Update 2011 Apr 14

Things are looking up for all of these rescues!  The two chow lovebugs, now called 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' have stayed together.  Juliet had her orthopedic surgery and her head has mended, and both have been neutered.  They're out in Santa Paula, CA at a rescue that will keep them together, and they are romping and playing in their wide open space and loving human caretakers.  One of the veterinarians at the animal hospital where Darling was recovering fell in love with her and adopted her!  And Daphne is in a very special 'daycare' where she is becoming a perfectly socialized young lady.  Soon she'll be as lovely in attitude as she is physically, and she will make someone a very special dog indeed.  Many thanks to all of you who have donated directly to Animal Rescue Center in Los Angeles to help these wonderful four-leggeds and the people at ARC who give so selflessly 24/7!

Update 2011 Mar 06

This was an arduous rescue with an unforgettably happy ending -- or near-ending.  Lives were saved, lovers reunited, torturous wounds healed.  But now four of the sweetest dogs need homes:  Two devoted chow mates, Lady Blue and Old Gold; a ridgeback-pit mix so sweet that she has earned the name "Darling"; and a young, shy shepherd-hound mix now named "Daphne" (formerly called "Lady Dom" for where she was rescued).  All are neutered, healed, and waiting for humans who want their affection and loyalty!  Lady Blue had her complicated orthopedic surgery Feb 25 and is now almost fully recovered from that and her head wounds.  Darling's open and infected lacerations on her side and front leg are now healed.  And Daphne has been spayed and fed well so that she is now a sleek and lovely young lady.  Please help us find them homes!  Their intriguing stories are given below.  Here are some photos from late February and from the touching reunion of the two chows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2011 Feb 23

Talk about a dramatic, arduous, and serendipitous rescue!  Five dogs, in one of the poorest parts of south Los Angeles, where local businesses include prostitution, drug dealing, and pitbull-fighting.  It took over a week to accomplish, and before we could finish, one of the dogs was hit by a car and suffered serious leg and skull fractures.  But the endings have included one of the most joyful reunions we have ever witnessed.

Some details of locations and people are omitted, to protect those of us who are now known and possibly not appreciated by some of the locals in this story.

Chows Blue & Gold in Gardena -- Found,  then lost

It started around February 12, in a less-than-stellar part of the city of Gardena in Los Angeles, CA.  A cat rescuer was in the area and saw two small stray chows, a golden and a blue, a very bonded, friendly pair. The golden was limping and held his right leg tight up against his chest.  A dog rescuer then came to investigate and, through conversations with a prostitute in the vicinity, learned that these were among many stray dogs in the area who are used as bait for pitbull fighting.  Video was taken during these conversations, but they stopped short of taking the dogs at that time because of the arrival and demeanor of the pimp.  (Note that the audio has been removed from this video to its vulgar content.)

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Stray Hounds, One Injured

On Thursday evening Feb 17, while still searching for the two chows, dog rescuers found the same prostitute again.  She told them that a pitbull had torn the ear off one of the chows and left its throat bleeding and that they had thrown the dog in a dumpster.  The rescuers continued to search without success, until they noticed another pair of stray dogs -- hound/pitbull mixes.  The female was holding her right leg up and had large, seriously infected lacerations on her right front leg and right body side.  The younger male seemed okay.  They were closely bonded and both very friendly and sweet -- the female amazingly so in view of her enormous pain.  One of the rescuers kept these two dogs in his protected yard for the night but his schedule and situation didn't permit him to foster them.

Another Blue Chow in Carson Shelter - Badly Injured

That night, the urgent pleas and concerns reached On Wings of Care (OWOC). Coincidentally, another call came out about a seriously injured female blue chow presumably struck by a car, who was being held at the Carson animal shelter.  From her photo, rescuers familiar with the golden and blue chows judged that she was not the same blue chow.  When no offers of help had come by the next morning, Friday Feb 18, OWOC's Bonny decided to head down there.

(Excuse me now while I switch to first-person since Bonny is writing this.)

