Dog rescue shelter marks a year in Mineral County

When Robert Harris moved from southern California to Superior last year, he brought some pups that were already in the care of the dog rescue group Rescuing Cujo and were in need of forever-homes.

That was the beginning of Rescuing Cujo in Montana, a no-kill shelter he has built that has 19 kennels.

“The covenants for the property will only allow up to 20 dogs in the shelter. The maximum number of dogs we’ve had since relocating here has been 17, where two of the 19 kennels held two puppies each,” Harris shared.  “When we’re at capacity, which we were at 17 dogs, we just can’t take in any new dogs, unfortunately.”

He was caring for 12 dogs that moved with him and since then the facility has taken in six from Mineral County that were either abandoned or dumped.  

“We were hoping to continue to help save dogs from being euthanized due to overcrowding in San Diego County, but adoptions are slow, so we haven’t had that opportunity," he said. "However, if at some point we are able to help save dogs from being euthanized, we will have former volunteers of ours drive the dog(s) to us in Mineral County.”

Harris said it is very rare that Rescuing Cujo uses foster homes for the dogs while the search for permanent ownership takes place. 

“The reason for having so few is because if a dog in our care was transferred to a foster home, we would still need to keep the kennel space open in case the foster relationship with the dog didn’t work out and the dog needed to come back to the shelter.”  

Rescuing Cujo is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization as a sanctuary for rescue dogs that are waiting for adoption to their forever home. Rescuing Cujo’s priority is helping all dogs, especially Mineral County dogs. 

Harris and an employee are on site in Superior with the board of directors working from both Superior and San Diego keeping the organization running financially. 

“At our prior location, the population of the county was around 3 million people, so we were able to have regular volunteers who helped us with all of our daily walks and play times, seven days a week. We also had a pool of volunteers of approximately 20 on standby when a regular volunteer couldn’t fill their regular shift,” Harris said. “Since moving here, we have three volunteers who are regulars, and they help once a week, and we’re grateful for their help.  We have more dogs in our care now, but far fewer volunteers. It comes down to myself and my one employee to get the dogs out of their kennels four times a day every day of the week, except for Saturday and Sunday when the three volunteers help us out.” 

Call (619) 321-9780 for adoption and volunteer information.

    A dog up for adoption with Rescuing Cujo in Montana.
  

    A dog up for adoption with Rescuing Cujo in Montana.
  

    A dog up for adoption with Rescuing Cujo in Montana.
  

    A dog up for adoption with Rescuing Cujo in Montana.
  

    A dog up for adoption with Rescuing Cujo in Montana.