a lot of love.

“We had a couple of volunteers who said they would drive around to pick up the coats and sweaters from people and I also set up a GoFundMe page that would help raise funds for the coats that we could purchase,” Tam said.

The co-chair said they ended up gathering 1,100 coats and sweaters while also generating funds of $25,000 in value which was completely out towards the health and wellness of the dogs.

“Because over there, the dogs, all they get to eat are chicken feet and bread because it’s all they can afford,” Tam said.

She said when she was in Egypt, she saw people purposely trying to hit the street dogs.

Tam said people in Turkey have been nice to their street dogs, they used to put out food blankets and water bowls for them, but it has changed now as the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to wipe out the stray population.

“One of our shelter partners over there said that they are actually burying the dogs alive. It is so sickening, it’s just so unimaginable,” she said.

Tam said the countries that are not on the banned list are not the ones that need our help, the countries listed are the ones suffering the most. She said they wrote to MPs, MPPs and the minister of health. But they have yet to get a response.

“They are just ignoring us. We can’t get a meeting, we can’t get them to respond, so how can we even show our side of the coin if no one would even meet with us,” she said.

Tam said this CFIA ban came as a complete surprise to the SPCA, Humane Canada and all other rescue organizations.

She said they were part of the stakeholders meeting along with the Toronto Humane Society and yet neither of them was informed of the ban and believes only the Kennel Club was aware of the happenings.

“The government said that there were two dogs that entered Canada with rabies, not sure how many years ago … but this is not something that should be hidden,” Tam said. 

She said she does not understand why this is such a closely guarded secret and demands they punish the rescue group responsible but not everyone else who do a good job.

Tam shared the time she adopted Kili from Cairo, who was brought in on one of the last flights before the ban took effect.

“She was a female used for breeding, she was in bad shape and had a disease called Ehrlichia, not uncommon for dogs in Cairo. It’s a tick-borne disease and her fur was totally pathetic, and her tail looked like a rat’s tail,” she said.

Tam said Kili is now in good health, has beautiful fur and is “the most beautiful golden on the planet.”

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Cheryl Ann Graham is responsible for placements and finding the perfect family for the golden retrievers rescued by Golden Rescue. Graham has been doing this role for 14 years and wants to save all the animals in the world but believes in starting “by one at a time.”

“We have a lot of families that want to adopt, and we leave a lot of families disappointed,” she said. Graham said the most recent dog that she helped find a home had more than 40 inquiries.

“Every golden has different needs depending on the situation they’ve come from and the baggage that they come with,” she said.

Graham shared a story of a rescued female retriever who was paralyzed in the back end and was found at one of the shelters.

“She was dragging herself along the fence, excited that there were people there and she wouldn’t get that care in Cairo that she needed,” she said.

Graham’s will to save Gracie brought her to Canada. She helped her find a family that would be the perfect match and provide for her special needs.

“She’s in a happy family, she’s in a wheelchair and she runs, she runs along the field and she’s so excited about the world and that personality came through,” she said.