Community outreach – first quarter stats!

We do much of our work in South Los Angeles, and have been doing it for many years now. But there are other areas where we offer intervention assistance, such as Bell, Compton, Lynwood, South Gate, Maywood, Inglewood, Huntington Park, Paramount, Watts-Willowbrook and Florence-Firestone.

Among these communities, in the first quarter of this year alone, low income and homeless pet owners received 566 services, including free spay and neuter surgeries, vaccinations, and medical assistance such as blood tests, X-rays and medication. We also provided humane euthanasia for pets who needed it, dog training classes, fixed fences, built dog runs, gave monthly pet food donations, and delivered dog houses to a total of 276 pets. Of these almost 300 animals, 36% were large dogs (mostly Pit Bull mixes and Siberian Huskies), 57% were medium to small breed dogs (mostly Chihuahuas and Poodles), and 7% were pet cats.

helping in Gilbert

This work was in addition to the 317 cats and dogs who we’ve assisted in the first three months of 2016, preventing them from entering the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter through our Shelter Intervention Program. On top of it all, we vaccinate free of charge an average of 150 dogs and cats living in South LA every month at Gilbert Lindsay Park.

We added it up and are proud to say that in the first quarter of 2016, we’ve assisted 1043 dogs and cats by offering free and subsidized services, helping to keep them with their families! We are so proud of the work we’re lucky enough to do day in, and day out. How do we make this happen? How do we continue to expand our services into the communities that need our help the most? We do it with your support, your donations, and your volunteering. We do it because of you, and we do it with you.

Gilbert

There is an old saying: whatever you focus on grows. We see this truth in animal behavior all the time! So let’s take it a step further. Let’s focus on what we want in our communities, instead of what we don’t want, and offer families with pets an alternative to surrendering them to a shelter when their situations gets dire. Let’s help keep pets in their first home, their forever home. And let’s continue doing it together.

Here’s to working hard to achieve three more successful quarters this year, and onwards.

DogKnic: AN EVENT APPROVED BY THE CRIPS

 As the founder of Downtown Dog Rescue, working in the community of South Los Angeles now for approximately ten years, I knew that when my friend and dog trainer Larry Hill and I set out to organize an event to promote pet responsibility called DogKnic at St Andrews Park in South West Los Angeles, the approval would not come from City Hall or the Department of Animal Care and Control, it would come from the gangs that control that park, to be specific, The Neighborhood 90s and the 8 Tray Gangsters, two Crip sets. The easy part was getting Anthony, the park supervisor on board to allow us to bring DogKnic, a community event that offered free spay/neuter, vaccinations and micro chipping for dogs and most important, brought together some of the most outstanding training clubs in the Greater Los Angeles area. Immediately, Best Friends, Karma Rescue, Found Animals and Amanda Foundation all came on board to support our family oriented event but we still needed approval from the gangs.

Because Larry lives in the neighborhood, has trained dogs in the community for forty years and understands the challenges of being a youth with little or no alternative to the gang lifestyle, he sat down one afternoon at the picnic area in the park with the 8 Trays, asking them for their approval. They agreed. Now, he needed to get the same approval from the 90s, they agreed. Sounds easy? Not really, despite the relationships that he had developed in the community. When we decided to use St. Andrews Park as our event site, Larry knew that without the 8 Trays and the 90s approval, the event may not be safe for everyone. He also understood the importance of respecting their territory. The complex dynamic of how that approval went down involved Larry calling his nephew, who was a member of the 8 Treys, now relocated in Oklahoma but still the shot caller for this set. Once his nephew called some of the members, explaining that his family was going to be in the park, Larry was confident, nothing violent would happen at DogKnic. Everything was coming together great, lots of people coming to the event from all parts of the City, LAPD was on board, glad to hear about a community event taking place in a park that was once better known for shootings more than people walking their dogs and children playing on swings.

Then it happened, the Thursday before our Saturday event, an LAPD officer was shot in the same neighborhood, off of Western near 70th street. The shooter was able to escape but over 72 city blocks covering nearly 800 homes were included in the police lock […]

JO’S BARK: The Boxer’s Life Chapter 8 CHRISTMAS

by Boxer, Himself


After Thanksgiving Mz. De Kota started to grow sad when The Dame started to bring out all the boxes that had been put away in the closet – I could smell all these other people – Mz. De Kota said that it was from her past family: Daytona, Dallas and Ms. Dazy.


Ms. Dazy was a solid black Border Collie Spaniel mix – she was a shadow matriarch. If she could trip a huuuuman up by laying in the darkest spot in the house she would – sounds like I could have learned a few tricks from her. Mz. De Kota said Ms Dazy didn’t like her and that Dallas was always defending her – that is until Daytona came on the scene. Daytona and Ms Dazy were separate but equal and neither ever tested each other.


Mz. De Kota said that the boxes had Christmas in it – it was a special day for everybody including us more intelligent folks. She said that Huuumans bring the outdoors’ inside just to mind mess with us. Then after they bring
the outside indoors they put lights, ornaments, tinsel and fake snow on pine trees and make garland. I like this idea of bringing the outdoors inside especially if it includes pine trees.