Believe me, I would have liked to have a big macho guy with me!  But I couldn't find one, and it sounded like there was no time to waste to find the remaining golden chow and verify that the blue chow was not slowly bleeding to death in some dumpster.   It was scary for me, walking those streets along with the other prostitutes and getting looks and even propositions from men.  I had my own dear old rescue dogs in my car for company and to protect my car; they are so laid-back and friendly that they have no problems with any dogs I rescue, but they are a deterrent to two-legged intruders.  After a couple of hours driving around, I finally found the vehicle of that same prostitute and her pimp, except that a different woman came out of it and started working the street.  I approached her in a nonthreatening way, reassured her that I was not here to harm anyone or interfere with her work, but only to help animals in need and to offer veterinary services and even monetary rewards for the finding of injured or stray dogs.  She felt more comfortable and spoke more freely after we walked around the corner out of sight of her pimp.  She told me that the other prostitute was her sister (believable from their similarity) and had been put in jail the night before for prostitution.  When I asked about the golden chow, she said that he was gone, that someone had adopted him.  (Hmmm, not so believable.)  I gave her some money for herself and then left.  I saw many other dogs running the streets and dodging cars.  We need a serious rescue effort down there.

I then drove down to the Carson animal shelter to check out this new, injured blue chow.  Shelters don't typically let people just walk in and check out medical or quarantine cases.  So I didn't ask permission.  I walked unobtrusively around the back and into the small cat isolation ward -- and bingo, there was the chow.  Oh, what a mess that poor little gal was.  I spoke with the vets and vet techs, who were kind and helpful and obviously cared for the dog.  I told them who I was and that I could return in the morning to take her to our veterinarians for orthopedic surgery on her leg and remaining treatment for her skull.  They encouraged me to remove her and place her where she would get better ventilation and prompt good veterinary care.

The Big Mistake!

Next I went to pick up the two hound/pitbull mixes who had spent the night in the rescuer's yard.  The female's wounds looked old but badly infected, and her right leg was quite swollen.  I wasn't sure what had caused her lacerations, but they sure weren't dog bites.  Maybe a car accident and sliding along the street, maybe barbed wire, maybe a knife.

It was starting to rain and nearly dark, so I took the two hounds and set off for Animal Rescue Center (ARC) in Los Angeles.  ARC was in the middle of remodeling and had no obvious sign or even their street address posted that day, and their entrance is not on the street of their address.  It is also only one block away from the very well-marked South LA Animal Shelter.  I had never been to ARC, and the rescuers who gave me their address had not either, so I had no helpful elaboration on how to find the place.  So by now you can probably guess what the Big Mistake was.  At that time I did not yet fully appreciate some of the critical differences between a rescue center and a shelter.  I should have remembered that many of our rescues are dogs on death row in shelters -- that shelters are literal dead ends for many animals.  But it was getting very late, even past most closing times, and it was dark and raining...

I ran up to the main door of the shelter and knocked at the now-locked door.  Someone inside motioned me to the garage-door receiving entrance, so I went back to my truck and drove it to that entrance.  They opened it and in we went; they closed the door behind us.  I explained to the woman there that I had been advised to bring these dogs to the "Animal Rescue Center" because one of them needed veterinary attention.  I assumed from their positive response that I was in the right place!  Oh, was I wrong.  When I drove away, feeling reassured that the hounds would be examined in the morning and well cared for, my cell phone began ringing and beeping with calls and emails from rescuers frantically asking why the dogs weren't at ARC yet.  Huh??  Oh no!!  What had I done!  "No worries," I tried to reassure them and myself. "The people were great.  I I explained to them what was going on and that I would be returning tomorrow to meet with the vet and then take the dogs to our own boarding."  I hoped that the other rescuers were just over-reacting when they told me that I'd never be able to get the dogs out of that shelter.

 

I got home that night around midnight, exhausted.  I found emails telling me that a tip had been received from the same general area about a gold chow with a lame right front foot who had been hanging out on a building's porch for the past several days.  The same rescuer who had been searching for the chows during the week went down and retrieved that chow -- indeed, it was the very gold chow for whom we had all been searching! But there was no blue chow with him.

