Sudbury firefighters step in to help with crowding crisis at pet shelter

When Sudbury firefighter Remi Lariviere walked into Pet Save Sudbury with his girlfriend last May to adopt a dog, he knew right away this was an organization he wanted to work with.

"I kind of got a glimpse of all the good work they do," said Lariviere, a member of the Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters Association. "Also the volume of pets that they are getting and how busy and overcapacity they are, it seemed like a great idea to help them." 

It did not take long for Lariviere to pick up the phone and speak with Jill Pessot, the director of Pet Save Sudbury. 

"I wanted to help these animals get adopted," said Lariviere, "So, to be able to do this through our social media page and through our followers and as a fire department I thought it would be a great little collaboration."

The moment the phone call came in, the Director of Pet Save Sudbury said she was grateful as they currently are dealing with an over capacity of animals.

"We have such an over population right now happening we are even beyond what I would say crisis level," said Jill Pessot. "So, when we were approached by the Sudbury Firefighters to help get some exposure to some of our homeless friends we were very excited."

August was the first month of the collaboration, which has the dogs posing with firefighters each month, and then published on the association's social pages. Rottweiler mix Diamond was the first to be selected and invited to the local firehall. 

"She was a little bit timid at first," said Lariviere. "There were a lot of people there, big trucks, noises but once she got comfortable we were able to get her up in the trucks where she got to sniff around and take some photos with the guys."

In less than 24 hours, the photo of Diamond alongside firefighter Fraser Dane and Carl Hudson was shared and loved by hundreds of people. 

"It kind of blew up from the get go," said Lariviere. "The social media page reached a lot of people and it will be interesting to see what more we can do." 

Jill Pessot says this is a great first step and she has already been receiving inquiries about the dog. 

"We're hopeful that this will be something positive and get us a home for Diamond," said Pessot.

"We see hundreds of shares online and we see a lot of good responses."

Pessot is hopeful this collaboration will help the shelter find homes for the dogs they currently have. The organization is currently facing an overflow of animals at a level Pessot has never been seen before.