LORI’S CORNER: DOWNTOWN DOG RESCUE S.O.S. TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE



Last week, writer and friend of Downtown Dog Rescue, Ryan Vaillancourt, wrote and posted and article on the Downtown New blog about Downtown Dog Rescue losing our home after 14 years. LA DOWNTOWN NEWS LINK TO ARTICLE This is a true but sad fact. My company, Modernica, which has generously donated the land where our kennel is located, in back of our wood shop, will no longer be available because Modernica is moving to Vernon. I’ve known about this move for several months and applied for a kennel permit with the City of Vernon. I was denied, no kennels of any type are allowed, despite several letters of recommendation and an outline of the services and programs that we provide the communities that we serve.

While we are not in a panic about where to move 20 rescue dogs, we do need to consider the long term future of DDR and we ask for your help. My dream has always been to create a true rehabilitation center where the DDR rescue dogs could live and play, getting ready to be adopted, not very different than what we have now, but place where we could expand our existing programs. What would be different is that we would be located in the community that we primarily serve, South Central Los Angeles. Dog owners could rely on us for more, including a puppy boot camp, puppy vaccination clinic, more mobile spay/neuter clinics and dog training to mention a few of the services that would reduce unwanted litters of puppies, put adoption and re-homing into the hearts and minds of dog owners who might otherwise “throw their dogs away” while promoting owner retention, all aspects of our Operation Safety. We would be taking it up a notch. Part of the reason for wanting this rehabilitation center is to provide job training and jobs for the youth and the unemployed and underemployed in SLA, Watts and Compton. Many young men who love […]

FRIDAY SHOUT OUTS – Giving Thanks!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO BIRTHDAY DONORS
FROM DDR Volunteer ROBIN SKOV

(aka mama to DDR alum AVA) AVA

A huge thank you to all my fab friends and family who donated to Downtown Dog Rescue’s Operation Safety Net program for my birthday! My goal was not only met, it was doubled!! Woo-hoo!! Thank you, thank you, thank you on behalf of all the animals you have helped through this awesome program!


Katherine Ruffner
Tracy Jagger
Beth Quimby
Laura Menck
Lisa Blau
Deborah Johnson
Sharon S Skov Key
Jessica Cliver
Bark & Purr Alliance Fund
Thomas Symczak
Paul Dirmeyer
Ruben Valencia
Mandy Miers LaPuma
Cecilia Castro
Carole Boswell
Lisa Dulyea


Helping Robin give thanks is our
OPERATION SAFETY NET pittie mascot, SIMON!


Hello everyone, I’m Simon!
Thank you so much for raising $400 for DDR
through Robin’s Birthday wish!!!!
We were so excited to get the news!!!!!!

Here is our latest OPERATION SAFETY NET success story
as told by
my rescuer and founder of DDR, Lori Weise!


TASHA AND SHEBA
Tasha has lived on Skid Row since 1998. She has always known Sheba but recently became her official owner after her last owner picked dope over his dog. Every night, Tasha would dress Sheba up in her pajamas, keeping her warm and comfortable, especially now that she has slight hip problems.


Sheba getting ready for bed in Skid Row

They go everywhere together, everyday until someone accused Sheba of biting them and Animal Control took her away two weeks ago. Tasha lost all, hope did not contact me and I couldn’t find her. Central City East Security Team and Downtown Dog Rescue worked together to locate Tasha, set up a time and date to pick her up and go get her baby. The day was today at […]

DDR YOUTH MATTER: Nishi Girl Scout Troop 12135 “OPERATION SAVE THE HOMELESS PETS”

by Irene Soriano Brightman

Lori and I were very excited to host the donation presentation from the NISHI GIRL SCOUTS TROOP 12135 – Junior Bronze Project 2009-2010 members this past Saturday at the kennels! Coordinating fundraising projects for DDR is extremely fun and gratifying and the visit from Troop 12135 has been a wonderful highlight! 14 amazing young ladies and their leaders presented Lori with big bags of dog food, dog care items purchased from PETCO, dog beds and used blankets among other many things. I was amazed at what the girls had accomplished at the culmination of their project “OPERATION SAVE THE HOMELESS PETS.”
Through the coordination skills of Troop member mom, Lina Doi, various emails between her, me and Lori went on in the last couple of months. It was nice to finally meet her last Saturday and also get treated to a great visit from the project’s inspiration, DDR Alum, Pirate and her family, Christine and her daughter, Miya. Through Lina and her daughter’s efforts, both DEL MONTE PET PRODUCTS and CENTRAL PET DISTRIBUTION donated significant pallets of dog food to DDR. This came right in time for the PET FAIR we are planning for June at our COMPTON monthly spay/neuter clinic. This donation will help replenish and increase access of our OPERATION SAFETY NET project within DDR.

