Bullies in Need was formed in 2005 to tackle the complicated issue of a Provincial Breed Ban and how we could help the pit bull type dogs that suddenly found themselves prohibited. We quickly developed into a recognized resource for both dog owners and shelters. We continue to facilitate out of Province placements for dogs affected by BSL as well as offer advice or suggest resources to help owners.
We are strictly a volunteer run and foster home based rescue that has partnered with various shelters, animal controls & vet clinics across the province. We are advocates for ethical rescue and support breed neutral laws with responsible ownership for all breeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are some dogs available in Ontario and others aren’t?
Our dogs are labelled by the shelter they come from or a vet, if they are deemed a prohibited breed under BSL, they must be rehomed outside of areas with BSL.
What is BSL?
Breed Specific Legislation (“The Pit Bull Ban”). For more information please visit The Dog Owners’ Liability Act.
What is your adoption process?
Step one is filling out an adoption application. Then there is a phone call scheduled to discuss your application in further detail, discuss our policies and how things work. Then there is a home visit done and references are checked before being approved or not. If you are approved but we don’t have a dog that is a suitable match, we will keep your application on file until a suitable match comes through. If you are approved and we have a match, we will arrange for a 2-week trial adoption while you get to know the dog before making the final decision to adopt.
What is your out-of-province adoption process?
The same as our regular adoption process! We have volunteers country wide to conduct the home visits. There are additional flight fees which vary and will be discussed during the process.
Can I visit the available dogs?
All of our dogs are in private foster homes throughout Ontario and parts of Quebec, we do not have a shelter or facility to visit the dogs. You go through the adoption process before meeting the dog or in some cases available dogs are at our events.
I need to surrender my dog, will you take it?
We are not a shelter and very rarely have the resources to take emergency surrenders. We always recommend to surrender to a local shelter that works with rescues to place pitbull type dogs out of province.
Do you take dogs with aggression issues?
We do not take dogs that display signs of human aggression or with bite histories. Dogs with inter-animal aggression are taken on a resource-based basis.
The bio says only pet or no ____ but mine is super dog-savvy, can I still adopt?
No, if we say no cats/kids/dogs, etc… we mean it.
Do you adopt to homes with kids?
Yes, depending on the dog we do not have set requirements on how old a child in the home needs to be. It is all depending on how the dog is around kids
Does my yard need to be fenced?
Unless we specify that a certain dog needs a fenced in yard, it is not a requirement as long as you ensure that the dog is getting adequate exercise and are secure outside. Even people with yards need to walk their dogs!
Website Photo Credits:
Thank you to all the people that have allowed us to share some great images to bring our website to life.
- Home – Jessica D. & Nicole from RedemptionDogs.com
- Donation – Brandi L.
- Foster – Amanda C.
- Volunteer – Amanda C.
- Contact – Vanessa S.
We’ve used many images from our public social media profiles, if we’ve used your picture and would like to be added to the credits list above just send us a note.
Rescue Partners
Within the day to day, it takes more than a handful of folks to not just make a rescue work, but to make it successful. So to those folks behind the scene, who remain nameless, you do not go unnoticed. To the foster homes and sponsors: there is no way our rescue could maintain the number of dogs we do without you. We thank you but above all, our dogs thank you with lots of wags and kisses.
Would your business like to make it on our page? Please send us an email and let us know how you would like to help!