In less than a month, the Downtown Dog Rescue kennel will be relocating to our new home in South Gate, California. Thus starting a new chapter in saving animals lives.  We’ve come a long way from our early days of rescuing mostly former guard dogs and countless pets belonging to the homeless community of Skid Row. Some of whom are still DDR residents.

Not exactly what I would call “highly adoptable” dogs. But, almost two decades ago when we started DDR, our focus wasn’t about increasing adoptions. It was simply about  reducing the number of stray dogs on our block. One dog at a time, with no real plan for the future. While we still concentrate on one dog at a time, the 3000 plus dogs that have once called DDR their temporary home, have all gone on to find forever homes with their new packs/families or become a permanent part of the DDR family.

How have we been able to operate on a small budget and grow organically each year while addressing more community challenges? It’s been the relationships formed with people in animal welfare, including the support of larger organizations, all working together in collaborative ways that have had a profound positive impact. These relationships allow DDR to do so much more than would otherwise be possible. One of the relationships that has been important to our progress over the past decade has been with Best Friends Animal Society.

When co-founder Francis Battista and his team first came to Los Angeles to visit Dog Man’s Training class and the DDR kennel, I wondered why would an organization like Best Friends be interested in someone like me, who had a small kennel in a parking lot in the back of a woodshop?  That’s all our kennel was and still is, a series of dog runs, in the back of Modernica’s old wood shop, where the dogs run around in what was once a parking lot.  However, they saw my vision and encouraged me to do more and to not give up. Eventually, I was invited to speak at one of the first No More Homeless PetsConferences, then, another one and another one. But perhaps the greatest honor was when I was asked to be one of the founding members of the NKLA steering committee.

While on the NKLA committee, one of my biggest accomplishments was taking what is now known as the South LA Shelter Intervention Program from an idea on paper and turning it into a discussion with the other members of the NKLA steering committee, as to how to get the program funded and functioning properly.

With the modest goal of keeping a few hundred pets out of the South LA shelter, it was the Best Friends team, who listened to what I needed and worked quietly behind the scenes to make this program happen. A program that is a collaborative effort […]

We are thrilled to have the support of the Doris Day Animal Foundation by way of a $10,000 donation to help support our senior dog humane services.

Along with the donation we received a very kind note from Doris Day herself, “Downtown Dog Rescue has been a valuable resource in the under-served communities of Los Angeles with their rescue and education programs.  I was thrilled to hear that DDR and their rescue partners have intercepted over 1,000 dogs so far this year from entering the South L.A. Shelter through their Shelter Intervention Program.  I hope this pledge from the Doris Day Animal Foundation will help DDR get their new quarters so they can do even more great work for the animals of Los Angeles and the people who love them,” said Doris Day from her home in Carmel, CA.

We need your help to purchase a permanent home for DDR by August 26th, 2013. You can make a difference in a dogs life by clicking the link to donate/sharing on Facebook: http://bit.ly/16kmjno

We’re getting closer! Thanks to your generosity, we met the $60,000 goal set by the ASPCA and they are matching it! Now we only have $86,000 remaining to buy the new building.

The sooner we raise the funds, the sooner we can start giving more dogs their second chance at a new life.

Would you consider making one more gift to provide them with the shelter they so desperately need? Because of you, we know we can make this dream a reality for the dogs of Downtown Dog Rescue.

Thank you for supporting this project and encouraging others to give. Thank you for caring.

With gratitude,

Lori

P.S. We need your help to purchase a permanent home for DDR by August 26th, 2013. You can make a difference in a dogs life by clicking the link to donate/sharing on Facebook: http://bit.ly/16kmjno

Downtown Dog Rescue is extremely grateful for the tremendous support we have received from Animal Farm Foundation’s $10,000 donation for our kennel project.  This donation will be used specifically to constructed two play yards for our rescued dogs to enjoy for years to come.  Support from Animal Farm Foundation has allowed DDR to build these much needed play yards immediately, completely finished before the dogs move over to our new kennel.  AFF and DDR both strongly agree that play yards are the best way to go for rescue/ shelter dogs to experience enrichments and socialize.  Socialization for rescue/ shelter dogs is essential for the dogs’ physical and mental well being ad will result in sending more dogs home faster!  To learn more about AFF visit animalfarmfoundation.org

We need your help to purchase a permanent home for DDR by August 26th, 2013. You can make a difference in a dogs life by clicking the link to donate/sharing on Facebook: http://bit.ly/16kmjno

The building currently housing our rescue dogs is being sold and we need to raise $120,000 to purchase a new building by August 26th, 2013. The ASPCA has generously pledged $60,000 to Downtown Dog Rescue contingent upon us raising an additional $60,000. Please help us to reach our goal. Time is of the essence!

