It's always the lizard...

When I left for the shelter this morning, I wasn't sure if I'd be transporting just 3 adult dogs or a 4th plus her 5 puppies. Turned out to be just 3, a good thing since I drive a Subaru and the day could have ended with a news story about an accident on the freeway caused by a writer and a clown car full of dogs who all thought they could drive.

While at the shelter, I overheard an employee mention that they had a lizard which needed to go to the West Valley shelter. Since I was heading that way, I offered to take it along, just because I could have added a lizard photo to this blog. While waiting for the paperwork, I once again had to witness people turning in their animals.

There was sort of a sale this weekend, what the city is calling an Adopt-A-Thon, but given the alarming rate at which people dispose of their pets, it may as well have been a Dump-A-Thon. I watched one man come in with a sweet Pit Bull who'd obviously had puppies recently. He brought his son along with him, the kid was maybe 2-3 years old, to watch him give her away, using the excuse, "We're moving." It's anyone's guess where her puppies might be.

A man standing nearby (not sure if he was another volunteer or an adopter) said to me, "We'll be euthanizing him in a minute." Alarmed, I said, "What? The dog?" "No," he assured me, "the owner."

Don't know if the guy was also getting rid of his kid since my dogs were ready and we needed to leave. The paperwork for the lizard won't be available until tomorrow so someone else will have to drive him. Sure, it's always the lizard who keeps you waiting.

Even with just 3 dogs in my car, it was tricky. No one stayed in their assigned seat except this girl in a crate:

This guy moved up from the hatchback/trunk area to the back seat...

... and my back seat passenger insisted on riding shotgun. While he did try to steer and shift gears, all he managed to do was adjust my left side-view mirror a couple of times.

And everybody shed.

Meanwhile, the vision-impaired Chihuahua I found last week is free from the shelter. Despite ads online and signs posted where I found her, no owner came for her. Just as well. The meds at the shelter helped her eyes somewhat and three different people were interested in adopting her and providing additional medical care: a rescuer named Lynn who lives in NY, my friend named Lynn who lives in Berkeley, CA and a woman not named Lynn in Sante Fe, NM.

Ultimately, she went to Santa Fe, to live in a small sancutary for senior and disabled dogs, a lap dog living in the lap of luxury. So, in the end, she'll be living a better life than her former owner.

The next Mobile Pet Adoption is tomorrow, but I'll be there for just a couple of hours as my brother and I have been invited by our cousins in Manhattan Beach to attend a concert in the park by someone who pretends to be Neil Diamond.

Dog Days of Summer

I can't sleep late on Sundays anymore. My kitten Hank (short for Dr. Henry Kittenger) thinks 5am is the perfect time to jump up on the bed, meow at me to fill his bowl with Hairball Control food and then pounce on his crabby older sibling Zelly (Zelda Molly Katzenberg).

And some day, if I ever own a house, I'll have a couple of dogs as well and will have to get dressed and go out the front door at that hour, to be seen by other conscientious, groggy dog walkers. The kind of people who come to the park to adopt dogs from city shelters...

Eighteen dogs and one kitten (wish the cat count had been higher) found new homes at Sunday's Mobile Pet Adoption in Studio City where I volunteer, if I'm not doing a transport, including the lucky dog above.

Throughout the day, homeless dogs accompanied by their volunteer handlers lined up for the dog wash...

...where a mysterious woman, obscured by her gray baseball cap, lathered, rinsed...

... and for one particularly filthy and flea-infested dog -- repeated.

This guy was great. When he was held up for the rinse cycle, he automatically began to dog paddle. He's been adopted and if his new family has a pool, he's set to go.

One of the volunteers complimented me on the photos I take and I said, "Sure. I used to work at Vogue." Which is true, but that was thirty years ago and all I ever did there was nervously answer phones and give out misinformation to people who didn't share my portion control issues.

And one time, when I was temping at Self magazine, I was on the set of a shoot and was asked to iron an item about to be photographed. I think the editor was unimpressed with my work. All she said when I finished was, "Oh." I was never asked to iron again.

Below, Dee Dee (hidden, far right) organizes her new family, plus the volunteer who introduced them (center), to line up for their first photo:

And here's Sawyer with his new dad:

The soon-to-be-renamed Balto got a bath at the last MPA and was promptly adopted, only to be returned to the shelter when he had an accident on the carpet of his new home. Ever optimistic, Balto made time in his schedule to come back to the park where he found the perfect new mom.

She's experienced with training rescue dogs and, coincidentally, mentioned that she had just taken up all of her carpeting.

It takes just a little bit of patience to train a rescue dog, as evidenced by a couple of others who were adopted at the last MPA and came back to show off their well-trained parents.

Here's Bezerra, whose mom promises to send me an anecdote to include...

... and Zoey, with her new dad.

Zoey was found by an animal control officer, abandoned in an alley. She was left in a box with a blanket and no food. The officer saw the box moving and when he opened it, this emaciated dog jumped out and licked him.

When she first came to the adoption event Zoey was so shy she crawled instead of walked.

And now she is a couple of weeks into her Happily Ever After.

Another MPA next week. More pix of wet dogs to come...

Previously on this blog...

