Toronto rescue is trying to bring more than 100 homeless dogs over from Costa Rica – blogTO

Toronto-based animal rescue Save Our Scruff is working to bring more than 100 dogs in need of homes over to the GTA from Costa Rica, but the operation won’t come cheap.

The majority of the pups will be coming from Charlie’s Angels Animal Rescue as well as other independent rescuers in Costa Rica, all of which are overcapacity and strained for resources thanks, in part, to a lack of tourists.

“The pandemic and travel restrictions have increased the need for support in the communities where our international rescue partners work. The high intake rates and low adoption rates have left some of our partners feeling strained,” says Laura Bye, founder of Save Our Scruff.

“Save Our Scruff has created a variety of COVID-19 relief for our partners and a big part of that is through accepting their ready-for-adoption shelter dogs into Scruff care, freeing up space for them to continue supporting their community.”

In 2021 alone, Save Our Scruff has helped organize nine charter flights with over 958 dogs in support of international rescue partners, and this next flight is expected to arrive sometime in early July. 

But a rescue mission of this kind is not without its obstacles.

“One of the challenges with chartering a plane and bringing over 100 dogs into our care at one time is the cost,” says Bye.

It costs more $1,000 per dog to complete an operation such as this one, and the organization needs to raise $40,000 to cover the basic needs of every dog that is lucky enough to be headed for Toronto in the coming weeks. 

As a result, the rescue has launched a fundraiser, adorably called Costapawlooza Costa Lotta Moolah, to help cover the costs of the intake.

So far, Save Our Scruff has raised $5,410.15 towards their final goal. 

Anyone looking to help with the life-saving rescue mission and donate money in support of the dogs’ intake travel, vetting and training support can do so online.