by: Lori Weise – Founder and Director of Downtown Dog Rescue
It’s Saturday evening around 7:00 and I’m just sitting down to read the LA times after a long day at the dog clinic in Watts. I’m really interested in the article written by Sandy Banks entitled “A Turnaround Experiment” which breaks down the challenges of Jordan High in Watts. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Watts, definitely enough to see the poverty and the need for more resources of every type, including more free services for dog owners. According to Sandy’s article, only 3% of all students are proficient in math and 11% in English. Taking this information in and thinking about the text that I received from a community volunteer who was a no show at the clinic, “I’m with the family of a homie that was killed last nite trying to stop a war. Sorry for my absence.”, getting approximately 175 people to bring about 300 dogs to a parking lot on 103rd Street seems pretty good.
Our clinic, organized by both the City and County Animal Control Departments was a lot busier than the previous month. We had done a considerable amount of outreach this time, had a banner up on the fence the week of the event and had volunteers walking the streets. We also had a groomer named Sage Gallegos who worked for a solid six hours with her team, with a line of people 6 to 7 people deep, wanting their tangled poodles and matted cockers’ hair cut. She gave each client a bottle of shampoo and a bandana, all donated. Taking the time to groom the dogs and explain about fleas and ticks meant a lot to the dog owners who learned more about basic dog care. As with every clinic, there were so many touching stories of how the family dog was truly a family member. One in particular, a young mom who had a son with learning disabilities that only seemed to improve when their little pekenese “Pequena” was with him. She tried her best to explain in English and Spanish that she was being asked by her landlord to get rid of the dog but she just couldn’t. They also couldn’t move since they lived in Section 8 and to find another apartment would be like finding a needle in a haystack. She would be homeless with two kids and Pequena. We spoke about the possibility of the dog becoming a service dog. First step, spay, vaccinate and license.
Not every client is a “walk in the park” and not everyone understands why spay/neuter is so important. There was a young man with two pit bull puppies who wanted the free shots and in his words, “Ain’t no way anyone is going to cut my dogs” We had a talk, which ended with him walking out with no shots, which is OK. When I think about the collective group of volunteers and how hard we work to explain why it’s important to get every dog sterilized, I have to wonder, why is it so important when some people, like the young man with the two pit bulls, might be thinking more about surviving the day and the next one and the next one after that. If you are one of several generations that have lived in subsidized housing, with no plans to ever getting out and there are no jobs because of a lack of education, why would it be important to spay/neuter your dog? Who cares about all the dogs, especially all the pit bulls that are dying in the shelters, when your best friend just got shot and you want revenge for the shooting. Let’s face the fact, most of us can’t relate, we can only guess what life must be like living in Watts.
What chance do the dogs in Watts have? I believe that they have a good chance and we will see positive change if we can continue to raise the funding necessary to do monthly clinics like the one we did today. Thanks to SAAFLA organization, 300 more dogs living in this community were microchipped and if they do end up in the shelter there is a much greater opportunity for them to be reunited with their owner. 300 more dogs were licensed including the dogs who had owners who stood outside the gate, sort of whispering to their family members about the $20 dog license. When too much of the standing around and not walking in was going down, a DDR volunteer would offer to pay for the dog license. Why would we let $20 hold someone back from getting their dog vaccinated and micro chipped. In reality, it’s more than just free shots and free chips, it’s about meeting new people, different people from outside the community who care about the community and want to help. We helped a lot of people today who otherwise would have never known about the free spay/neuter program that the Amanda Foundation runs so efficiently. I was happy to see officers working with dog owners who had “fix it” tickets, granting more extensions so that now maybe the shelter will be viewed as more than just a place that kills dogs.
How can we help if we don’t know exactly who needs the help the most? The only way to learn is to ask so when someone ask me about the education that I did today, I flip the script and would tell the person, I was the one that was educated, as I am every time I participate in a dog clinic in an underserved area like Watts. I can’t wait until the next clinic on June 16th. If you would like to volunteer or donate much needed collars, leashes and dog food please email me at loriweise@gmail.com
