Iranian rescue dog awaiting flight to meet adoptive family in Canada

A West Vancouver woman is struggling to find volunteers to fly her rescue dog from Iran to Canada due to the federal government’s travel restrictions amidst political unrest and violence.

Crystal Shearman has resorted to a Facebook post to find a volunteer to bring Alfie to Vancouver. Her last dog, Banjo, also an Iranian rescue, died recently from heart disease. 

“We were really excited to find another dog that kind of reminds us of our old dog, because (losing him) left a big hole in my heart,” Shearman said. 

She found Alfie after combing through the adoption listings on the Loved At Last Dogs website, a transnational dog rescue that partners with animal shelters in the Middle East to bring dogs to Canada for airport pickups. 

Shearman said she felt that Alfie had a “similar personality to Banjo after watching Alfie’s videos on the adoption website. 

“When I saw Alfie’s picture on the Loved At Last website, I instantly bonded with him because he looked like Banjo.” Shearman said. “It was as if I had found a relative of Banjo.” 

After having some adoption steps waived, Shearman connected with a dog shelter in Iran. She has been searching since last November for a volunteer to bring Alfie to Canada, but contacting the shelter and getting Alfie out of the country is proving difficult because of internet blackouts in Iran and the travel ban issued by the Canadian government. 

Ottawa has advised Canadians to avoid travelling to Iran and leave the country due to the risk of detentions or arrests. Flights to or from Iran have been suspended. 

“The number of dogs coming out (of Iran) is lower because no people are travelling to Iran right now because of what’s going on,” said Jan Olson, who founded the Vancouver-based dog rescue in 2016.

Olson said she has rescued about 800 dogs since receiving a call from an Iranian woman saying that dogs in her country needed to be rescued. She said the majority of the dogs at her rescue are adopted from Middle Eastern countries. 

Dogs are treated poorly in Iran, she said, and the Iranian government expanded the ban on walking dogs outdoors to 25 cities last year. Violators face legal action if they don’t comply, according to the government. 

Olson said Iranian dogs are resilient despite the abuse they may have suffered. 

“They’re just amazing. It doesn’t seem to matter how badly they’re treated by people.”

Shearman said her surviving dog, Whisky, is partially blind and deaf and has struggled since Banjo’s death. She wants to adopt Alfie as a companion and guide dog for Whisky.

“Whisky was able to understand what was happening in the world by staying close to Banjo,” she said. “He relied on him to know where to go, when to move, when to bark, when it was time to eat or walk… Whisky sensed life through Banjo.” 

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