Pet Life Magazine, New Zealand Pet Life Magazine Issue 6 Autumn 2018 | Page 23

Samurai is a beautiful white husky
who came into Michelle’s life and has
become her family and a crucial part
of her work. He is pack leader and the
lead dog of the fastest sled team in the
24km dry-land race in 2015 and the
36km dry-land race in 2016.
Samurai helps with the education side
of Husky Rescue NZ, is a therapy dog,
and a perfect model behind the
camera. Michelle says Samurai is her
best mate and he has taught her so
much in the time they have been
together. Sadly, he recently damaged
his cruciate and will be going into
surgery later this month.
While it’s great that these dogs have
found loving homes, they have had
to endure a sad reality, and it’s not a
happy ending for all. A lot of people
see adorable images of husky pups
on social media and want to own one
but don’t learn about the hard work
that’s required to keep one. This has
led to backyard breeding, where people
realise they can make a quick buck by
breeding and selling huskies based on
their cuteness factor. Michelle believes
that a good way to prevent huskies
ending up in rescues is to ban all
backyard breeding and to make
desexing compulsory unless you are a
registered breeder. This would prevent
a lot of dogs from being bought by
uninformed people who are unable to
give them the lifestyle they deserve.
moment, Michelle has her eye on a $1.1
million existing kennel complex, but if
that doesn’t happen she needs enough
money to buy some land and build her
own kennels. And in the meantime, it’s
still business as usual.
DONATE TODAY
If you have any spare dollars and want
to donate to this cause you can do so
by direct deposit to
Husky Rescue NZ, account number
01-0274-0372039-30.
To find out more about Husky
Rescue NZ, visit them on Facebook
or at huskyrescue.co.nz.
Michelle also believes there needs
to be more emphasis on blaming the
owner, not the dog, for problems such
as escaping, or the killing of cats and
chickens. At the moment, a dog will get
a “dangerous dog” title or be rehomed,
leaving the owner to get another dog
and continue the cycle.
The reality is, backyard breeding is
making Husky Rescue NZ’s job a lot
harder and busier. They are in
desperate need of donations to
continue the work they do and provide
better accommodation for the many
dogs awaiting adoption. At the
If you wou
ld like to b
e featured
rescue su
as our
perstar em
ail
morgan@
petlife.co.n
z
Samurai absolutely loves his
visits to
the snow room at the Antarctic
Centre
where he works.
Minus 8 degrees Celsius ... PAW
FECT
FOR HUSKIES!