Rescued pups from Mexico up for adoption in Sudbury

Volunteers ata Sudburyanimal shelter are looking for homes for15 street dogs rescued from Mexico.

This is the first time Pet Save has tried such an operation.

The project started in February when a sheltervolunteer came back from Mexico, saidPet Save directorJill Pessot.

"She said to me, 'I brought you something from Mexico.'," she said.

"We thought it was maybe a t-shirt or a keychain ... [but]she showed me a little Chihuahua and she said, 'do you think we might be able to find him a home?' I said, 'absolutely.I could probably adopt him in 15 minutes'."

The volunteer does charity work in Mexico and met up with a woman who runs Barb's Dog Rescue in Puerto Peasco.

The dogs are in good condition and weretaken care of by the Mexican shelter. But some of their before pictures were"pretty horrific,"said Pessot.

"There are hundredsdying on the streets daily."

Small dogs are in demandhere, she added.

"In northern Ontario, we could adopt hundreds, hundreds."

So Pet Save partnered with shelters in Mexico and the United States and developed a plan to drive the dogs through threecountries and twoborders. Since arriving in Sudbury, all 15 dogs have been checked over by a vet.

People have questioned the shelter aboutwhy it'shelping dogs from other countries instead of those abandoned here in northern Ontario.

"We take hundred and hundreds of dogs every year, but again, it's a size issue. The person who is looking for an 8 pound dog is not going to turn around and take my 80 pound lab, because I don't have the 10 pound dog."

Pet Save already has awaiting list for the dogsandplans to bringmore of the animals from Mexicoto Sudbury in August.