Turtle Gardens began on April 8, 1988 as a no-kill facility to address
a very real need for a safe haven for unwanted animals. There were no
shelters of any kind for 250 miles – from Prince George to Terrace -
17 First nation Communities and 11 Villages and Towns. Twenty years
later there is still Turtle Gardens. We have adopted over 4000
dogs since inception; an average of 227 to 250 dogs per year. Turtle
Gardens began like any other shelter – with kennels and has evolved to
a Group Foster Home and Rehabilitation Centre. Turtle Gardens has
undergone extensive renovations to ensure the comfort and safety of
our dogs. We live with the dogs as a family group; sharing our home so
they learn to be a FAMILY companion. Turtle Gardens is a family
operated group home who specializes in stray/feral dogs from First
Nation Communities and Municipal Pounds. Most of our dogs are first
and second generation strays – they have never been in a building let
alone a home. First we help them become dogs to heal their “inner
puppy” and develop a relationship of mutual respect with lots of TLC.
We teach them with positive reinforcement to learn how to learn. We
give them the skills needed to adapt to city life where doggie social
skills are so important in day to day living. 90% of our dogs are
internet adoptions – there just isn’t enough population in the north
to find families for so many dogs. All of our dogs are vet checked,
vaccinated, wormed and spayed or neutered. Turtle Gardens is
continuing our renovations and upgrading our fencing. Turtle Gardens is situated on 27 acres of woodland and hills.
Realizing that the flow of dogs is not slowing down Turtle Gardens has
instituted a Low Cost Spay Neuter Voucher Program. We have all four
veterinary clinics in our area participating in our program. We do
extensive outreach programs in schools. A daily blog about day to day
activities can be seen on www.turtlegardens.org
©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.