Sure enough, The Dame brings in a pine tree and when she wasn’t looking I started to “Claim” this indoor outdoor tree as mine. . .and just about the time I was ready to cut loose. . .


“BOXER ! WHAT THE HELL YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING !. . .I”LL BEAT YOUR BUTT DOG ! ! ! ”



What ! Whadda I do. . .then Mz. De Kota told me that is in not polite or proper etiquette to hike in the house. . . . days went by and it was killin’ me not to “Claim” this outdoor indoor pine as mine . . .then one morning The Dame is throwing us outta bed making us come over by the Christmas tree […]

SOUTH LA SHELTER RESCUE ME SPOTLIGHT: PLEASE SAVE HER – SHE DID SO MUCH FOR SO MANY : Chastity the Deca-Mom A1147605

 CHASTITY, THE DECA-MOM 
OK, SO SHE DIDN’T LIVE UP TO HER NAME — BUT SHE DID SO MUCH FOR SO MANY
NOW WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING FOR HER. Look at this before and after girl — watch her video, taking treats from Tomika, rolling over on her back for tummy rubs — she is utter, total joy — don’t let that spirit die :
SO SHY AND SAD AFTER LOSING HER PUPS — NOW CAREFREE, SWEET, AND DELIGHTFUL
YOUTube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHu9uYwhw7Q


Chastity (A1147605, 2 years old) came into the shelter with TEN puppies. The poor girl was drained and emaciated and put into ISO to recover. Needless to say, all of her cute puppies were adopted — while Chastity remained behind bars. When we first had her out, she was cautious and nervous. But, once she realized she was actually in a good place — the shelter gave her a chance to smile and thrive. Well, Chastity has lost her inhibitions once again — but she will be spayed this time!!! She is an absolute LOVER!!!!! (well, I guess so, judging from her past.)
She has been fine around other dogs her size (we’ve been out for walks together — haven’t had her around small dogs yet) and she’s happy as can be. Chastity adores people, she relishes treats, and she has every intention of bringing a smile to the face of any and all who see her once out of the shelter.
Can you give this Deca-Mom […]

DDR MEDIA: Walking for Stone

“Walking for Stone” article on LOS ANGELES BEST FRIENDS Website


Home » Go Local » Los Angeles » News » Walking for Stone
NEWS

WALKING FOR STONE
September 07, 2010, 1:49PM MT
By Sandy Miller, Best Friends staff writer

Strut Your Mutt team comes together to help pay for pit bull terrier’s surgery


The first time Lori Weise saw Stone was when his owner brought him to one of Downtown Dog Rescue’s free weekly training classes in South Los Angeles.

The pit bull terrier’s ears were infected and swollen, the result of a botched ear cropping (see Stone to the right).

She knew the dog’s person was a breeder and that he probably planned to use the puppy for that purpose someday. After all, there’s big money to be made breeding pit bull terriers in South L.A. A stud fee can bring $4,000 to $5,000 and puppies can sell for $1,500 a piece.

“The bottom line is that these guys don’t look at dogs as pets,” says Weise, founder of Downtown Dog Rescue. “They’re money-making machines and when they can’t produce, they get rid of the dog one way or another.”

But Weise didn’t give Stone’s person a lecture on the evils of dog breeding, even though it turned her stomach. Instead, she took the opportunity to educate Stone’s person about how to properly take care of Stone. She also told him about the resources Downtown Dog Rescue had to help pay for the veterinary care Stone so obviously needed. She knew that if she could establish a dialog with Stone’s person, she could work on changing his mind about the breeding later.

But Stone’s person never came back to the training class. Two years later, Stone’s person dropped him off at the trainer’s house, saying he was moving and he didn’t have room for him. Stone was in bad shape. His ears were still infected and he was 20 pounds underweight. Stone was fortunate in that his person put him in the hands of Downtown Dog Rescue instead of dropping him off at one of the shelters.

Today, Stone is living in a foster home and doing much better. Thanks to Downtown Dog Rescue, Stone is putting on weight and is receiving veterinary treatment for the infection, which robbed him of some of his hearing. However, Stone still needs surgery to correct his ears, and that’s one reason Downtown Dog Rescue is just one of the Best Friends Network Charities that will be taking part in the upcoming Strut Your Mutt event Sept. 19 in L.A. Some of the money raised by Downtown Dog Rescue’s Team […]

LORI’S CORNER: Why we’re doing Strut Your Mutt next weekend!


STRUT YOUR MUTT FUNDRAISER 2010
TEAM CLANCY!
Join our Pack and lets raise more $$
for South LA dogs like Stone

A PORTION OF THE FUNDS RAISED FROM STRUT YOUR MUTT WILL GO TOWARDS STONEY’S EAR SURGERY FROM A BOTCHED EAR CROPPING PROCEDURE THAT HAS DEVELOPED AN INFECTED HEMATOMA.


