The Shelter Chronicles: Xmas wishes to Jack

One more success story for the rescue team of SAAF,LA among others!
Jack is BACK (out of the shelter)! Yea! I love good news...


Jack on his new bed with his new toy!

A beautiful foster family portrait with Jack!

Jack is finally out of the shelter people! Merry Xmas!

Thanks to the work a lot of generous people, Jack was finally pulled from the West Valley shelter by Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation with the aid of another rescuer and a fantastic foster family! Way to go team!

Gosh, it really does take a network of rescuers to save a dog!

There are going to new beautiful pix of Jack with his foster family on Linda Blair's site: www.lindablairworldheart.org

Feel free to donate to her wonderful organization! Linda is located in Acton, CA about an hour out of LA. She can really use volunteers on the weekends so contact her if you're game. She has taken several of our West LA dogs in the recent past and we think she's the best!

Merry Xmas! especially for Jack!!!!

The Shelter Chronicles: I couldn't Bea-lieve it!

The Bea-utiful Bea!

Last time I wrote about Bea, well, she still was having some issues. However, things have REALLY changed and she is a totally different girl! Trust and lots of love have given Bea a new lease on life. She's so much happier! Her fear is subsiding as she learns that people aren't all so bad. This girl is a special dog who deserves a wonderful home.

Bea's definitely on the shy side and isn't used to the "world,"so whoever adopts this amazing being needs to go slow and respect that she will need time to adjust to any new situation. However, she is so loving and sweet that I doubt it will be a stretch for that special someone who adopts her.


Bea is Queen for a Day at a "crazy" mobile adoption event!
Love that doggie throne!


The store and the adoption "EVENT!"

So, here's the story regarding the weirdest mobile pet adoption event that I've ever done. It starts out that I'm driving to the event and when we get close to the store I see all these people outside of the store. Gee, guess who these people are? They are PROTESTORS! For what? It's a protest against puppy mills. It's a store that sells PUPPIES!

Well, I thought my head would explode! I would never want to cross that picket line, I totally agree with them. So, now what?

I get there and immediately hook up with the protestors to get their take on having this adoption event at this store. They were very cool and understood our situation. As it turns out one of the orgs who would normally protest this store had struck a deal with the store owner to go humane. This supposedly means that he will stop selling puppy mill dogs. However, he still has puppies in the store that cost $1500 and up so...

Anyway, I decided to stick it out for the dogs and hung around for the entire event. No adoptions but it was really more educational than anything else, on both ends. Some people were so touched by the shelter dogs and others didn't even see them, they went straight to the wall of puppies. Some the employees seemed open to learning the errors of selling dogs this way and others just looked annoyed. Who knows what they really thought, but for me, it succeeded in confirming that we live in a in a very ignorant world.

Honestly, I found it one of the most uncomfortable experiences ever in terms of conflict of interest. I won't go into the details but there's no way any of us would do another event at this location if this store owner continues to sell puppies.


Into the Xmas spirit. Check out these hams!!!


Oh wait, here are the real hams!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from the jolly volunteers of WLA!

The Shelter Chronicles: Jack and more updates

Take This Boy Home for Xmas! Please...

Well it seems that Jack has avoided death by the skin of his little wet nose! At the last minute the decision was changed to a transfer rather than, well, you know. You can find him now settling in (not for too long I hope) at the West Valley Shelter. Poor fellow, he so doesn't deserve to still be bouncing around the shelter but at least this move will buy him some more time. I'm still working to find a home, a foster or a rescue who will take him...

The other two doggies, Nina and Josie were miraculously saved thanks to the most dedicated volunteers ever! Debbie and Kat were at the shelter keeping tabs and making phone calls. These people worked all day at the shelter making sure that everything went smoothly with the generous adopters of Nina and Josie, although the girls didn't stay together. Nina is now in Palm Springs and Josie is still near by in Santa Monica! I think they needed to move on in their lives and make new friends. Yay for them, they made it!

The Shelter Chronicles: JACK!

The Fabulous JACK! In Trouble :-(
A0922499 - Sharpei mix - YOUNG!!!!

