Crowdfunding campaign rescues Fur-Ever Homes dog rescue

A Calgary dog rescue group says it will be able to keep operating after asuccessful crowdfunding campaign.

Fur-Ever Homes Rescue ran out of money when it opened a new shelterlast month, and also had some large veterinary bills at the same time.

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"Basically what had happened is we do have an emergency fund, and we had drained those resources because of the set up costs for the new centre which had just opened in November," said Carmen Zvonik.

She said the organization's GoFundMe campaign beat expectations.

"Initially we had a goal of $5,000, which was to stop the immediate closure of the centre, and it ended up far exceeding that. We raised just over $15,000."

'You're always sort of scraping by'

Zvonik said the money will help pay the rent for the next couple of months while they work on a fundraising plan to avoid another dire financial situation.

"With a charity you're always sort of scraping by and you sort of live cheque to cheque for lack of a better word," she said.

Since it was founded in 2011, Fur-Ever Homes Rescue Society has rescued more than 2,500 dogs from Calgary, southern California and Mexico, but until now, they had to rely exclusively on foster homes.

It opened theResQ Centre in northeast Calgary on Nov. 1 and more than100 dogshave already come through its doors.

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