How to Cope with Loss and Help Rescues Dogs through Music- Music Rescues

“Music Rescues” is Perfectly In Tune With Our New “Rescues Rock” Series.

In our new series of “Rescues Rock” episodes, we are featuring people in the music business who love music and dogs, and use music and music events as a way to help fundraise and bring awareness to rescues.

Music and Dogs Enrich our Lives

Music and dogs have a lot in common. They enrich our lives, bring us joy, help us live in the moment and in some cases, rescue us.The first event in this series is “Music Rescues” organized by music executive Jill Snell-de Cartier

The Inspiration behind “Music Rescues“

On October 8th 2013 Shelley Snell passed away at the age of 51 after a 5 year long battle with metastatic colon cancer. Predeceased by her mother and father just years before, Shelley’s best friend and sister Jill was by her side to the very end.

Shelley’s Legacy

“Shelley was a non-judgmental, loving woman with a sharp wit and a huge heart. She was feisty and fiery and was not shy to share a passionate opinion. She was beautiful inside and out. Her love for animals was known far and wide and will continue through the creation of a foster home for dogs to better prepare and train them for adoption in partnership with established shelters.” -excerpt from Shelley’s Obituary in the Toronto Star

With the passing of her beloved sister, Jill Snell-de Cartier felt compelled to do something to keep Shelley’s legacy alive and so she established Gimme Shell-ter, in her name. She is planning to register it as a charity.

Gimme Shell-ter and Shelley’s Memorial

“Gimme Shell-ter, will be a safe haven for dogs, to be fostered in a nurturing, healthy, forward thinking environment. Gimme Shell-ter will be home to dogs from existing shelters that need extra time to heal, to convalesce, to exercise, to learn manners, or just to get a break from shelter life.”- The Gimme Shell-ter website

Gimme Shell-ter was established in time for those mourning and remembering Shelley to donate at her memorial, with the help of many of Shelley’s past colleagues at Sony Canada.

Shelley left one clear instruction for her memorial and that was simply “Make sure there’s music and dogs”. Jill arranged a beautiful surprise for everyone at the service by having 25 close friends walk their dogs in a procession down the aisle of the church, bringing many to tears at the sight.

There was also no shortage of musical acts with 6 different artists and groups performing including Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Oh Susanna, Russell deCarle, as well as the Snell sisters’ family from Nova Scotia playing the traditional triple fiddle.

The Beginning of “Music Rescues” Events

We sat down with Jill to talk about the next phase of Shelley’s legacy, an incredible project we are supporting called “Music Rescues”. Jill manages several country music artists and has worked in the music business for many years. It was logical to her to use music to help fundraise for Rescues, and longer term for Gimme-Shelter. She describes the Music Rescues events as “very fun, kind of silly, rag-tag shows that have run for three years now in conjunction with the Canadian Country Music Awards to support local animal shelters.”  The events have seen adoptable dogs and cats find their forever homes and many incredible acoustic performances from notable musicians like Paul Brandt.

Imagine watching a live, acoustic performance by your favorite country music stars while adorable and adoptable dogs run around through the audience. Yeah, a dream come true? That’s what we thought too.

Check out the inspirational video with Shelley and Jill’s story here:

Music Rescues 2017

Talent Hounds is incredibly excited to have filmed some of the most recent “Music Rescues” Event in Saskatoon  to create the pilot for our Rescues Rock Series (thank you Kyle Burgess of CAOL Media).

We’ll be releasing a video with the Rescue Organization and interviews with some of the artists and attendees. Check back to see how many of the 20 gorgeous puppies got adopted so far.

We have also done a beautiful song about the Forever Love you can find with a Rescue Dog. By watching our videos, you allow us to donate to rescue organizations.

 

What do you think of the idea behind Rescues Rock and Music Rescues? Have you had to cope with loss? Let me know in the comments.