Okay, you know that I have a bone to pick regarding this awesome dog... His idiot first adopter neglected to treat his skin issues and it worsened. Then they returned him and tried to blame it on his behavior. Yeah, right! No one is buying it, especially since Jack has proved himself to be a terrific fellow, friendly, easy and adorable! This guy is a family dog! Not a dog you throw into your backyard to guard your house (which makes no sense by the way since the dog should live in the house if you want him to guard it!) Anyway, I am immensely disappointed to tell you that Jack's going to be KILLED this week (Wednesday) if he doesn't find some kind of rescue situation ASAP. What is going on here? How is this great guy being overlooked? Please come see him and meet him face to face! You'll see why I'm so baffled by the fact that his situation has come to this, probable death.

Also, Jack was at the Roxbury park event this weekend and was fantastic! He was a breeze to have at the park, even though he was surrounded by dogs, kids, adults, bikes, skateboards, etc. He shows no reactivity. Don't get me wrong, he'll need some training, I mean he is an adolescent. Jack is a great dog and I really hope with all my heart that someone saves him soon...

Some more pix from Roxbury Park! These dogs are available and at the WLA Animal Shelter!

Nina-see the last entry for more info on her. She's also scheduled to be put down this week!

Sea Pea now at West Valley & Nina Adopted!

Principe & France Still waiting, both are green-listed.

Buddy Still waiting, also on the green list (soon to be red)

Come to the WLA Shelter to meet these guys, they need YOU!

The Shelter Chronicles: Bad news for a sister act...

Josie A0965343 & Nina A096542

These two girls were surrendered by their owner because they were moving. These two sweethearts have been at the shelter since July 16th 2008. Because of their great personalities and even temperaments, they've done well at the shelter.

Josie is a 3 year old, female American Staff. Josie is a sweet dog that is friendly with people and other dogs.
Nina is a 8 year old, female American Staff. Like her daughter Josie, Nina is friendly toward people and other dogs. Nina does have an old eye injury that does not bother her.

They are both great on leash and very easy to handle. Both are lover girls and absolutely wonderful dogs!!! They are medium size and and appear healthy. Please help them!!!!!

Josie and Nina will be attending the Roxbury Park Adoption Event

on December 6th!

**These two are on Red Alert and need to be rescued by no later than 5pm Wednesday December 10th 2008.**

If you are able to help please call the New Hope Coordinator at:

Samantha Westbrook
New Hope / Baby Bottle Coordinator
West Los Angeles Animal Shelter
11361 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90064
Shelter: 213 4850494/0495/0496
Cell: 213 792 5811
ani.newhopewla@lacity.org

The Shelter Chronicles: A couple of things

First off, you may have noticed some changes to this blog site, including a new graphic. For the past year or so, I and a group of volunteers from WLA have been working on forming a not for profit organization that would focus on helping shelter animals, primarily dogs. We are called the Shelter Animal Advocacy Fund, Los Angeles.

Unlike rescues, SAAF, LA doesn't pull dogs from the shelter. Instead, we raise money to facilitate rescues, adoptions and support for special needs dogs. We have found homes for so many dogs just by pooling our resources and marketing a dog the best we can. We have donated thousands of dollars of our own funds doing this and it started to make sense that we should find a way to raise money for this very purpose.

Since our org is specifically dedicated to shelter dogs in Los Angeles, I figured it was time to get the word out there! We are serious and we are determined on continuing our work at the shelter by helping those doggies find a way out! So please, support us, support the shelter and support this blog by passing the word around, volunteering at your local shelter and advocating shelter adoptions!

The other exciting thing for me is that I am now a contributing writer to The Wuffington Wag! This is a terrific opportunity to spread the word for our shelter animal cause! Plus, The Wuffington Wag has really great articles, training advice, adoption info plus much more. I'm very proud to be part of the Wag and their pack! Go ahead, check it out: http://wuffingtonwag.com

Okay, enough about me and my projects. Let's get down to some doggies...


Bear * A0974108 * Pit Bull * Young
Bear is so wonderful, why is he still at the shelter? This is a dog who is absolutely sweet and loved by all the volunteers. He's well trained and just graduated from the K9 Connection program. Yay, Bear! This guy is one of those Pit Bulls who just dispel the notion that Pit Bulls don't make good pets! If you don't believe me, come to WLA and meet Bear! He's strong so he wouldn't be a good choice for everyone, but someone who knows and loves the breed would be perfect for him.


