SASKATOON — Brent and Violet Arstall show their love for dogs by allowing them to live out the rest of their lives on their property in Grandora, 18 kilometres west of Saskatoon and about 20 minutes from Asquith.
They owned and operated We All Need A Rescue, which started in 2012, then added a sanctuary for aging dogs who were not adopted or not adoptable. Brent’s love for dog care began in 1999 when he opened the Ta Ta Fur Now K9 Country Lodge boarding facility.
“We’re a dog sanctuary and rescue. We only have a few dogs up for adoption, and most dogs in our facility are with us forever. They either have behaviour issues or are not fond of humans and are not accepted into society anymore because of trust issues,” said Brent.
“We accept dogs into our rescue program, and then they come to the sanctuary side. There, they can live the remainder of their lives with us. We’ve had dogs in our sanctuary that came to us when they were puppies.”
He added that some dogs in their sanctuary have significant health issues, nobody could deal with them, or people did not want to pay the money every month to treat them for the rest of their lives.
“They come with us and live until they are 15 or 16. These dogs have lived with us for a long time. They get everything they want and need. They get lots of love and attention. We have a lot of dogs in our facility that are over 12 years old,” said Brent.
“We’ve always been a rescue sanctuary, but we changed it to sanctuary rescue a few years ago. We reversed the two names because we do more sanctuary stuff now than rescuing dogs. We’ve been doing this for 34 years.”
K9 Country Lodge is still operational, and 60 per cent of its proceeds go to caring for the rescue dogs in its sanctuary. That is why it still holds fundraising events and dog food drives, in addition to getting donations from businesses like Early’s Farm and Garden and Ens Toyota.
“Early’s is a big sponsor for us, and that’s where we get our dog food. The brand we use is from Horizon, and they are locally made in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. We have a big following from the community that always comes to our barbecue fundraisers to support us,” said Brent.
“Next month, we have several more events before it gets colder. We also have winter events. For example, before the pandemic, we built dog houses and distributed them to northern communities along with dog food and toys for kids. Hopefully, we can do that again.”
Last Saturday, Aug. 24, their dog food drive at Early’s parking lot collected over 200 bags, which would feed the dogs staying in their sanctuary.