  

The Lady Dom

I awoke at 0530 the next morning, Saturday Feb 19, and found no emails offering help to go get the blue chow out of Carson or the hound mixes out of the shelter.  I still felt sick about having mistakenly taken the two hounds to the shelter instead of ARC, and I longed to pull that blue chow out of the shelter and into sunshine and love.  So I wrote off everything else I had to do that day and drove back down there.  I thought that with such an early start and such a clear plan, surely I could accomplish it all by late morning and then get on to all of my other commitments.

 I went first to Carson to retrieve the blue chow, arrived at 0800 before they were open to the public, and sneaked into the back area to see her.  Oh, she was such a mess and so very depressed.  The veterinarians I had spoken to the day before were not there yet, and the office staff would not open to the public. Then a familiar vet tech arrived.  He told the office staff that it was okay for me to take her; but they had paperwork issues:  Only specific County-approved rescue organizations are permitted to "pull" a dog from a County shelter.  I tried but could not reach the one rescue organization I recognized who could pull the dog, and time was getting late.  So I filled out five pages of paperwork to adopt her myself, wrote them a personal check for $100, and made ready to put "Ms. Blue" comfortably on my right front seat, where I could watch and reassure her while we drove up to ARC.

But while I waited for a gurney on which to take Ms. Blue to my car, I saw a woman with a small female shepherd-hound mix on a rope.  She was there to dump the dog, because the dog had been wandering around the local neighborhood (Dominguez) for many days and been almost hit by cars several times.  Having learned what I did the previous night about shelters, I surmised that for the dog's sake I should probably intercept this shelter drop-off.  I emailed and called local rescue groups to see if someone could take responsibility for this young female mix, but without success.  It was time for me to get Ms. Blue up to ARC and to try to spring those hounds from the shelter, so I took responsibility for "Lady Dom," leashed her loosely in the back of my SUV so that she wouldn't frighten Ms. Blue, and off we went to find the ARC.  The day wasn't going as fast as I had planned.

Lovers Joyfully Reunited!

The underlying wild hope in my head was that somehow this injured blue chow could be the blue chow of the golden-blue pair.  But the other rescuers seemed certain from the photo that this was not she.  But, I thought, the photo didn't look like what she used to look like either!  She now had stitches holding her shaved head together and a bright red splint and bandage holding her left front leg.  Maybe they were wrong?

This time I managed to find ARC, but even in daylight it wasn't easy.  That made me feel slightly better about not finding it the night before in the rain. We determined that Lady Dom had no ID chip and needed to be spayed, but other than being very thin and frightened she seemed okay, a friendly, stable, very adoptable dog.

Then came the moment of truth for the two chows.  The male golden chow was released into an enclosed play area.  I gently carried the injured blue female chow into the area and let the two of them smell each other, first through a fence.  There didn't appear to be immediate recognition ... we had prepared ourselves for this likelihood.  But then, suddenly something clicked in both of them, and JOY!  We managed to pull out a small camera amid our cell phones and shot some video and photos of the most joyful reunion any of us have ever seen.  We were all in tears from happiness!

We vowed that those two chows would never again be separated.  On Friday, Feb 25, the little blue gal chow had complicated ortho surgery on her injured leg -- which had three separate long and serious fractures -- and was also spayed.  Her mate the gold chow has also been neutered.  The deformed small right leg that he held so tightly to his chest apparently was a congenital defect.  While it might be easier for him in the long run to have it amputated, since we had little or no donations to cover the already considerable expense for these animals, we opted to leave his leg alone.

 

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The Jailbreak

With that beautiful love story floating my feet over the ground, I left ARC to spring those poor hounds out of the nearby animal shelter.   Oh, I had no idea the trouble that lay before me, how right the other rescuers had been in their dismay at the dogs having entered the shelter.  No employees from the night before were there, so nobody would believe that I had brought the hounds in by mistake, that they were meant to go to ARC.  The Supervisor insisted that they could not leave because the female needed to be seen by a veterinarian; and the male could not leave -- because he had an ID chip!  He was "Dexter", had been neutered and adopted one year ago out of that very shelter, by someone who was labeled on the file as "Rescue."   They had called on Friday night and left a message at the phone number on the chip, but as of Wednesday Feb 23, no one had called back yet. 