Nanuk* A0989125* Shepherd* Adult

This dog is so sweet and friendly. What a cool guy! He is large and kinda loud but a complete marshmallow! He loves to hang out with people. He's a little playful but chill. Great on leash!! This is an easy dog! He loves to be brushed and petted. Wow, why or how he came to be a shelter dog is beyond my comprehension. This dog would fit in just about anywhere. He'd be fantastic with an older person who was active. I admit it, I'm smitten with this guy!


Sterling* A0984880* Pit Bull mix* Young

Sterling is just over a year old. He's very sweet and beautiful, but sort of an enigma. Sterling has become much more subdued since being at the shelter because he was having some problems with the day to day routine there. He is one of those dogs who is triggered by the hose and scary loud stuff which is so common place at the shelter. Poor kid! Well luckily the volunteers all seemed to notice him at the same time and came to his defense, literally saving his life! He's a cool dog for a knowledgeable owner. He needs training but he's still a youngster so it shouldn't be too difficult if you are consistent. Believe it or not, this dog was relinquished due to NOT being protective enough. HELLO!

The Shelter Chronicles: Some updates

Wonderful updates from the WLA Shelter

I actually had a lovely day at the shelter yesterday. It seemed like there were lots of potential adopters and plenty of volunteers to help them out. We spent the early hours having a photo shoot with our friend Seth Casteel of Little Friends Animal Photography. He's so amazing and he always captures the beauty, inside and out, of our dogs. Plus, he's a pleasure to work with, no diva behavior there! That's a HUGE plus! :-) As always we thank you Seth!

There is a big Roxbury Park (in Bev Hills) animal adoption event coming up on Dec. 6, 2008. There are always loads of wonderful pets available for adoption representing every breed you can think of! There will be a large ad in the LA Times advertising this event, so we hope that we can get the people out there to ADOPT!

Some recent adoptions and rescues have been especially heart warming. All of these dogs were long time shelter residents who were rapidly running out of time. The biggie for me personally was getting a home for Princess, the Shepherd mix who cost me an arm and a leg! She went through a behavior rehab program which was truly a life saver for this dog. I am thrilled to report that Princess, now Lucy, is doing amazingly well with her new dad and enjoying her life with him to the max.

The beautiful Lucy at my house fresh from rehab.

Then another terrific outcome for our good friend Paulo. Wow, that took forever but well worth the wait to get him into the right home. He's doing really well and has been renamed Spanky! How cute is that??? We heard from his adopters who are just loving him and they sent us this cute picture! Yay!!! Big thank you to Bound Angeles for making the video that found him the home he needed. What a difference it makes when the shelter gets additional support from rescues.

Can you find Spanky?

Another happy ending has been for Angel, a older Pit Bull who just needed a home to rest his tired head. Poor guy came into the shelter with all kinds of ailments and what seemed to be abuse. Thankfully a wonderful person has taken him in and he's doing really well now. The first foster situation he was in didn't work out, but that happens sometimes. At least now it looks like he has found a home where he can relax!

Angel enjoying a soft bed at last!

Eli is also a lucky fella! His story was a difficult one. His first adoption was not the right fit, but even worse he got into some trouble through lack of supervision. Unfortunately it landed him back at the shelter as a "rescue only" dog. He was at the shelter for the longest time, and finally at the last possible moment, went to Fresno Bully Rescue, safe from what would've been a certain death at the shelter. He's now in a foster home and doing great!

ELI and his new foster mom, look at that smile!

I also heard from Jonesy's foster and he's doing really well. He had a crazy mishap and got hit by a car. Luckily he's recovering nicely from his injury. His mental state has been a more difficult recovery but thanks to a lot of patience and love, he's making great strides. He's made some new dog friends that have really helped raise his confidence.

All I can say is that these happy endings make me so thankful to everyone who made them possible.

Remember: It takes a network of volunteers to get a shelter dog adopted (especially if they are pit bulls).

Have a GREAT THANKSGIVING!