PLEASE HELP BY DONATING AT OUR “GOFUNDME” CAMPAIGN LOCATED HERE: http://bit.ly/16kmjno

We’re just two months into our South LA shelter intervention project and we’ve already hit our year end goal of preventing over 400 pets from entering the shelter. Yes, you read it right, 400 pets prevented from entering the shelter in just 2 months! While I knew the program would be successful, I never imagined it would be this successful. The program runs every day the shelter is open for a total of 6 days a week. We track the data every day and found that 91% of the people who accepted our services kept their pets and only 9% had to be rescued. The great need was free spay/neuter services, not low cost, free!  This accounted for 33% of the service that we provide. Some qualify for a free City voucher but many do not. Why? Some pet owners are undocumented, some are homeless and have no ID, some just can’t qualify because they either live in the “wrong zip code” or because they can’t show that they are poor because they are paid under the table/in cash.  Downtown Dog Rescue, has always believed in making spay/neuter services free and easy to use. We want to thank Spay4LA, Sam Simon Foundation, the Amanda Foundation for providing additional free spay/neuter services. We also want to thank ARC Animal Hospital and North Figueroa Animal Hospital for offering very good pricing to us for spay/neuter surgeries so that we can say YES to every pet owner who wants to spay/neuter their pets.

HOUSING & RESOURCES

Opening up conversation has been one of the secrets to our program’s success. We found that 29% of pet owners we helped had housing problems, however the term “housing problems” is a bit more complicated than it sounds. As rescuers we often hear(and say), “if I couldn’t move with my dog or cat I would sleep in my car.” That’s exactly what some of the people who come to the shelter have done, in hopes that friends and family will help. We’ve experienced people begging us, crying for help, so desperate that we can’t say no, it’s not an option as long as we have the resources. We’ve gone as far as convincing landlords to agree to allowing the dog in the home on the condition that the owner completes a training course with our community trainer Larry Hill, We’ve paid pet deposits, donated food, fixed fences, created dog runs, licensed, vaccinated and of course spay/neutered. We’ve even uncovered and treated medical issues. Last resort is coordinating with our rescue or another rescue to rehome the dog. Thankfully, only 9% of the animals needed to go to a rescue group.



A really big problem is the ability to find pet friendly section 8 housing. The lack of secure housing that families experience directly affects the pet.  If someone is living in section 8 housing, they might have two rental options, both of […]

In partnership with Found Animals and with the support of several rescue and
community partners, we wanted to celebrate our Shelter Intervention
Program’s first months statistics. To go along with our data are some of the
front line stories we’ve come across. It’s our goal to be as transparent as
possible with our findings in hopes that we all as a rescue community can
better understand what’s truly happening at the shelters and in the
communities that their located in.

In April 2013, our Shelter Intervention Program was able to prevent 150 pets
from entering the South LA Animal Shelter. 132 were dogs, 17 cats, and 1
rabbit made up the count.

Just under 50% of the people who surrendered their pets to our program
listed housing problems as their reason for parting ways. Community problems
are a chain reaction, and we’re happy that our program is bringing these
issues to the surface.

Let’s not forget the services, In April, we fascilitated 39 Spay/Neuter
surgeries, and 14 humane euthanasia services for pets that were very old,
very sick and in most cases, could no longer walk.

Humane euthanasia services are something we’re really proud of. Many of the families were in tears as they said their final farewell to their beloved family members. Not having the resources to take them to a hospital, they’d bring them to the shelter to be euthanized due to old age or terminal illness. When given the option to take their pets to a veterinary hospital, the families were extremely grateful that they’d be able to send their family pet off with dignity and be with them during their final breath.

After just one month, it’s plain to see the need. Our Shelter Intervention Program takes a huge strain off of the city of Los Angeles by providing some breathing room for LA Animal Services. Undoubtedly our program prevents animals from being euthanized in the shelters, but our program’s community activism is the long term tool that will truly make a difference.

It’s been 12 days since the launch of our Shelter Intervention Program at the South LA Animal Shelter. Although we knew we’d see positive results, we’re taken back by the enormous success we’ve seen since the April 6th launch date. This past weekend – our 12th day in operation – we successfully prevented the 100th South LA pet from entering the shelter. That’s 100 pets prevented from entering the South LA Shelter IN JUST 12 DAYS!

Included in this weekend’s milestone was our first client with two dogs who needed training. Instead of surrendering his dogs, he came out to learn new techniques on how to handle his challenges. With special thanks to Puppy Imprinter’s Larry Hill, 2 more large breed dogs will not be seeing the inside of the South LA Shelter.

More good news, this is Connor who would’ve been surrendered to the shelter, but thankfully our intervention team was able to coordinate a local rescue group, Wags and Walks, to treat him to a pampered life in a foster home. Because of our partnership with local private rescue groups, many of the pets we encounter never have to step one paw into the shelter.

Also never stepping foot into the shelter were Chubs and Goofy. Both senior dogs from low income households, their owners had no other choice than to bring them to the shelter. Chubs unable to walk due to a massive tumor and Goofy who had a stroke the night before were brought to the shelter by their distraught families. The family’s only hope was that the shelter staff would make them as comfortable as possible before their final departure from this world. Instead, our shelter intervention program offered humane euthanasia, free of charge to the families at a veterinary hospital in Inglewood. Both families ecstatically agreed to take their dogs to the hospital where they could have a dignified goodbye, and in the arms of a loved one. Senior dogs at the end of their life was one of the motivating factors for our Shelter Intervention program.

In total, what we’re seeing is a community willing to work with whomever is willing to provide the resources. Our Shelter Intervention Program is that resource, and although we’ve had tremendous support, we’re still in need of funding for spay/neuter surgeries, vaccines, dog food/supplies, boarding/veterinary fees as well as several other miscellaneous expenses that come along with running our Shelter Intervention Program.  Please consider donating to Downtown Dog Rescue. All donations go straight to the program. If you haven’t already, please follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter. You […]