To add to their despair at being locked in the shelter, the two dogs had been separated immediately after I left them the night before.  The female was put in isolation, and Dexter was locked in a ward of boisterous male strays and caged with some other male dog.  Oh those poor dogs were so unhappy when I saw them again.  I felt like I had betrayed them horribly by my mistake.  I emailed and called all of the other rescuers for advice and help to get these dogs out and over to ARC, and some of them started making calls up the chain of command.  This went on for well over an hour.  I visited with Dexter briefly and promised him I'd be back to spring him, and I spent the rest of the time with the female (latter called "Darling" by ARC).  Poor Darling was feeling very poorly by now.  And I was feeling even worse.

Then suddenly I got a text message from another rescuer.  It said: "Mark Salazar (from the office of Animal Services for Los Angeles County) is calling now.  You can take the dogs!"  Somehow one of the rescuers had reached his boss and persuaded them to release the dogs to us.  The shelter supervisor shook his head like he didn't understand, but told the attendants "Give her the dogs.  No paperwork, she can take them and go."  I carried Darling in my arms, and we went together to get Dexter.  With Dexter on a lead and Darling in my arms, we walked quickly out of the front door of that place to my car, and drove down the street to ARC!  The dogs were ALL smiles again, even though Darling was clearly feeling very poorly.  We arrived at ARC and the two dogs were placed in a large kennel together.  While they weren't thrilled about being put behind a locked fence again, they were clearly happy about being out of the shelter and in a place where all who surrounded them were friendly and encouraging.

The Flight Not Taken 

It was all arranged.  On Monday morning Feb 21, I would fly the two joyfully reunited chows up to a chow rescue in Sacramento.  And since I was making that flight, could I also pick up an older chow ("Sam") from Sacramento who needed to come to his new forever home in southern San Diego?  Of course, it would be one long day, but we had a 24-hour window of good weather between storms, so why not?

We also learned that one of the veterinarians at ARC wanted to adopt Dexter, and maybe also Darling.  Wow!  A conscientious, capable dog-owner who loves and wants their dog? Does it get any better?  Well, the hitch was that she was planning to move to Denver -- in a few days.  None of the rescue organizations involved in this venture are generally willing to adopt out of the area.  Oh how I wanted to argue, but it was not my place.  I begged a little bit and then let it go.  We also knew that Dexter could not go anywhere until we had waited a few more days to give the person listed on his ID chip time to return the voicemail about Dexter. 

This same veterinarian also told us that she knew of a "fabulous" home for the two chows, right here in Los Angeles.  Well now, this was sounding too perfect to me.  I was ready to jump at it, go check out this fabulous home and family, and look forward to being able to see these chows for a long time to come!  The other rescuers didn't all feel the same way.  It was already set, some rescue organization had to take responsibility for the two chows, and that was already arranged to be the group in Sacramento.  So what? I thought.  But I'm naive in this business; I just save the animals and generally manage to avoid the politics.  This was getting pretty sticky.  And time was running out if I was going to make all these flights before weather hit again that night, so after greeting Darling, Dexter, and Lady Dom, I went in to see the happy chows.

Happy they were indeed.  Ms. Blue licked my hand thoroughly and lay on her side playing with my wrist and hand, ever grateful for my having brought her back to her mate.  But Mr. Gold was staring at me intently and communicating something very seriously.  When an attendant walked by very close to the cage, he began barking in a very agitated and anxious way and covering Ms. Blue as if to hide her from the front of the cage.  He was very agitated, now even with me.  He was clearly protesting with all his heart that no one should move her and he would not let her go.  I felt great love and compassion for him, and when I saw the happiness in Ms. Blue's eyes, I realized that these two dogs needed stability for a while.  No more trauma, no more fear of separation, no more fear of change.  They needed to hang out together in their comfortable digs right there.  He needed to be neutered (he was already trying to make trouble with her), and she needed ortho surgery, attention to her skull injury, and to be spayed.   The ARC vets and staff were by that time totally in love with the two chows and willingly offered to take care of their surgeries and care, as well as Darling's.

