What's Up Bracebridge Gravenhurst January 2010

Sharron Purdy takes her dogs for a walk (left). She recently helped rescue over 40
dogs and puppies, some of which stayed at her home in Bracebridge (above).
Photographs: Don MacTavish
Rescue mission saves over 40 dogs
By Dianne Park Thach
If there’s one valuable lesson that
Sharron Purdy has learned from rescuing
dogs, it would be to trust your
intuition. She and her husband Paul
founded Moosonee Puppy Rescue and
have been saving unwanted northern
Ontario dogs from cruelty and death.
For seven years, the couple have been
transporting dogs from danger to their
home in Bracebridge. So far they have
helped about 600 dogs find a home.
“I don’t know why, but early in the
fall I just had this sense that I needed to
start preparing,” she says. “I know it
really sounds hokey. If nothing else, the
dogs have taught me to trust my
instincts.”
Acting on it, Sharron and a friend
organized the Winter Dogs Rescue
Fundraiser in a mere 17 days. Shortly
before the fundraiser, Sharron was
informed of the urgent need to help
more than 40 dogs located in
By Karen Wehrstein
Life on the Edge: Stories from Muskoka’s
Past will make its TV premiere on
TVOntario on Jan. 9 and 16, as part of
an eight-episode series on the history of
four northern Ontario localities produced
by the Ontario Visual Heritage
Project. The two segments will start at 4
p.m. and run 50 minutes.
“We’re really excited because now people
across the province get to experience
the history that northern Ontario has to
offer,” says producer Yvonne Drebert.
“Part of the mission of the project is to
make local history accessible, so having it
available to provincial audiences is great.
It’s great for our volunteers too; they can
tell their uncle in Ottawa or their aunt in
Attawapiskat, Ont., a small community
north of Moosonee. And suddenly, it
all made sense.
A man in Attawapiskat has kept in
touch with the Purdys for years and has
become known in his community for
helping unwanted dogs find a better
life. Overrun with dogs that are not
spayed or neutered, it’s not unusual to
find puppies in a box at the dump.
Recently, his own dogs gave birth to a
litter of puppies and it was becoming
increasingly difficult for him to feed
them, so he wanted to send them to
Sharron and Paul. Shortly after, he told
them of a couple of other dogs that had
more litters on the way and wanted to
send them too.
An injured dog from nearby Moose
Factory also made her way to Bracebridge.
Receiving the name Esther, she
was put in the foster care of a friend of
Sharron. Esther’s injuries were so severe
that she could not lie or sit down.
North Bay, ‘Now you can see me on
TVO.’”
Funded by FedNor, the Ontario Trillium
Foundation and other community
groups, Life on the Edge was extensively
researched from 2006 to 2008, using
interviews with more than 50 local historians
including Richard Tatley, Susan
Pryke and Patrick Boyer. The Muskoka
Heritage Foundation played a central
role in organizing the work, with museums
and other historical groups providing
historic shooting locations and
archival materials. The show was shot in
HD in the summer of 2008, with the
assistance of 55 local actors re-enacting
27 scenes from Muskoka’s history.
“A lot of work went into it and a lot of
“She showed up at a rescue worker’s
door and she had a rope chewed
around her neck. She was skin and
bone,” explains Sharron.
After a visit to Port Carling Veterinary
Services – an integral arrangement
that allows the Purdys to open their
door to injured dogs – it was determined
Esther was likely hit over the
head by a two-by-four.
This winter’s rescue mission has
totalled 43 dogs and puppies, with 17
already placed in loving homes. Of
those remaining, eight currently reside
with the Purdys, nine are in the care of
two foster families and nine dogs have
yet to be brought to Muskoka – all of
these dogs will need a new home.
Sharron says they are very particular
in choosing new homes for the dogs.
“These dogs have been abandoned,
neglected and abused,” says Sharron.
“With their new home, somebody has
to be there during the day. I’ll keep
partners contributed to it,” says Cathy
Kuntz of the Muskoka Heritage Foundation.
“Most people outside of Muskoka
know it only as cottage country, and this
touches on our history as a cottage centre,
but it shows that we’re more than
that. It shows our history about First
Nations and logging, how the physical
part of our land defines us, and then into
the cultural detail.”
Director Zach Melnick notes: “We are
always intrigued by the quality of the stories
we find in areas that may not have
received much attention in the past. The
history of these communities is anything
but ‘quaint.’”
Life on the Edge is available on DVD
from the Heritage Foundation office in
them as long as I need to until I can
find the absolute right match,” she
says.
The Purdys consider Gord and
Kathryn Kidd of Haliburton the ideal
adopters. They recently brought home
Saul, a dog from this winter’s mission,
introducing him to dogs Maggie and T-
Bone, who was adopted from the Purdys
last year. Bringing another rescued
dog to the Kidd home means a lot to
the couple.
“If we’re going to bring a dog into
our home, I want to try and give to the
most needed, where the need is greatest,”
says Kathryn. “I don’t need the
cutest or prettiest dog – I want one that
needs us the most.”
Sharron says the dogs are aware of
their second chance in life.
“They know they’ve been rescued
and are grateful,” she says. “They come
down with so much hope and so much
spirit after what they’ve been through.”
Muskoka historical documentary to hit TVO
Bracebridge and various other museums
and historical groups in Muskoka, which
are listed on the Ontario Visual Heritage
Project website. The full-length version is
three hours long, but can be watched in
segments depending on your interest.
The Ontario Visual Heritage Project
has produced documentaries in the past
about Haldimand, Norfolk, Brant/
Brantford/Six Nations, Elgin, Oxford,
Sarnia-Lambton, and Chatham-Kent,
but Life on the Edge will be its first documentary
to be broadcast on provincial
TV. The entire series, entitled The Shield,
runs on Saturdays at 4 p.m. from Jan. 9
to Feb. 27 and features other locations
including west Parry Sound, greater Sudbury
and Manitoulin Island.
www.whatsupmuskoka.com January 2010 3