This is Cornbread, a senior dog who was likely attacked by other dogs, while he roamed the streets of our Alameda Project area.  Thanks to the kindness of a family who had attended one of our vaccination clinics, live in the area, Amanda our program manager was called, asking for help.  The message for help went like this, ” There is a dog who has been laying in front of my house for four days.  He looks really bad, looks like he was hit by a car, can’t walk.”  Amanda’s first thought was “Why did you wait to call for four days?” Then, thinking about how sometimes families who live in the neighborhoods that we serve are more accustomed to seeing animals and people suffer.  This area has hundreds of homeless people living in trailers, cars, and tents, all trying to survive. Reflecting on the reality of the situation, she was grateful that the family did make the call for help.  More than likely, she thought, this is going to be a pick up for a humane euthanasia.  When she got him into her car, she took the photo of him covered in dried blood, bite wounds, too weak to hold up his head.

Rescued from the street

Because of the holidays, our DDR kennel was full, and all of the boarding facilities that we use were also full. The only place for him to go was the South LA Shelter.  Not the best option, but the only option we had that day.  Thankfully, Dr. Rameriz at Los Angeles Veterinary Clinic offered to give him an exam, bloodwork, and care for his wounds, while he boarded him a couple days.  This gave us a little time to figured out a plan.

Leaving the shelter to go to LA Veterinary Center

We named him “Cornbread” after the artist Cornbread the Legend.  Next, we had a dedicated and experienced foster, who offered to keep him safe at her home until we had some space at our kennel.  After leaving the animal hospital, he went to Noemi’s home, where he had his first bath, his first walk, and he began to understand that he was safe.  But it wasn’t easy, barking non stop for almost two days, not understanding where he was.  Living in a home was a huge adjustment during those first 72 hours.

Wearing a sweater, walking through the neighborhood

Bath time

Noemi reassuring Cornbread he is safe

We don’t know much about Cornbread other than at some point in his life someone loved him because he walks well on leash, will nudge for affection, enjoys being touched and petted.  How […]

During the months of July, August and September, Downtown Dog Rescue provided assistance, services, and support for 1,811 family pets ( 1199 dogs and 612 cats)   Like most months, the majority of the requests for assistance involve DDR paying for a percentage to paying for 100% of veterinary care.  A total of 1052 pets received care ranging from vaccinations to chronic medical conditions, to life saving care. Spay and Neuter appointments are difficult to almost impossible to get for most of our families with pets.

In the third quarter, we provided 443 spay and neuter surgeries for cats and dogs.  Each month, we have at least two, and sometimes three mobile clinic days, where the cost to spay/neuter + vaccinate + microchip ranges from a cost of free to a copay of $20-$40.  For most of the surgeries, DDR is paying the majority of the cost to get more pets spayed and neutered.  In August, we began offering s/n services to the community of Huntington Park, and we are committed to go back every other month with a mobile clinic, in partnership with the Huntington Park Police Department.

DDR paying for City of Los Angeles pet redemptions is way down, we only paid for a total of 9 pet redemptions to send pets back home, and out of the shelter.  LAAS is now covering the cost of pet redemptions when someone is low income/homeless and can not afford to redeem their dog or cat from the shelter.

17 humane euthanasia services were provided for dogs that were brought to the South LA Shelter to be surrendered because their families could not afford to humanely euthanize their senior/terminally ill pet. Rather than surrendering to the shelter where they would likely sit in a cage suffering, DDR paid for the services so that the families could stay with their pet until the end of their life, surrounded by love and compassion. Families can call or text us for immediate support.

288 families with pets received a monthly supply of cat or dog food.  These are all clients who have registered in our program, have spayed/neutered their pets, and rely on DDR to feed their pets.  This does not include the hundreds of pounds of food that we pass out on a weekly basis to people with pets who are living on the street, in their vehicles, in trailers.  Often, when we meet them, they have no resources for their pet, and have lost connection to resources for themselves as well.

We had three cases of a notice to comply, the reason for being cited was lack of shelter or lack of containment.  In these cases, we provide a dog house, repair a simple fence or gate fix, while making sure that the pets in the household get spayed and neutered.  If the families want to join our maintenance program, and receive ongoing assistance, we offer that as well.

Counselors Amanda and Yesenia […]

Join us for the return of our Bark for Life Fundraiser Event!

Save the date, October 30th from 10am to 3pm, Studio 4 Salon in Newport Beach, will be hosting a Halloween Costume fundraising event for Downtown Dog Rescue.  100% of the donations will go directly to DDR to support our work in the community, increasing access to spay and neuter, and rescuing overlooked dogs for City and County shelters.  Adoptable DDR dogs will be at the event, all dressed up, and ready to go to their forever homes.  Come out and spend a special day with all of the DDR volunteers and supporters, as we raise funds to support our work in 2023! We look forward to seeing you and your dog at the event!

RSVP to Lori@Downtowndogrescue.org

Nina was brought to the South LA Shelter by a young man, in his early twenties, when both of our SIP counselors, Amanda and Yesenia, were on site. He was upset, felt overwhelmed, and really didn’t want to surrender his 7 month old puppy, who had been hit by a car. When she was hit, he did everything he could to save her, including taking her to the emergency hospital where Nina received an unsuccessful orthopedic surgery. He did end up taking her home, only to bring her back to the shelter a week later, but instead of surrendering her to the shelter, he surrendered Nina to DDR.