How did this all come about? With a wonderful ambassador for her breed, DDR Alum, PIRATE. Troop 12135 are all familiar with Pirate through Miya and Christine. He goes to games, meetings and wins everyone’s hearts. Because of Pirate, a group of young girls have a kinder perspective on pitbulls.


When the Troop leaders were trying to identify a Junior Bronze Project for the 09-10 year, they chose DDR since all the girls wanted to work with pets and had Pirate as a reference point. And that was what got the ball rolling:

(click on each page to enlarge image)

LORI’S CORNER: Monthly Spay/Neuter Clinic – The Community Responds


Last Saturday was our monthly free dog clinic in Compton at East Rancho Dominguez Park. There are always too many dogs needing service and not enough cage space and time to do all the dogs that come out. We ended our day spaying/neutering 33 dogs.

Each dog is also vaccinated and micro chipped all at no charge. Ivania and I signed up an additional 50 people, some with two, three and four dogs at home that need the free service at a future clinic. There is always a waiting list and we always end up turning people away which proves my theory, MOST dog owners want to do the “right thing”. They want to spay/neuter and vaccinate their dogs. They don’t always know what the surgery is called but they know, they don’t want any litters of puppies.

Too many people in power, the same people who make the financial decisions for city, county, state budgets believe that “poor dog owners” in areas like Compton don’t care about getting their dogs fixed and that they want puppies to make money. When in reality, most dog owners don’t want puppies, even if their dog has an accidental litter. They either don’t know where to get an affordable surgery or have poor information on spay/neuter. I can’t tell you how many people think that their dog is too young to have puppies at a year, or they are worried that their dog’s personality will change overnight after the surgery, or that their dog might die while being sterilized. Some dog owners are so nervous that they wait with us in the park while their pet is being sterilized.

Ivania and Rosalie are my two dedicated Compton Clinic volunteers who help me process paperwork, sign clients up for future clinics, and trouble answer health and behavioral problems that come up. In some cases, we are the only resource for accurate information on dog care for Compton Dog Owners who may not be able to afford to go to a vet or sign up for an obedience training class. Debbie came out to help answer training questions and Edgar and Gerardo, both Sunday Pit bull school classmates came out to help make our day very successful. Edgar took the photo above of Laurie’s little dog and his sister created the Adopt Me graphics. We passed out dog treats, dog toys, collars and leashes, as well as information on low cost vaccinations and other […]

LORI’S CORNER: Downtown Dog Rescue Kennels

One of the big assets that Downtown Dog Rescue has is our licensed kennel. We are also very fortunate to have a great kennel helper, Billy who works with the dogs six days a week. Running a kennel is a full time job in addition to my “real” full-time job as General Manager of Modernica. I work seven days a week with our rescue dogs and have a lot of great volunteers, like Richard,our Modernica Plant Manager who helps walk dogs during the week, twice a day. We typically have 20 dogs at our place that need forever homes. Some like “Coco Puff” or “Freeway” are real long shots and will live with us for years not months. Others are here a week or a month until they are placed.


Our day begins at 6:30AM, we feed the dogs and they are released to play in our yard with agility equipment and lots of room to chase, tackle and just be dogs. Most of the dogs are out together in our large pack, whereas others who may not be good with same-sex dogs, play in smaller packs with dogs that they enjoy. All of our dogs get out of their runs to exercise off leash twice a day. The entire kennel area is cleaned up before the dogs go back into their runs. At 4:00, we begin to feed dinner, release the dogs to play and clean all the runs again. This is the same schedule for the dogs seven days a week, 365 days a year, even on holidays, in the rain, no matter what. It’s this routine that promotes a sense of stability so that the dogs can relax and enjoy being dogs. In addition to playing in a pack twice a day, I take dogs out during the week to the park to walk, Billy takes dogs out running on his bike and our volunteer Debbie comes by to do one on one leash work so that when our dogs are adopted, each one can walk on a leash and have some basic house manners. On Saturdays, Sandy picks up dogs to go out to adoption, an event some of dogs like Cookie, wait for all week. On Sundays, other dogs go to our Pit bull School at the Coliseum. My dog Clancy loves this class! Right now, Roja, is going to school every Sunday. Leroy, a new volunteer who can’t own a dog right now because he lives in an apartment, meets us at class, and is teaching her basic obedience. Many […]

FRIDAY SHOUT OUTS – Giving Thanks!

The previous week was full of activity for DDR! Helping out the 61st Street Kennel dogs was on everyone’s mind. This venture had a happy ending – dogs were transported, bathed, shown, fostered and adopted! We couldnt do it all without the help of many, many people!