Click on the links to see pictures of his:
Ear-crop-gone-wrong
and
Wounds in his body

-Warning, Very Graphic-

STONEY’S VACCINATIONS WILL BE UPDATED AND HE WILL ALSO NEED NEUTERING. STONEY WAS USED AS A “STUD” FOR A PROFITABLE BREEDING VENTURE IN SOUTH LA. WHEN ALL HIS PROCEDURES and LOVING CARE ARE DONE, HE WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTIION. HE IS HOUSETRAINED, SOCIAL WITH OTHER DOGS AND GREAT WITH KIDS. PLEASE KEEP STONEY IN MIND!
From Lori:
Stone was owned by a breeder who showed bully dogs, used him as a stud and didn’t “invest” one penny into his care. I offered to do the surgery on his ears almost two years ago at pit bull class where I met him, he never bothered to call me and I’m guessing, as a stud dog, he brought his former owner a lot of money. This is a great dog with a wonderful temperament. I never gave up hope on getting him!

STRUT YOUR MUTT PLEA
COME JOIN US ON THE 19th of SEPTEMBER
Click here to register and
walk with Downtown Dog Rescue

Dear DDR Friends and Family,
Downtown Dog Rescue’s Top Pit, Clancy is appealing to you to join his Dog Pack and walk proudly beside him and Lori for the mile-long hike along the Santa Monica Pier on Sunday, September 19th, 2010 at 8:30 in the morning.
Other than the yearly calendar donations, STRUT YOUR MUTT is really DDR’s only self-organized fundraiser. The money we raise from this walk ($30 walker fee per dog) will go towards rescuing more pit bulls from the South LA shelter.
So, please support this fundraising […]

Lori’s Corner: What Humane Education means in the Neighborhood

Ripley as a puppy

I believe that humane education is not something that one can just bring into a community with one meeting or school assembly. At Downtown Dog Rescue, we take another approach. A lot of what is referred to as humane education by the humane community, goes on at our Sunday Pit bull class. Last Sunday, I took possession of Handsome, a 10 month old blue pit bull that had nowhere to go. He had grown up in our class, his owner, only 15 years old, brought him every week, teaching him how to walk on a leash, sit, stay, etc, then we didn’t see them anymore. I wondered what happened to Handsome, then one day Jordan, who owns Pretty, Handsome’s mama dog, let me know, his cousin didn’t want Handsome anymore and he now had the dog at his house with Pretty. To make things more complicated, Jordan’s mom did not want two dogs, so keeping Handsome was not a long term option. We agreed that I would take Handsome into our rescue.

Almost a year ago, Pretty had her first and only litter of puppies at 8 months old, just a puppy herself. Jordan was going to allow us to spay her then he changed his mind and decided to possibly allow her to have one litter. All the talking in the world wasn’t going to change his mind or his parent’s minds. I let it go and Pretty had a litter of puppies, fathered accidentally by her daddy dog, “Chrome”, a blue pit bull that is often all over the neighborhood since he breaks out of the yard when a female dog goes into heat. Jordan quickly learned that there are few “good homes” for a litter of pit bull puppies. Everyone wants them when they are six weeks old but very few are wanted when they are six months old. From the litter, I believe that only two pups are still alive today, Handsome and Ripley, a puppy that we took into our rescue and volunteer Debbie Fan and her husband Craig adopted after falling in love with her as a foster puppy.

Jordan learned that breeding is a no win situation, he learned this by experience. DDR was there for him when he decided to spay Pretty. We were there for him when Handsome needed to be rescued. Jordan experienced all of these humane education points first hand and now serves as a role model for other youth to not breed their pit bulls and to think of rescuing a dog instead of buying a pit bull puppy.

URGENT SOUTH LA SHELTER RESCUE ME SPOTLIGHT: ON ALERT & IN DANGER : CECILIA

Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart –
it’s great big terrier time
A1132576 South L.A.

“CECILIA, YOU’RE BREAKING MY HEART…


I’M BEGGING YOU PLEASE TO COME HOME”

SO WONDERFUL THAT PAUL SIMON ACTUALLY WROTE A SONG FOR HER


SO CHARMING THAT SHE WILL STEAL YOUR HEART THE MOMENT YOU MEET HER.
Cecilia (A1132576, already spayed, 6 years old, terrier / Aussie mix, 41 pounds) is the perfect dog. When we first met her, she walked up to my husband and put her head in his lap. She was patient, delicious, adorable, polite. She’s passed her cat test (seems fine — non-chalant). She’s kenneled with other dogs, including a puppy that jumps all over her. Take one look at Cecilia and you will fall in love with this great big terrier — it’s guaranteed. Cecilia needs out of the shelter right now. Call today to save this elegant, affectionate, unusual lady.
(213) 485-0117 or (213) 485–0119.
And kindly let us know that she is free.
Many thanks,
Andrea & Mindy
ivegonetothedogs@gmail.com
(323) 363-4909

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