Turtle Gardens began on April 8, 1988 as a no-kill facility to address a very real need for a safe haven for unwanted animals. There were no shelters of any kind for 250 miles - from Prince George to Terrace. - 17 First nation Communities and 11 Villages and Towns. Twenty years later there is still only Turtle Gardens.

We have adopted over 4000 dogs since inception; an average of 227 to 250 dogs per year. Turtle Gardens began like any other shelter - with kennels and has evolved to a Group Foster Home and Rehabilitation Centre. Turtle Gardens has undergone extensive renovations to ensure the comfort and safety of our dogs. We live with the dogs as a family group; sharing our home so they learn to be a FAMILY companion. Turtle Gardens is a family operated group home which specializes in stray/feral dogs from First Nation Communities and Municipal Pounds. Most of our dogs are first and second generation strays - they have never been in a building let alone a home.

We teach them with positive reinforcement to learn how to learn. We give them the skills needed to adapt to city life where canine social skills are so important in day to day living.

All of our dogs are vet checked, vaccinated, wormed and spayed or neutered. Turtle Gardens is continuing with its renovations to build an adoption/training/internship/education centre, including an upgrade to the fencing. Turtle Gardens is situated on 27 acres of woodland and hills with two homes for the dogs and our three generation family.

Realizing that the flow of dogs is not slowing down, Turtle Gardens has instituted a Low Cost Spay Neuter Voucher Program. We have all four veterinary clinics in our area participating in our program. We do extensive outreach programs in schools. A daily blog about day-to-day activities can be seen on www.turtlegardens.org