HUNTSVILLE, ON – A dog rescue operation in Huntsville is closing at the end of the month but likely not permanently.
Dave’s Dog Rescue, which operates out of the home of Dave Coulson on Highway 60 near Grassmere is shuttering operations at the end of the month as he had to sell the house due to divorce proceedings.
But the retiree who has turned a life-long passion for dogs into a charitable effort that rehabs and rehomes dogs, says it is mostly a question of available real estate holding things up for now.
“At the moment I have no new location but I am looking to keep on doing what I am doing,” said Coulson. “My dream is to stay in the Huntsville area in a 10 to 20-mile radius of where I am now.”
He said he has a down payment, but “it’s a tough time of year to find a property.”
He currently has 11 dogs he is looking after but will be getting them into various foster situations before month’s end.
Coulson has helped rehab dogs who served in the military in Afghanistan, and dogs needing new homes because of changing family situations.
He says in the past four years he hasn’t felt like it was even a little bit of work.
“It’s not work to me. I am up at 5:00am in the morning and in bed by 8:00pm at night and I go all day long. I love it,” he said.
Coulson says once the heat of the summer real estate market cools he will hopefully find the right property that gives him the room he needs to look after many dogs.
“I’m checking every day but it’s not every property that can take 10 or 15 dogs,” said Coulson.