A truckload of homemade dog beds will be headed south Monday morning from Williams Lake destined for BC SPCA shelters in Kelowna and Penticton where all but two of the 46 dogs seized from a property in the Interior are being cared for.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the dogs,鈥� said McLeese Lake resident Gale Lamothe, who doesn鈥檛 live too far down the highway from where the animals were seized. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even think about it. I just said, 鈥榶ou know, we have just got to get something happening here.鈥� The dogs need it.鈥�
A self-described dog lover 鈥渢o the extreme,鈥� Lamothe made a quick post on Facebook after reading the story Monday, asking for help to sew several dozen dog beds.
Lamothe said she used to have a business manufacturing fleece bed sheets and just happened to have the fabric needed to make beautiful beds for the dogs, that were found living in difficult conditions outside without adequate bedding.
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Since then, Lamothe said her life has turned into a whirlwind of phone calls, Facebooking and messaging after an outpouring of support from women, and one man, from 150 Mile House, Williams Lake and McLeese Lake to help make the beds.
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Volunteer seamstresses, including Audrey Sayewich and Irine Peasgood, gathered at the McLeese Lake Hall and made a prototype dog bed which consisted of fleece pads made of four layers of fabric, with each bed stuffed with three pads. After the design was determined, the 14 volunteers got to work and completed more than 50 dog beds in 13 hours.
鈥淚鈥檓 still in shock that this all got done in two days and here we are, my truck is stacked to the roof with beds,鈥� Lamothe said.
Volunteer sewer Charlene Freeman said she was happy to have been a part of something so wonderful after seeing Lamothe鈥檚 original post looking for volunteers.
鈥淚 just love dogs and have an ability to sew and I thought, 鈥業 could do that,鈥欌�� Freeman said. 鈥淚t was really good.鈥�
Freeman said her hope now is that the rescued dogs can be rehabilitated and found loving homes.
Lamothe hopes that too, and is getting in her vehicle early Monday morning and driving to the Kelowna shelter, which has 20 of the dogs, to deliver the beds and anything else anyone wants to donate.
鈥淭hey are super happy about this,鈥� Lamothe said of the Kelowna shelter.
鈥淚鈥檝e told everybody I am willing to pick up donations along the way and can make stops along the highway in 100 Mile House, Cache Creek, Clinton, Kamloops and any other community in between. We will be going through 100 Mile House by 6:45 or 7 a.m.鈥�
Meanwhile, Lamothe鈥檚 husband, Calvin Black, is delivering some beds north to the Quesnel shelter, and the Williams Lake shelter will also get some of the extra beds.
If anyone would like to include a donation in Lamothe鈥檚 truckload of beds from the Cariboo, they can contact her through Messenger.
