Colin and Belinda Morrison founded CB Rescue after rescuing a two year old Husky in Calgary that had been chained for her whole life, with no human interaction, no walks, and no caring family to look after her. After successfully placing the dog in a new, loving home, Belinda realized that rescuing dogs was something that she could really do. Already volunteering for other rescues in Calgary and fostering herself, Belinda had always thought about starting her own organization. “I always said if I had a million dollars, I’d start a rescue. But then I realized - I don’t need that. It was an excuse! I just need people to help me.” And so Belinda started her non-profit organization, CB Rescue. It has now been running for six years and has rescued hundreds of dogs from across Canada, as well as the Dominican, Mexico and US.
CB Rescue prides itself on being a “personalized service rescue,” with a less than 1% return rate (one of the best in Alberta). They match every dog with their perfect family by spending the time getting to know the family and understanding the dog that would best fit into their home. “I was always about saving the dogs,” Belinda explains. “But the more I do this rescue, I realize that rescuing is only 50%. The other 50% is finding a good home where the dog will have a good quality of life.” For Belinda, that comes from love, exercise, being a part of the family, and good nutrition. “I’ve said no to families that weren’t going to feed my dogs the way I wanted them to.” As a personal trainer and nutritionist of over 30 years, food is extremely important to Belinda, and setting the dog and the family up for a lifetime of success is a huge part of what drives her passion for rescuing. “Nutrition is a big part of what I do with the dogs. It’s so important to me,” she says.
When it comes to diet, the most important thing for Belinda is feeding real food. “We don’t want chemicals or fillers,” she explains. “When you look at a food, you want to eat from the ground up. That’s how a dog should eat, because they are biologically made to eat that way.” She recognizes that the education piece is hugely important in helping people to understand that what they feed their dog matters. “14 years ago, I was feeding my dogs kibble,” she explains. “I didn’t know any better.” After her pitbull, Lucky, was diagnosed with cancer, she switched him to a diet of raw food, Smack, and fruit and vegetables. Six months later, his biopsies came back cancer-free. Seeing this transformation convinced Belinda of the importance of being preventative, rather than reactive, when it comes to dogs’ health. “I’m so adamant now that I provide education for each family on dog nutrition, because you can’t fault someone when they haven’t been told. My job is to educate them. It’s about what happens after the rescue - dogs can live a long time if you give them the right fuel for their body.”
Smack Pet Foods plays a role in that education piece at CB Rescue, and is a large part of what she feeds the dogs at the rescue. When her dogs go home with their new families, she sends them with samples of Smack to help them continue that diet. “You should see how many people are on Smack now because I’ve educated them,” Belinda says. “Smack is the only food I will feed out of a bag to my dogs - and when I feed them Smack and other good fruits and vegetables like that, the family tends to continue that diet when they go to their new home.” For someone as passionate about nutrition as Belinda, she loves the convenience of Smack Pet Foods, and how popular it is with the dogs. “I haven’t met a dog that doesn’t like Smack food,” she says. “When I pull it out, there’s not a morsel left in the bowl. You can smell the freshness from the bag - that’s how it’s supposed to be!”
CB Rescue is committed to its mission of rescuing and placing dogs in loving, permanent homes, as well as educating adopters about the responsibilities and costs of bringing a dog into their lives. “You are their caregiver,” says Belinda. “Everything good comes from you - nutrition, entertainment, exercise, love. Quality of life, that comes from you. And a dog’s health is priceless. The dog can’t do that on its own.”
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