Rescued Mexican Dog Swaps Street Life for Canadian Boat Days With New Dad

Life on the streets is not easy, but it's a reality many dogs face. Some are turned loose there, while many others are born into it. There are billions of problems with stray dogs, and there are people who work as hard as they can to solve them, but it's one of the hardest things a human can do.

Recently, one woman posted on Instagram about his family's journey adopting street dogs from Mexico, and it's so heartwarming it's a little wild. You just have to see it:

Amy Timmerman lives in a family of very kindhearted people, that's for sure. It takes a lot of guts to rescue a dog in general, never mind a street dog!

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According to Amy, the subject of this video is a pup named Fish, who was born on the streets of Sayulita, Mexico and taken in by a rescue. Her own dog (Lilo) and her mom's dog (Honey) were all adopted from the same area, though they aren't related, and she says she wouldn't have it any other way. Despite their rough starts in life, she claims her family's dogs are just amazing, and no one doubts it. Just look at Fish!

The family lives in Canada, but that didn't stop them from adopting dogs from Mexico, and it doesn't have to stop you either. Many rescues can help arrange transportation, fly dogs up to you, or network with other rescues to place dogs all over. You just have to find the right one, and thank goodness they did, because Fish is really freaking cute!

Stray Dogs Are a Serious Problem

There are stray dogs all over the world, though we don't see them quite as much in the United States. Mexico has a massive stray dog population, with anywhere from 22-25 million dogs living on the streets. Many live in large packs. Obviously, stray dogs are at risk for diseases and injuries amongst themselves, but they also create tons of safety hazards for humans as well:

1. Stray dogs may carry rabies.
2. Stray dogs will relieve themselves wherever they see fit, which creates biohazards.
3. Stray dogs that run into the streets could cause car crashes.
4. Humans who get to close to feral pups are at risk for bites.

Rescues in stray-heavy areas will often take one of two approaches, depending on their capacity: they take dogs off the streets and adopt them out, like Fish's rescue does, or they take dogs off the streets, spay/neuter/vaccinate them, and release them once they're healed. Though it may not be ideal, spaying or neutering stray dogs is just as important to mitigating the problem as adoption is. The fewer dogs that can have babies, the fewer dogs that will be born on the streets. They can't all go to Canadian boat-loving dads, after all!