his past weekend was a very busy weekend for adoptions. We decided to book people for private appointments to meet our dogs at our kennel in Downtown LA instead of sending a few dogs out to Petco. I always take people by appointments on Saturday and Sundays but it’s usually one or two a weekend that often results in zero adoptions. This was not the case this weekend.
We got off to a slow start, our first appointment was a “no show/no call”, but our next appointment with Suzie was an adoption. She met Pepper and instantly wanted to adopt her. She had lost her two older dogs and was ready to adopt after her loss. The great thing about showing dogs at our kennel is that adopters get to see the dogs out in a small pack. When Suzie met Pepper, she was able to see her with lots of other dogs, off leash, playing with toys, running around, being a puppy. Hard to believe that just two weeks ago Pepper was going to be euthanized due to overcrowded conditions at the South LA shelter.
Next, Quattro was adopted. I will deliver him to his new home this weekend. Quattro also was set to be euthanized at the South LA shelter the day that we rescued him. His new owner Gene had been looking to adopt a dog for a very long time. He loved Quattro’s energy and intelligence. This pup is a gem. Very quick to understand what I want him to do, very social, a great boy who is going to love the dog park near his new home in Valley Village.
Sunday, Askim was adopted to a couple who live in Santa Monica that have been looking for a dog for two years. They wanted to adopt a dog but the time was never right. Now that they own a home and are more settled, it was time to get a dog and they picked Askim, our Compton Park dog. He went from being a stray at our spay/neuter clinic in the park in Compton to living in a beautiful home in Santa Monica, going to the dog park every day. What a great life for a wonderfully social boy!
It sounds like the dogs were just flying out of the kennel and that adoptions just happen. Well, it’s not usually like this. We spend months, sometimes years looking for homes for our rescued dogs. I work with the dogs, twice a day, seven days a week, with lots of help from the volunteers and of course Billy my right hand person and Richard my long time dog rescue partner.
It’s “work” that is never ending and so rewarding. The day to day care is the part of rescue that a lot of people don’t think about and sometimes don’t like to do. We release the dogs to play every day, twice a day at the kennel and give the dogs turns going home with me on the weekends to play in a different environment, going on walks at the park during the week and to Pit bull School on Sunday mornings.
Downtown Dog Rescue has an amazing team of talented people who work together to get our rescued dogs into their forever homes. Thank you everyone!
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Why Rescue?
I looked at all the caged animals in the shelter… the cast-offs of human society. I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness, and betrayal. And I was angry. “God,” I said, “this is terrible! Why don’t you do something?” God was silent for a moment, and then spoke softly, “I have done something,” was the reply. “I created you.”
— Author Unknown