Most people involved in animal rescue know that homeless dogs in America are routinely shipped from southern shelters to northern ones to improve their chances of adoption.
But here's a canine pipeline I hadn't heard of - dogs from Las Vegas, like Pono (above), are being flown to Canada to find new adoptive homes. He was the 1,000th dog to make the trip.
Pono, a 3-year-old male Pomeranian, left a Las Vegas animal shelter in September and ended up either for sale or up for adoption (depending on your point of view) at Petcetera, a large pet store chain in Canada.
He made the trip through a program called Foreclosed Upon Pets Inc., which has been operating since 2008. The non-profit organization began shipping Las Vegas shelter dogs to Vancouver two and a half years ago, and now ships eight to 16 shelter dogs every week.
In Canada, they they are adopted out - for a $500 fee - through Petcetera's 18 stores, according to a story initially reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and picked up by ABC News.
Both stories describe what's happening - troubling as it is on some levels - as a simple matter of supply and demand: The U.S. has millions of surplus dogs; Canada, with its stricter regulations on spaying and neutering, has what some might call a shortage, especially when it comes to smaller breeds.
'For whatever reason, we have a shortage of small dogs here, and to be quite honest, we were shocked at the size of the problem in Las Vegas,' said Richard Kaga, the executive vice president of Petcetera, which operates big box pet stores from Alberta to British Columbia to Nova Scotia.
'Over here in the United States, we're just one big puppy mill,' said Everett Croxson, FUPI executive director. 'Las Vegas included ... Let's face it. People are breeding for money in their backyards, and the concept of spaying and neutering never enters their heads, even if the laws exist. Even if there are such laws on the books.'
Every week, Croxson picks up dogs from the Lied Animal Shelter in Las Vegas and takes them to the airport. After a layover in Seattle, they arrive in Vancouver. Since the program started in 2010, Croxson said he has exported as many as 1,100 small dogs, nearly three-fourths of them Chihuahuas. Croxson calls Las Vegas 'the Chihuahua capital of the world.'
He started the organization to find homes for dogs that had been abandoned due to foreclosures, most of which ended up at Lied Animal Shelter, a very high volume regional shelter that takes in more than 100 dogs and cats each day. In 2012, nearly 43,000 unwanted animals - nearly 23,000 dogs and 18,000 cats - came in, and many never left. An estimated 65 dogs and cats are put to sleep there every day.
Given that ugly alternative, it's hard to find any fault with a program that's bringing dogs happy endings in another country.
But what's happening seems to make a pretty sad statement about our own country: 'No, we can't take care of our own.' 'True, we tend to shirk responsibilities.' 'Yes - cough, cough - our economy is a little unhealthy right now.' America in 2013 is producing refugees - albeit canine ones - who must be airlifted out of the country to stay alive.
Kaga, the Petcetera official, says there are no puppy mills in Canada and that Canadian pet owners 'would not think of having a pet' without spaying and neutering it. Some might argue with that, but clearly Canada is a step ahead - or at least enough ahead that, when it comes to canines, it's accepting our tired, poor, homeless and hungry.
Noble as it appears, the adoption program isn't hurting business at Petcetera stores.
Kaga says the $500 fee the store is paid for each adopted pet covers the cost of the animals' transportation, spaying or neutering, shots, health certificate, and their care and boarding at Petcetera.
But each dog adopted is going to need some food, and toys, and treats, perhaps a dog bed, and maybe a nice warm sweater.
(Photo: Foreclosed Upon Pets, Inc.)
'Like people, dogs have to have toys and food,' he says. 'When we adopt a dog out, we hope the customer will come back to us for all that dog's needs for the rest of its life. It's worked out really well for all concerned - especially the dogs.'
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