I know I’m not the only one who can’t help smiling when I see a dog, no matter how big or small, out on the street. Dogs have a downright magical ability to spread joy.
So we’re all familiar with that deep desire to just adopt all the dogs in the shelter and all go live on a farm together, right? But it’s one thing to dream about it, and another thing entirely to actually do it. One couple in Canada, however, went ahead and lived the dream anyway.
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Mark and Sharon Starmer started taking in dogs back in 2004.
The first rescue dog in their lives clearly had an impact, because it led to another. And another. And another. It wasn’t so much that they couldn’t say no, it was that they didn’t want to.
Call them big softies if you want, but they just couldn’t turn down a pooch in need.
I know, us dog lovers want to adopt all the dogs and give them proper homes, but Mark and Sharon actually try to do it.
They’re particularly drawn to senior dogs and dogs with special health needs.
You know, the kind of dogs that need the most love but tend to get dropped off at shelters by families who can’t deal with their needs.
Of course, caring for such a big pack of dogs, especially dogs with particular needs, comes with big challenges.
Feeding them can’t be cheap, and vet bills stack up quickly. “We only get by because of the wonderful support from our food supplier and friends,” Mark told Metro UK. He added that if it comes to a choice between feeding the dogs and feeding the people, the dogs get fed every time.
Housing has been another big issue for the Starmers.
They were forced to move from their home in Alberta after local authorities told them they had too many dogs. “We were told that either the dogs had to go or we did. There was no contest,” Mark said.
So the family moved to a four-acre property in British Columbia.
That’s easily enough room for the dogs to spread out, but they aren’t forced to live in the yard. Instead, they live under the roof with the rest of the family. “They do kind of wreck the house and the dust is awful, but they’re all fully fledged family members and we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Mark says.
As much as the Starmers love each and every one of their dogs, they will go to great lengths to find good matches for them to find new homes.
Mark has traveled as far as New Mexico, a 3,000-mile round-trip, to pair up a dog with a good home. But the dogs that can’t be matched up always have a home with Mark and Sharon.
You couldn’t ask for a much happier situation for either the dogs or the Starmers.
Just look at how happy they all are to have this property to frolic in and around, like something straight out of Disney.
h/t Metro UK