So, our newly adopted pup CHOCOLATE!!!!!! will do the honors this week!


Chocolate would like to extend a special thanks to Linda Hodges for the two wonderful PET BEDS she donated to DDR!

Special message from Lori Weise

Thank You to the Amanda Foundation, Retriever Rescue, Best Friends Animal Society, Heigl Foundation and Janet Cook from Angel’s Heart Dog Rescue and all of the foster people and adopters who came out last week to help us rescue 41 dogs out of the 61st Street kennel in a little over two weeks.




A monumental challenge for a small organization like Downtown Dog Rescue but we did it, with a lot of support from our volunteers and friends who came out to support us, transport, bathe, and take lots of dogs out to adoption.

We would like to extend a special thank you to Cornelius, “Dog Man” Austin who helped me assess over 30 dogs last Saturday at the 61st Street kennel.

SATURDAY ADOPTION CREW!

Thanks to Cheryl Seaberg Elliott for bringing donuts!

A special thanks to the transport/bathing crew:
Robin, Billy, Debbie, Giovanni, Christina, Linda & Cheryl

A special thanks to our Volunteer SHOW Team at PETCO:
Sandy Dragotis: Volunteer and Adoption Coordinator
Show Team: Lezle, Leyla, Teresa, Effie, Linda, Christina, Jill, Jill’s Friend, Cindy, Rachel! (Jill – please send us her name!!!)
Photographer: Kathryn Hall and baby Hall!

FRIDAY SHOUT OUTS – Giving Thanks!


Here are our DDR Shout Outs for January 29, 2010:

Thanks so much to the AMANDA FOUNDATION for helping us get lots of dogs spayed and neutered at a very low cost. They have also helped us maximize our donation dollars when they treat our injured or sick dogs and the dog that belong to dog owners in our Operation Safety Net Program. They have brought out their spay/neuter mobile to two of our past events:




THANK YOU AMANDA FOUNDATION!
===

Every Saturday, it’s a fun party when DDR volunteers congregate and be part time handlers for the dogs we want to show for adoption. They are part of the DDR crew that we can count on to help Sandy, our Volunteer & Adoption Coordinator manage the different personalities, barking pitch and poo/pee duty at Petco every weekend. THANK YOU SO MUCH! DDR can’t do the adoptions without you!

Feature for the week: EFFIE CHANG

1) How long have you been doing the weekly adoption events at PETCO?

I think I started last year around June.

2) Is there a DDR dog that has been adopted that you still think about?

There’s actually quite a few. Sherman – his face is just unforgettable. Charlie – very sweet. China – very sweet also. Nike and Baby – these 2 siblings are the best. Mini/Cookie – I had her for 2 weeks but because of opposition from my Dad, I was unable to keep her. But she is in good hands; I know Rosalie will take good care of her. And to be honest, I think of all of them, and hope that they are happy and well taken care of in their new homes.

3) How did you hear about DDR?

Through my therapist.

4) How many pets do you have?

I had a Sheltie and a Siamese, both passed away of old age. At present, […]

FRIDAY SHOUT OUTS – Giving Thanks!

We here at DDR realize that without sponsors, volunteers, friends, good Samaritans, fans, fosters, dog trainers, adopter alums and good hearts – doing the work that we do, to help both dogs and people, would be nearly…impossible

So, every Friday, we want to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved who make it all…possible!

Of course, we want to do this with the help of our DDR dogs, (in the spirit of THANKING) adopted in the last few months!

Here are our DDR Shout Outs for January 22, 2010:

REX (now MAX!) wants to recognize CATHERINE JAGOS from Major Paws LA , Pussy & Pooch , D Pet Hotels andThe Urban Pet for including us in their recent SANTA PAWS Drive 2009! Major Paws was created to help local shelters as well as to help make Downtown Los Angeles and the surrounding area a little more dog and pet friendly. And they have! Thank you Catherine for helping raise money for us, we love all the new items you purchased through the drive – YAY Pussy & Pooch, D Pet Hotels & Urban Pet!!!!

Big ups to MAJOR! Catherine’s fur son. Major is the project’s namesake! Major is also a rescue from the LA shelter system!


Pussy & Pooch Pethouse and Pawbar
564 South Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Pussy & Pooch is located at the Sante Fe Lofts in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles.

1041 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

7515 Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036

SABRINA wants to recognize MS. MARY MONAHAN and the ANIMAL CARETAKERS OF ROOM 14 at the Jefferson Elementary School for the generous Holiday Food & Supplies Drive they held for the homeless cats, dogs […]

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