Passionate

"Home Is Where the Dog Is"

My endeavours in animal care began at 15, when I acquired a scrawny 3 week old Staffordshire Terrier, named Roxy. Roxy was too young to eat solid food so, with the guidance of a veterinarian I nursed her to maturity and was lucky enough to be her mama for 9 years, before she passed away from lymphoma.

I relocated to Germany in 2010 and had 2 new dogs by this time, an English Bulldog named Maggie and a French Bulldog named Louis . Brachycephalic dogs are notoriously difficult to travel with, but I simply could not leave them behind.  After all, "home is where the dog is".  This experience introduced me to a whole new community of like minded individuals - travelling pet owners.  Thus began my career in animal care.

Upon returning to Toronto in 2018, I knew I wanted to spend my days doing what I loved most; being with animals. I became a Doggy Daycare attendant and Dog Walker at City Sniffers. There, I gained a plethora of invaluable experience caring for up to 20 dogs simultaneously providing  behaviour management, enrichment, socialization, training, exercise and love.

By the beginning of 2020 I had moved once again, this time to Kigali, Rwanda, with my pug Kermit. I was volunteering at WAG Rwanda, an animal rescue agency, when the pandemic occurred shutting the country down  and preventing access to the shelter and the animals.  The only option was for me to take the animals to my house!  Overnight, I found myself cooking, cleaning, and caring for a dozen temperamental street dogs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months. 

 As my reputation and competency for animal rescue grew, I began taking in more ill, injured, and unwanted dogs, independent of the animal shelter. Over the course of 2 years  I helped to re-habilitate and re-home several hundred street dogs, including 2 whom I adopted for myself.  I now had 3 dogs and it was time to come back home.

Upon returning to Canada, I started Fairy Dogmother and Friends to continue pursuing my passion with my 3 furry sidekicks.