I called the rescue organization whose name was officially on the paperwork for the two chows, and I told them that I felt uncomfortably trying to take the chows myself and put them in a car and then a plane that day.  I offered to fly them again on another day, if they needed to go to Sacramento or somewhere else. But I said that I did not feel comfortable trying to fly them that day.  I was warned that this was not going to sit well with most of the other rescuers.  But the staff at ARC agreed fully that this was best for the dogs.  And "For The Dogs" is what rescue is all about, so I made that decision and told myself that all the rescuers would come to one mind about this eventually.

I still had to fly up to Sacramento, because I had promised that we would fly "Sam" the elderly golden chow to his new home in San Diego!  So we flew 7.3 hours and well over 1000 miles that day, all for Sam.  He is one adorable and adored chow.   And the nicest canine passenger I think I've ever had in the plane with me.  But that's a different story that you can read elsewhere.

Video taken at ARC midday today, when we brought the injured blue up from carson shelter to meet the gold male rescued last night from Gardena. From abused starving street dogs to love and care and families.  Love this kind of rescue! :--)))

The latest

Parvo scare with Lady Dom:  When I landed in Sacramento around noon on Monday Feb 21, I received a phone call from ARC asking permission to do a parvo exam on Lady Dom, as she had been throwing up and had behaved less than sweetly to one of the attendants.  Of course I authorized it and wondered, if she had it, whether she might have infected other dogs while there.  On Tuesday Feb 22, the results of that parvo exam came back negative.  After being spayed Friday Feb 25, Lady Dom is ready and waiting to go to a home who will feed her well and show her that she need not be afraid again.  As of Mar 03, we are still searching for a home for her, and she is still boarding at ARC.  Donations are needed to support her boarding and the spay surgery.  And most of all, we really need a foster or forever home for this beautiful young lady!

Dexter goes home:  While I was flying Sam to San Diego Monday afternoon, I received an email on my cell phone from the folks at ARC.  The veterinarian who wanted to adopt Dexter was now thinking that she might like to adopt Darling too, and would On Wings Of Care fly them both out to Denver when Darling is ready?  I answered immediately -- "Well of course we will!"  Does it get any better than that?  Another happy ending, looked like.  But alas, it was not to be.  Dexter's owners finally called back on Wednesday Feb 23 (five days after they had been called)!  They wanted him back, and of course that is their right.  So back Dexter went.  We were not permitted to do a yard check, and his owners never contacted us even to thank us.  We hope that they take better care of him from now on!

Darling and Lady Dom - fixed and feeling better:  Thursday, Feb 24, both Darling and Lady Dom were spayed.  Darling's leg is feeling much better, and the wound on her side is healing well.  She felt well enough to consider chasing a cat in the local alley when she went out for a walk today... hmm, maybe dogs who have lived hungry on the street for a long time view small running animals like cats, squirrels, and mice a little differently than if they lived in a home with them and plenty of food for all!  Lady Dom has just one issue that we noticed -- with food: she always acts starving hungry.  It will probably take until she gets some more weight on her skinny starved little body before she'll be able to let a food bowl pass by with grabbing it!  As of Mar 03, both of these sweethearts are still at ARC, ready and waiting for foster homes or forever families of their own.  We need donations to help cover their boarding and spay surgeries, but mostly we need help finding them homes.

The Chows:  Friday, Feb 25, the little blue chow had her orthopedic surgery, and both she and her man were neutered.  Rescuers have named her Asha (meaning "Hope") and him Laz.  

Asha's front right leg had three full fractures, and the repair took time and some metal hardware.  The surgeon said that her healing should be quick, and a full recovery is expected.

As of Mar 03, the potential local home for the chows has fallen through, without their having ever met the chows or our having had a chance to meet them or look at their yard.   So this beautiful bonded couple of young, small chows is still in boarding at ARC and also in need of a forever family of their own.  If you can help in any way, either with donations to help with Asha's expensive ortho surgery (approximately $1100 plus spaying),  Laz's neutering, and their continued boarding or by referring some potential new adopters or fosters, please contact us or Animal Rescue Center directly at 323-402-0039.  Many thanks. 

 --Bonny Schumaker, On Wings Of Care