At least one more nice clean dog from the last Mobile Pet Adoption has gone home. We were amazed Sherman didn't get picked that day so volunteer Sherry Brewer sent out an email which read, in part:

That it's necessary to have to send a plea (no, to beg) to save this boy's life is beyond me. This handsome dog with the most soulful face and spirit is "Sherman." He is listed as a 4-year-old Siberian Husky/German Shepherd mix, who weighs approximately 76 lbs. Except for the tips of his ears that have scarring from fly strikes (probably because he never saw the inside of a home), Sherman is just about perfect, with soft white fur sprinkled with black on his back.

Well, we may not all be buying Viagra and lottery tickets from strangers, but emails must work because look what happened a few days later:

I just want to spread the good word that because of all your efforts and the crossposts you sent out on behalf of Sherman, the handsome Husky/German Shepherd mix, he was rescued and within a few minutes of the papers being finalized, a woman who was sent the plea showed up with her two children to adopt him. If all goes as was discussed, Sherman will be going to his new home tonight to sleep, maybe for the first time in his life, in a soft bed with a roof over his head.

And even more remarkable is what happened to a 10-year-old Dobie/Rottie mix named Kira. A few weeks ago, when I was at the shelter for over three hours (and subsequently VERY late to work) to pick up seven puppies and their mother for transport to a rescue, I saw a number of dogs come in, including Kira. Her owner said, "We have four dogs and I can only handle three." Somehow this sweet, scared old dog was the one he didn't mind tossing aside.

I wrote a plea and sent it to volunteer Andrea Braver. She took over from there, forwarded it, and here's what happened:

The beautiful Kira was "sprung" from the shelter yesterday, and unlike a lot of dogs, Kira was heading straight into a home that was anxiously awaiting her, that of the wonderful Mrs. Ann Peterson. When she was called upon as a possible adopter for Kira, it took Mrs. Peterson an entire 10 minutes to decide that Kira "needed her." What a wonderful woman!

To all you Dobie rescue people - thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of something very special!

Deborah Bass
Rags to Riches Rescue

Thank you Andrea, Deborah, Mrs. Peterson and everyone else who participated in getting Kira out of the shelter and into a great home:

Now on to the next one...

I decided to go shopping at Target on my lunch break the other day, but never made it into the store. This Chihuahua girl was shaking under a van in the parking lot, probably hiding from the 100+ degree heat.

She wouldn't come out when I offered her a treat and when I prodded her lightly with a softball bat, she ran under the next car. I must have looked insane crawling around in the parking lot on my hands and knees with cookies, a leash, a blanket and a bat.

Eventually I got close enough to reach under the vehicle and pull her out like a cat, by the scruff of her neck. Amazingly, she made NO ATTEMPT to bite me.

No tags, of course, so I drove her to a vet to see if she was chipped. No chip. I thought she might be old and blind but a vet tech looked at her teeth which are very clean. Turns out she's only about four years old but losing her vision to glaucoma.

I then brought her back to work with me for several hours. She ate some dog food, drank some water, but mostly just slept in my lap.

On the way to the shelter she played on a blanket on the back seat of my car, rolling around on it like it was grass. She is a sweet, perfect little lap dog who has been terribly neglected. She becomes available for adoption tomorrow, July 12.

She is now at the West L.A. shelter, 11361 West Pico, LA 90064. Her ID # is A0962830.

Sure hope she gets a new home soon...

Hey, Mister, Don't I Know You?

I try to do a good deed every day, as a means of offsetting being evil and selfish the rest of the time. This one was easy. A couple of weeks ago I drove Mister from South L.A. shelter out to the Valley for Boxer Rescue L.A.

We knew he had some problems with his hips and knees and Boxer Rescue wanted to get another opinion. Thanks to volunteers Haze Lynn, Shana Kaplan and Shannon Haber, word got out and Elayne Boosler of Tails of Joy arranged for him to see a vet in Shadow Hills, which is right near where I work, though most of my friends ask, "What? Where? Is that even in L.A.?" (Yes, it is. Shadow Hills is part of Sun Valley, an intriguing mix of large horse properties and used auto parts shops.)

Mister (whose full name is Mister Dunlap) remembered me and was happy to see me when I came to pick him up for the appointment.

And here, in an email I received later, is what we learned:

TPLO in left knee and FHO in his right hip. His hip is completely dislocated so he compensated by putting all his weight on his other knee causing it to blow out.

The vet said that after these two surgeries he will be a HAPPY dog with years ahead of him! The doctor also noticed that he is really looking to bond with someone and was hoping she was his new mommy!!! (Sorry, Mister D., not your mommy yet, but we are looking for one!)

Please send DONATIONS of any size to
Take Me Home
2633 Lincoln Blvd. #207
Santa Monica Ca 90405
Put Mister on the check memo or, if cash, with a note... Will send you a tax receipt if you like... or for paypal visit www.takemehome.tv

As money is being raised, Mister Dunlap is in a foster home where he is being encouraged to put on some weight. There may be a few too many steps for him to climb there and another dog who's a bit too playful for him, but until a better foster situation or permanent home is found, Mister Dunlap will be summering in Venice, C.A.

And I'll be summering in front of the open door of my fridge in my un-air conditioned apartment in Hancock Park-Adjacent-Adjacent. I recently purchased these root beer floats in a bottle at Target, but I don't care for them. Come on over if you'd like one.

If I'm not here, then I'm out being evil and selfish.