A shout-out to be shared, if anyone knows anyone in SoCal
Okay, time to bring this here:
For anyone local, who likes pit-bulls, or would like to rescue a pair of dogs:
(This is an actual rescue; the dogs are NOT in a shelter. They were abandoned in the foothills near east Highland, apparently over a week ago. They have no food nor water source)
URGENT
PLEASE SHARE
My husband and I were out hiking on Alder Creek Road, a few days ago, in an attempt to get my still-cough-y lungs full of some fresher air.
This is an easy dirt road, built & maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, and it eventually leads to the Santa Fe dam (I think that's the name of it?).
Off of Greenspot.
We heard some dogs barking. We looked up, to see a pair of pit bulls looking down at us from a ridge just above. We figured someone was up there with their dogs.
The road circles around as it climbs, so when we got to a better vantage point, we looked down on the spot where the dogs were.
There was no one there BUT the dogs.
We saw some old tire tracks, and an abandoned couch.
The dogs saw us and barked again. It was a "this is our yard", routine barking-at-passers-by sort of bark, not an aggressive-sounding warning or anything.
We called to them, and they wandered through bushes, in our direction, but then seemed to lose momentum and just stood there staring at us, from their distance.
We turned around and hiked back to our car, noting that the dogs seemed sort of tied to that spot. My hunch was that they were the pets of some homeless person who was "camping" there. But I also had a hunch that said person had run into trouble elsewhere, and was not coming back.
When we got to the car, Gordon & I both had the same thought: let's cut a plastic jug for a makeshift bowl, and bring the dogs some water.
So we did, driving up to that point instead of walking again.
The dogs again came and barked at us from the ridge just above the road.
But as soon as Gordon started pouring the water, they became silent and ran to us, skidding downhill in the loose dust.
They slurped greedily.
It was then that we saw the real nature of their condition. They were starving to death. Very-skinny-bordering-on-emaciated. No idea how long they'd been out there, but I'd say at least a week.
We had some rain last week, but once the puddles dried up, the dogs would have been in trouble.
They were both very-short-haired pit bulls, with light eyes and apparently sun-burned noses. Very pink.
Aside from that, no signs of injury nor sickness. No scars, either, so I don't believe these were ever fighting dogs.
Besides, they are just too sweet.
Yes, sweet. They did not lift their hackles once, nor bark at us any more, nor lift their lips in a snarl, even for a second.
The smaller one growled faintly as she looked and sniffed at us, but it seemed a confused, anxious growl, more like a hum. When Gordon sternly told her "no", she stopped, and backed off with her tail tucked.
There is one male, with an old leather collar, fawn-tan with light blue eyes and a big grin. I think he's already neutered but I didn't make a point of checking.
The other is a female, tan & white, also with blue eyes and the grin.
It was late in the evening, so we left to go home, but I planned to go back up there with 99-cent-store bowls and some kibble. Gordon would be back in his truck; this was his last night at home for a while.
So the next day I did just that. I called "Puppy-puppy-puppies!" and was greeted with silence. No dogs.
So I drove up to the next wide spot in the road, so I could turn around, park, and fill the bowls. I wanted to be able to cruise by, open the door quickly, and leave the bowl on the ground without getting out of the car.
The dogs had seemed nice enough the day before, but that was when there were two of us and no food. I didn't want to be standing out there by myself with two pits whose history I don't know.
Suddenly they were right there. I didn't even hear them coming. I started the car, and called to them out the window, to have them follow me back down to the other place, where we'd left their water-bowl. They followed willingly, sniffing the air and smiling as they trotted after the car.
I got there ahead of them, quickly opened the door, and set down the bowls of food. Also poured more water into the makeshift bowl we'd already left.
Both dogs started right in, without hesitation. Soon had emptied both bowls, and then the water.
I felt bad for having made them trot in the hot sun, to follow me.
They both looked up at me, and leaned up against the car, on the shady side. They each had big, friendly and relaxed grins, which broke my heart. THEY just knew that everything would be all right now that a helpful human had finally arrived to save them.
We cannot take them.
1 - Landlord would not be happy
2 - I am now almost as allergic to dogs as I am to cats. visiting is tolerable, but to have them at home all the time would not be healthy for me.
3 - We cannot afford any kind of a vet bill, but I'd want to make sure they had their shots, and were spayed & neutered, respectively.
4 - We sometimes have very young visiting grandkids here, and we have no idea how these dogs are with children. Likely sweet & safe, but I'm not willing to take that chance. I didn't get to raise these dogs.
I wanted to refill the water bowl, but was afraid the dogs'd try to get in the car if I opened the door. They were leaning up against it, on the shady side. My side.
I pulled a beef stick out of my purse, broke it in half, and threw it out the other-side window.
They sniffed the air and slowly left their posts to investigate. I rolled down the window, leaned out, and filled all three then-empty bowls with water. They came back to it before I was finished pouring, getting their own heads wet.
I started the car and headed out of there. Both dogs looked up, still grinning, and trotted confidently after me, tails high and wagging.
I sped up so they wouldn't follow me to the highway.