Hiway16 Magazine... about people and places in north-central British Columbia, Canada

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Turtle Gardens - Little Shelter With a Heart

by Debi Smith

Their stories include pain, torture and abuse of every sort. Before arriving at The Turtle Garden Animal Shelter, one dog had been thrown through a plate glass window, while countless puppies and kittens have been pulled from dumpsters. Some cower at a raised hand, while others suffer from separation anxiety and will try to follow you wherever you go.

Puppies that have been given a chance to live

But everyone's luck changes once they reach the 15-acre Topley retreat. Although the yard looks chaotic with building materials scattered about, dogs on chains and even more loose animals that arrive to sniff you, things are in control. Yvette Labatte knows every animal's name, circumstance, age and favorable qualities at a glance. The information is recorded on computer as well as on paper. She lists dogs names and current whereabouts from as far back as fourteen years ago, when she first started the shelter.

Yvette Labatte

Animals arrive because they have no options - no place to go, no food or shelter. Yvette gets calls from as far away as Hazelton and Fraser Lake, from dog pounds, veterinarians and pet owners asking her to take animals in.

The Turtle Gardens shelter, a not-for-profit, non-funded society, is the only one of it's kind in the Bulkley Valley. Although there never seems to be enough money, food, space, blankets or volunteers the "little shelter with heart" continues to grow.






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