It would be easy to post sad or graphic photos of Nina, before and after her leg amputation in order to fundraise. We believe that by doing so, we would be silently promoting that she was neglected by someone who did not follow through with all of her necessary care that resulted in her losing her hind leg, but that does not tell the truth.

The truth is that she was loved, he had rescued her from a “bad situation” four months prior. He lived with his family in a second floor apartment, and worked full time. He tried, and he sincerely wanted the best for Nina, but his best wasn’t enough. Not during this point in his life. Judging would be easy to do, but attempting to understand the perspective of the young man, who tried his best is important. We have all fallen, failed, regretted an action, wished we could have done better.

Accepting this fact was difficult for him, as it was for our counselor Amanda, who had been his main point of contact. When Nina was picked up at the shelter a week later, he was crying, it was emotional. Reality was her leg was dead and needed to be removed immediately. As a counselor, you may intellectually understand that you are making a good decision, but watching someone experiencing a loss is still painful. We even question what’s best for the pet, never assuming that just because we are a rescue organization, we are superior and all know what’s best for a puppy like Nina.

How we as individuals experience cases like this often involves how closely we identify with the client, and the experience that the client is going through with their pet. If we have experienced a similar loss and have been traumatized, it’s inevitable that our understanding of a case can be very personal.

“Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, the way we love and the way we make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds.” Dr. Gabor Maté

Thanks to a wonderful medical foster, Noemi, Nina […]

We are happy to report that in the first six months of 2022, our Pet Support Space program provides services for 2,808 pets (1829 dogs and 979 cats)  Here is how the services ranked:

Veterinary Care – DDR provided a percentage up to 100% of the cost of care to prevent suffering, improve the lives of pets, and in some cases, provide life saving care. 1,658 pets received a wide range of  care, including wellness exams, vaccinations, surgeries and treatment for chronic infections/pain.

Spay + Neuter surgeries – A total of 824 were paid for by DDR. For these surgeries, DDR usually pays the costs, making it free to the pet guardian, or they have a small co-pay of $20-$40, and we take advantage of the LA City free spay and neuter voucher program.

282 pets received a monthly supply of pet food and for some, supplies such as a new dog bed, a crate, leash + collar thanks to all of your donations and a special thank you to The Urban Pet stores for their product donations.

We paid for some or all of the cost of a shelter redemption, which is when a pet gets lost, is picked up and brought to a shelter, but the low income family cannot afford the fees to get their pet out of the shelter, or if we didn’t pay, their pet would remain in the shelter until they could save up the money to pay the fees, taking up kennel space.

We paid for 19 senior pets to be humanely euthanized so that their families could hold them, stay with them in the room until their last breath. Paying for humane euthanasia for a terminally ill, suffering pet can be expensive, especially when someone lives on a fixed income of less than $1,000 per month.

We referred 4 legal cases and 2 dogs received new dog houses in order to comply with a notice from the Department of Animal Services.

Dogs like Lacy, a three month old puppy who was diagnosed with parvo, is alive today because one of our counselors was able to listen to Lacy’s symptoms, identify potential parvo, get a same day appointment at a partner hospital, and assist Lacy’s guardian in getting a variety of resources, including DDR to cover the cost of saving this sweet pup’s life. Without the support of our counselor, this Spanish speaking client would have been overwhelmed and it would have been unlikely that Lacy would have received the quality care that she did.

All of this work does not include the veterinary care, spay/neuter and many other resources provided to homeless […]

With the start of a new year, we identified a new outreach area that we are calling “The Alameda Project” Located in an industrial area where Florence & Firestone intersects with Watts, for blocks there are homeless people living in RVs, some running, others are more of a shell for the resident and their pet to live in. While others live in makeshift tents made of pallets and other abandoned building materials. Huge heaps of trash take up two or three car spaces on the streets. This is definitely a place where no one should live, yet too many call home. It’s a dangerous existence for both the pets and the people who love them.

On February 8th, after hiring an additional outreach counselor, Gerardo, who would serve as the point of contact for this targeted project, and a general map of the area that we believed needed services, he drove up and down the streets lined with RVs. Full of pet food and other supplies, Gerardo began making contact with some of the people, who he would discover had pets, and lots of them. Most of the people with pets were suspicious at first, but when they had a conversation with Gerardo, and understood what we offered, everyone on that first day was grateful for the support and resources. He made a promise to come back several times a week for an extended period of time.

“Husky” and his father dog “D.O.G” after surgery

Three littles from one family on their way to get neutered

Gerardo went back, day after day, to form the relationships that would result in the following services that DDR provided in approximately 45 days.

Spays and Neuters = 8 surgeries all dogs
D.O.G. and his son Husky were the first two to be neutered. Followed by three male chihuahuas who all live with the same family, followed by another family of dogs; one male, and two females, of which one was in heat, and the other was pregnant.
Gerardo picks up the dogs in the morning, drives them in the DDR van to the animal hospitals, drops off, then picks up and delivers them back to their families at the end of the day. Sometimes, a very long day, as late as 10:30PM  DDR pays for all veterinary care.

Vaccinating pets on the street

Vaccinations – 46 cats and dogs

First we invited everyone living in their RVs to come to our free drive thru clinic, but when no one showed up, we decided to bring the clinic to the people with pets in their vehicles. We hired a veterinarian to vaccinate, deworm, and apply flea and tick meds. This was an opportunity to get all the puppies and kittens their first set […]