DDR PROGRAMS – Downtown Dog Rescue

Keeping Chiquis where she belongs
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Keeping Chiquis where she belongs

DDR PROGRAMS

Keeping Chiquis where she belongs

Dagoberto and his beloved Chiquis

Senior citizen Dagoberto visited our Watts Pet Resource Center, looking for help last month. He was being harassed by the manager at his senior living apartment building because of his dog, Chiquis. Despite being spayed, vaccinated, and microchipped, the manager was requiring proof that she was healthy, or she had to leave. The description of the proof was very ambiguous, and sounded like a way to force him to move out, since giving up Chiquis was never an option.

One of first clients of the morning. They arrived at 6:05 AM for an 8:00 AM clinic

These pet owners brings their dogs every month for flea & tick prevention

Like many of the pet owners we meet through our programs, they often believe that they don’t have options, feeling stressed out and desperate. Thanks to our partnership with HEART LA we were able to connect him to free legal services. The manager received a letter, stating that Chiquis is not violating any rules, and she is allowed to stay with Dagoberto. Despite the rain last Sunday, he came out to thank us at our free dog clinic at Fred Roberts Park. The worried look on his face was replaced with a smile, as he communicated to us how truly grateful he was for our help.

Chiquis was one of the more than 170 puppies and dogs who came out in the rain to receive free services.

Each month, we spay/neuter, vaccinate, microchip, deworm, and provide flea and tick prevention for upwards of 200 dogs who live in South Los Angeles

It’s through your generosity that we are able to help pet owners like Dagoberto keep their pets where they belong – in their homes!

Thank you for your support

Our Pet Resource Center on Skid Row is open…and off to a great start!
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Our Pet Resource Center on Skid Row is open…and off to a great start!

DDR IN THE COMMUNITY, DDR PROGRAMS, Pet Resource Center

Our Pet Resource Center on Skid Row is open…and off to a great start!

As you may have heard, we’ve started an easily accessible Pet Resource Center headquartered on Skid Row. After being open just a few weeks, we’ve seen so much need and enjoyed so much success already.

During only our second week, we’ve helped 11 pet owners, some of whom were living on the streets of Skid Row, others who are in supportive housing. Medical vouchers were provided so that people could get vet exams and treatment for pets with medical conditions. Spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations, and microchipping were also offered, and everybody received free pet food, collars, leashes, and other necessary supplies. We also gave out pet ID tags, as we do for every pet that comes through our program. And what we realized through our interactions and conversations was that by providing opportunities for pet owners with no resources to care for their cats and dogs with dignity, in the way all who love their pets want to do, we are giving so much more than services. What we’re really doing is investing in them as caretakers and human beings, empowering them to be the pet guardians they wish to be. We’re helping them feel good about that, and therefore about themselves again.

For example, Little Jackie had been at the South LA Animal Shelter too long. Hiding in her cubby, scared and shy, it was doubtful that this sweet little dog would ever be adopted. Being involved with homeless advocacy, we are familiar with LAMP, a nonprofit organization working to end homelessness and help some of the most vulnerable individuals in Los Angeles through a continuum of services and housing. So when our counselor, Amanda, heard that a LAMP community member needed a dog, she thought of Jackie. Because of our collaborations, Jackie has a home today and is making someone very happy! Her unconditional love will help her new owner as he breaks out of the cycle of poverty. And his unconditional love for Jackie has made the difference between life and death.

Another example of how we’ve helped is Tyrone. He is one of the 11 cases who visited our Pet Resource Center recently. When his friend could no longer care for Precious, he offered to take her in. But what he wasn’t prepared for was a puppy – Tyrone had no idea she was pregnant! Through our program, Precious and her puppy, Star, will be supported with basic services including dog food, crates to keep them safe, and eventually both dogs will be spayed and licensed. Now Tyrone and his girls will be supported as they remain together, an intact family.

Our partnership with Inner City Law Center (ICLC), a non-profit law firm providing legal representation for underserved communities of LA, has made this innovative program possible. We’re happy to report that other agencies which provide services for homeless communities have already been in touch with us and are interested to see how we can potentially work together! This makes us even more excited as we look ahead into the future and gradually, responsively tailor our growth.

