How a School Teacher Saved Man’s Best Friend... and How You Can Too

Edmonton, AB- Spencer Sekyer is a school teacher known for his passion for teaching and his compassion for animals – dogs in particular. He’s spent years working with underprivileged children all over the world, most recently in Afghanistan, where a chance encounter with a stray dog resulted in the rescue of seven amazing dogs arriving in Canada this week. But his work isn’t over yet.

“Thanks to some great organizations - especially NOWZAD - and donations, the seven female dogs will be arriving in Calgary on Friday Jan 6^th and then coming up here to my acreage in Sherwood Park.  Originally, we had homes picked out for all of them, but since it took a year to organize this, some of those plans didn’t work. Now my aim is to make sure we find new forever homes for all of them, and help them adjust to their Canadian life!” says Sekyer, who has spent the last year fund-raising and making arrangements for their rescue.

For Spencer, rescuing these animals was about being able to do something good for the stray dogs that are abandoned and usually have short lives on the streets of Kabul. As an educator, he spent his days teaching Afghan street kids and is currently teaching in Sherwood Park showing the level of compassion he has for both the humans and animals in need.

 “Because of my love for these animals and the community that they live in, I took the initial steps to save them, and if I can do it, anyone can reach out and help rescue less fortunate animals. All they have to do is have the passion and perseverance to do it."

 How you can help the new arrivals and other dogs in need of rescue:

 1) Spread the word about their arrival by posting these links through social media:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YOdkkWxUAg

 http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/video/afghan+dogs/video.html?v=2183274934

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AFb7fh_FEo

 2) Consider adopting one of the seven dogs:

 If you have experience with rescue dogs and are willing to leash train and work with them in their new environment, Spencer would be more than happy to consider you as a new owner for one or more dogs. (A thorough interview will be required.)

 3) Support your local rescue association by volunteering your time, consider fostering animals to help raise the rate of adoptions, donate money to a rescue association on your birthday in lieu of gifts, use social media to connect with other passionate animal lovers, write on your blog and contribute your knowledge to other blogs to benefit pet owners. Donate to NOWZAD the animal shelter in Afghanistan that helped and housed these dogs for the past year

 4) Write to your local government representative about shelter support, unfair bylaws, and other timely animal issues. For instance, new bylaws in Rosemont, Montreal and Richmond, B.C. have outlawed the opening of new pet stores that sell dogs, opting to promote the adoption of shelter dogs to benefit their communities. Lobby to make this a common practice in all Canadian cities.

For more information about Spencer’s journey and the dogs email him at

 ssekyer@gmail.com

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To book an interview contact:

Rachel Sentes, Publicist
604-366-7846

rachel@gal-fridaypublicity.com