Woman gives up marriage to live with 500 huskies, then helps 400 homeless dogs too

She has taken in over 500 huskies since falling in love with the breed and spends 16 hours a day caring for them.

She set up Saint Sled Dog Rescue after hearing about a dog, Athena, who was set to be put down as her owner couldn’t afford surgery on her leg. Heather, of Peterborough, Cambs, said: “People say I’m crazy, but I see them as my family and they need me just like children need their parents.

“I fell in love with sled dogs when I got my first husky Sasha 12 years ago.

“Then I rescued two more dogs, taking the total to three. Then they had puppies, so we had eight.

“After that the pack grew and grew and I remember when I had 13 my husband said, ‘If it goes up to 20, I’m leaving’.

“Four years ago it did and to be honest, the relationship broke down for many other reasons. Now I have many dogs and couldn’t be happier.”

Heather has helped re-home 400 dogs and has a team of 30 staff and hundreds of volunteers across the country who help with foster care, home checks and transporting pets to their new families. But her devotion to the dogs has made it hard to find love.

She said: “Not many people want to date someone with so many dogs. They are always going to come first and men don’t tend to like that!”

But caring for her canines isn’t cheap and she is crowdfunding so she can have her own kennels. Money raised by customers paying for boarding can help care for the dogs and give them a suitable place to stay while they are waiting to find a permanent home. She said: “I love sharing my home with the dogs, but if I had a site with kennels I could do so much more to help.”
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