Because we at DDR know that pets provide stability and love, and many people living […]

DDR Programs: LOVE ON A LEASH published in PASADENA WEEKLY

LOVE ON A LEASH

Formerly homeless dogs offer love to humans who’ve suffered the same fate

By Amy Tenowich 10/20/2011

“Come on, Peaches!” a spunky woman says enthusiastically as she enters the Skid Row Housing Trust office in downtown LA with an orange and white whippet. The little pup sniffs around and greets the other humans and canines waiting to go for their weekly stroll a few blocks to Pershing Square.

Since 1989, the nonprofit Skid Row Trust (aka the Trust) has preserved, built and operated extremely low-rent housing for LA’s homeless. Financed by government grants, foundation support and private contributions, the Trust currently has 1,492 tenants placed in 22 downtown apartment buildings and runs programs aimed at keeping them from winding up back on the streets.

While residents now have the security of a safe place to sleep, the no-pet policy leaves a void in those who equate “home” with having an animal. But now, thanks to an innovative new program, humans and animals are reconnecting.

“I wanted to figure out a way to have some animal time, so residents can benefit from the love that they give us,” says Jordan Press, resident services coordinator at the Trust and creator of the Dog Play event. Press saw flyers near her office for Downtown Dog Rescue, an organization that rehabilitates and carefully places formerly homeless, abused and neglected dogs into loving homes. She called, hoping to find volunteers willing to bring once-stray pooches to hang out with the Trust’s tenants who miss animal companionship. Since January 2010, up to 30 humans and dogs have gathered from 10:45 a.m. till noon every Wednesday to walk then relax together on the grass for some bonding.

Retiree Burt Dragotis of Pasadena, a volunteer with the Downtown Dog Rescue, has been coming every week with his furry wards Carley, Puppy and Greta, who has an endearing little snaggletooth. “Every Wednesday morning, these guys know what time it is,” Dragotis says of his leashed companions, whose tail wags and rump sways reveal their excitement.

Dragotis also looks forward to the weekly visits. “These guys are, all in their own way, very touching,” he says of the residents. “Part of it is being aware of life that isn’t so good for everyone.” Dragotis says he enjoys the immediate gratification of seeing the dogs and the people interacting. “For the majority of the world, it’s pretty damn tough.”

DDR Programs: Operation Safety Net in Action

What would it take to keep your dog from entering a shelter? That one question has saved countless dogs from entering the South LA shelter, since the program started in December 2008. The Safety Net Program is set up to assist low income dog owners in the South LA Animal Shelter area. A sign and postcards are available in the Center lobby to inform dog owners how they can keep their dog when they think they have run out of options. This is how the program works: Dog owners sometimes come into the South LA Shelter because they feel forced to surrender their dog. Most of the time the dog owner can’t afford to feed, vaccinate, spay/neuter, treat a minor medical issue, get basic obedience training, or even pay for a $15 dog license.

Rescued puppies through OPERATION SAFETY NET

With Safety Net, LA Animal Services staff and volunteers encourage the dog owner to take their dog home, and call the Downtown Dog Rescue phone number on the postcard given to them. When the dog owner calls the Downtown Dog Rescue Hotline Phone Number, a volunteer will return the call within 48 to help address the situation that brought the dog owner to the shelter. The great majority of the calls that we receive are a combination of several issues. Most dogs need to be spayed/neutered and/or vaccinated.

The program is modeled after Downtown Dog Rescue’s successful 13 year old Skid Row program to help homeless dog owners.

SUCCESS STORIES:
“Hi Cathy and Lori Thank you very much for all your help finding the right place for my dog’s examination, lucky for him he did not have to go through surgery. please tell everyone at Down Town Dog Rescue who had already made a donation for Zimba’s leg surgery that we appreciate their support and willingness to help a stranger. God bless you all.” – Carlos Orellana

OPERATION SAFTEY NET helped keep Mr. Salazar’s three pit bulls out of the South LA shelter.
“Hi Cathy!! Just to say Thanks…. My dogs are doing BETTTER …LUcky Is heeling well and PACH and GUERO are ok. tha medication work perfet. Please letme know if is something I can do to help ,I passing flyers whit the information abouth the program .. Letme know were are you goint to be next satuday please .. my sister have a female chihuahua and she want […]