SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - Guests and visitors at the Causeway Bay Hotel in Summerside receive a warm welcome with a wagging tail and friendly face that springs to attention behind the reception desk, while never straying too far from owner Joe Gallant’s side.
Roscoe, a one-year-old Anatolian shepherd and red-basket hound mix, has become a faithful and true friend, until the last beat of his heart, to staff member Gallant.
“When I first saw his face on the canine rescue website, Hearts of the North, I knew there was something special. I had looked at a lot of dogs and there was just something about Roscoe that I loved,” he said, with a smile.
Roscoe was only moments away from facing death row at an overflowing southeastern U.S. state shelter in Georgia, before volunteers from the organization based in New Brunswick, swooped him away.
“If we didn’t rescue him he would have been euthanized because they have too many dogs right now in the shelters,” explained Gallant, who is adjusting to life with his new loyal companion and good friend.
“I saw his profile and I just knew it was meant, so I filled out an application for him on Thursday and picked him up Saturday. There was an application process to get the dog, and they actually called my landlord and asked for reference checks, but eventually I was approved.”
With sweet and soulful eyes, Roscoe gazes at Gallant before cuddling next to him on a chair in the pet friendly hotel lobby.
“He came to Canada when he was just a couple of months old and has been in foster homes in New Brunswick and a couple of homes in Nova Scotia, so he’s still a little nervous.
“At four-weeks-old he was taken from his parents and sold, before being abandoned at the high kill shelter. Then, in a race against time, he ended up getting rescued by Kelly Thompson from the organization, and travelled across the border to Canada,” explained Gallant.
It’s the second time Gallant has saved a dog, and the fabric of his daily life has changed. But dogs are only given a short life to live and their death, like a member of the family, can often break a human's heart.
“Roscoe is my second rescue dog. My first rescue dog was Virgil. I got him when he was aged seven, and I had him for about six years before he sadly passed away last year. It’s taken this long for me to get ready for another dog and let them in to my heart.
“But he’s great with other dogs and wonderful with my kids. My youngest son has become really attached to him.”
Roscoe, once a sad shelter dog trapped in a small cage, can now run free in the Summerside Bark Park, intermingle with other dogs, and rest his head at night on a soft pillow in his loving forever home.
For more information on the canine rescue organization Hearts of the North, visit www.vpic88.wixsite.com/heartsofthenorth.
