The Barbados Ruffugee Project!
Eastern Ontario Potcake Rescue (EOPR) is a small rescue organization located in Ottawa, Ontario! Our rescue mandate is to find safe, suitable, and loving homes for as many Potcake (Island dogs) as we can! We are a registered not-for-profit charity. That means we rely solely on adoption fees and generous donations from our supporters to continue to help Island dogs!
As you know, COVID-19 has hit the world HARD and has affected us all. It's been no different for the residents of Barbados. So many people cannot afford to feed their families , and some are left with no choice but to surrender their pets to the shelter or abandon them. Unfortunately, the shelters are now WELL over their capacity and are simply unable to take in more animals that need help. EOPR has committed to helping our rescue partners at Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary and more. We hope to transport and find homes for as many Bajan Potcakes in Canada as possible. We have successfully rescued and rehomed 38 Bajan dogs since November of 2020. We have also been assisting our friends at Woodbourne Kennels and the Ark in Barbados which is also filling up too quickly.
Just as flights seemed to be getting somewhat back to normal before Christmas… ALL flights to the Caribbean were cancelled until the end of April. This has caused even MORE devastation to the people and animals of Barbados. There are HUNDREDS of dogs ready to fly, but we now have absolutely no way to get them out. The shelters are BURSTING at the seams. They desperately need our help!!! We cannot let any more dogs be dumped in fields in the burning sun, hacked with machetes, poisoned or worse...
We could not just sit quietly and wait for flights to resume... Ocean Acres alone is WAY over capacity with over 160 dogs in care, which means that they have to turn people away if they need to surrender their animals. There is no more room to help stray animals in need. Additionally, Woodbourne Kennels, the Ark and the Barbados SPCA have an more than 200 dogs in their care that need also our help! There is simply no more space.
With that desperation in mind, we put our heads together and came up with an alternative way to bring all of these Bajan dogs to Canada.
Introducing: The Barbados Ruffugee Project! At the end of March 2021, we hope to have a chartered plane fly from Barbados to Canada with 200 dogs from overcrowded shelters in Barbados on board!
This project will free up much needed space at the shelters, allowing them to continue the amazing rescue work they have been doing in Barbados. EOPR is a small rescue and cannot intake 200 dogs on our own, so we are super excited to be teaming up with Freedom Dog Rescue, Sit With Me Dog Rescue and some amazing (soon to be announced) rescues both here in Ottawa and the GTA, to help get as many Bajan Potcakes to their new lives in Canada as we possibly can! Team work makes the dream work!
This is no small task.
The cost of this charter will be $202,000CAD, but we believe that with the power of all these amazing teams collaborating together, combined with YOUR support, our amazing supporters and donors, we truly believe that we can make this happen!
EVERY PENNY COUNTS! Absolutely no donation is too small, and it goes a very long way! We have set up this GoFundMe to collect funds for the flight. Please share far and wide and as much as you can!
THANK YOU for all of your support!!!
Please see below all of our not-for-profit registration numbers.
Eastern Ontario Potcake Rescue Reg# 761874320RR0001
Freedom Dog Rescue Reg# 83761323RR0001
Sit With Me Dog Rescue Reg# 835944240RR0001
Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary Barbados NFP Reg#44150