A dog fosterer turned foster fail
I am highlighting a passionate local animal rescuer who is not only dedicated to animal welfare, he is one of the funniest people I have ever met. His name is Gareth Meagher. He has singlehandedly fostered many dogs and adopted a couple of his fosters, lovingly known among rescuers as a ‘foster fail.’
I asked Meagher if he remembers how many dogs he has fostered over the years. In his typical, humorous style, he rattled off each dogs’ name as if he was listing his family members. He has fostered dogs named Danny, Wally, Andy, Desmond, Drake, Louis, Silver, Dexie, D.J. and Biscuit. He told me about each dog’s personality and the family that eventually adopted the dog. Meagher said he enjoys receiving updates on the dogs along with family pictures.
One of Meagher’s first foster dogs was Danny. Danny found himself in rescue when his owner sadly passed away. He was adopted by another family when history repeated itself and his owner tragically passed. At 11 years old, Danny moved into Meagher’s home to be fostered.
Meagher said adoption applications started to come in from prospective families wanting Danny, but Meagher just could not part with him. He made up funny excuses as to why Danny should not be adopted and the rest was history. Danny spent the next two years of his life under the watchful eye of Meagher.
I noted at the beginning of this column that Meagher is an extremely funny person. He is an accomplished talented actor, has professionally taped voice-overs and has acted in television commercials. He has played parts on shows such as Haven, Mr. D and The Trailer Park Boys. You may also recognize him as the voice and actor from the television commercial Harbour Guy — Don’t Dump This.
In addition to his acting, he has a full-time career and has a rescue dog named Silver. Meagher was writing a hilarious blog called Silver and The Doggy
Dad. I asked him why he stopped publishing it and he said it was because, “Silver stopped being funny!” I hope Silver finds his funny bone soon because I miss his side-splitting antics. Silver romped into Meagher’s life as a seven-year-old foster dog and he is now 12 years old.
Meagher has always felt that fostering dogs was an easy thing to do because you are just providing the dog with a temporary home, but Silver was different. He had never had a home of his own before he met Meagher. This resonated with Meagher and he decided to adopt the adorable dog. Of course, Meagher could not just adopt him; he had to add a comical spin. Silver wore a little bandana that said “Adopt Me,” but Meagher put a bandana on Silver that read “Adopted” and emailed it to the rescue. It’s another happy foster fail for Meagher.
Our homeless pets depend on individuals like Meagher and we depend on his enthusiastic spirit. Thank you for helping so many homeless dogs and thank you for making us laugh.
Please be kind to animals.
Tracy Jessiman is a pet portrait artist who lives in Halifax with her husband and their three pets. She is a volunteer with Animal Rescue Coalitions of Nova Scotia. She has been rescuing animals most of her life, but more intimately, animals rescued her.