Freedom Dog Rescue

We entered 2024 focused on strengthening the infrastructure behind foster onboarding the adoption process and fundraising. The post-pandemic surge in pet ownership continues to impact us with record-high owner surrenders and returned dogs. This has been worsened by a decline in available foster homes as many volunteers have returned to in-person work limiting their capacity to foster. Our foster team has worked hard to keep foster home availability updated and prioritize placing dogs from boarding into homes quickly. At the same time we’ve seen a sharp increase in costly medical cases—most notably a severe parvovirus outbreak among puppies. Sadly over 10 puppies died compared to just two contracted and recovered in the previous year. Veterinary costs on the virus treatment alone exceeded $100 000 in 2024 a steep rise from $20 000 the year prior. In response we’re implementing stronger policies around parvovirus exposure including temporary quarantines for affected foster homes. The virus’s ability to survive on surfaces for months creates long-term risks. Contributing factors include poor breeding practices low puppy immunity and lack of vaccination awareness in Ottawa. Public education on preventative care is more urgent than ever. Over the year we were given generous donations of expired or ripped bags of dog food from one of our main pet store partners – Global Pet Foods. However due to the sensitive digestion of the parvo-impacted dogs (parvo is a stomach-based virus) we were not able to use most of the food and much of it had to be discarded or disposed of. Due to rising medical and general costs we made the difficult but necessary decision to increase adoption fees in 2024. This helps offset growing veterinary expenses while ensuring continued operations. Despite financial pressures we remain transparent—regularly updating our community on urgent medical cases and involving them in fundraising efforts. Event income remained stable this year. With COVID-19 restrictions lifted we expanded in-person fundraising particularly through local store partnerships which generated positive results. Still broader economic challenges have affected donation levels. We continue to strengthen relationships with veterinary partners offering rescue discounts and prioritize fundraising for emergency care. Behavioral cases also remain a key focus with ongoing training and assessments to support long-term adoption success.