Loli Jane

Hi all,

First time posting here.

I was driving past the North Central shelter on Lacy Street in Los Angeles when I witnessed a couple apparently abandoning their Basset. The poor thing was scampering along and tugging at the leash as the guy walked it toward the building. The woman was waiting in their car.

I am not 100% certain that they were abandoning the animal but I can't think of another reason why anyone would be walking a dog on a leash from a car toward a shelter building.

I have two cats (rescues) and although DH and I are "dog people" we are not yet in a position to adopt a dog due to work, travel, landlord issues, etc. Otherwise I would have swooped in and grabbed the dog myself, in a heartbeat.

Anyway witnessing these people abandoning their animal really upset me and I have not been able to get the image of that sweet, frolicking dog out of my mind all day. It was totally happy and trusting of its owner, having no idea it was being thrown away. I felt like I had to do something to try to get it out of there.

I sent an email about the dog to the two addresses listed for Southern California on this website: Basset Rescue Organizations in California

I can call the shelter tomorrow to try to figure out exactly what is going to and to confirm that a Basset was brought in. I'm just wondering if anyone here might have any leads in terms of possible foster homes, etc.

Again this is the North Central shelter on Lacy Street.

Thank you!!

Buttercup

BaRNi (Daphneyland) handles this area of LA County so you'll need to contact them basset911@aol.com if there is a basset there.

They could have found the dog and were taking him/her there as a stray or could have been going in for another reason. I've just gone through all 248 dogs listed at the shelter and don't see any bassets.

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Mr. Woofus

There are many reasons that they could be going to the shelter. To register, to microchip. I was just at Daphneyland yesterday (both my boys came from there) and because of Animal Control they made us lower the numbers to 66. That means at this point only abuse cases will be taken in. I wouldn't worry too much, our shelter cordinator Julie gets alerts for every basset that enters a shelter. Hope this helps.

jaylii9

I think you have received some good information from the previous posters. I agree that there are many reasons why someone would take a dog into a shelter besides relinquishment.

Also, if they were relinquishing the dog at least they were taking him to a shelter! We adopted our cat from a rescue group, but she had been dumped in a taped shut box with no breathing holes in front of a petsmart! She was skinny, dirty and had scabs all over her (we later discovered that the scabs were because she is allergic to beef an ingredient found in cheap cat food). Anyways, how could someone just dump an animal like that?! Lola is a sweet loving kitty. We don't know how old she is but she is probably 8-10 now. She was declawed and spayed so obviously someone's pet!

This is getting long, but I will also say that our basset was relinquished to a shelter and then picked up by a basset rescue group. Relinquishment can be a loving choice for an animal if an owner can't care for their animal. Our basset Libby was a scared dog with separation anxiety when we adopted her in July. She is doing so good now and is such a loving dog! Her relinquishment to a shelter gave her a chance at a brand new life in a stable home!

Kirska

Every dog there was abandoned in some way (22,000 dogs at the Dallas pound for the 09-10 year), at least they had the decency to drop the dog off, assuming that is why they are there. It's not uncommon for people to just forget about the dog altogether or dump it wherever, the reason for most strays.

Lila was dumped at a shelter by her owners, not a stray. One man's trash is another man's treasure, as they say.

As painful as it is to witness someone doing this, keep in mind that's how 3-4 million dogs are killed every year in this country, and people continuing to choose to be ignorant to this problem is the reason it still is a problem.

So if you find this troublesome, use it as motivation to drive change.

Not to add to your worry but there are no laws regarding minimum time in the shelter before euthanasia for dogs that are owner surrenders. There are only laws for strays to have a minimum time (generally speaking) to give their owner time to claim them. As soon as an owner surrenders a dog, they can be killed. Hopefully if the dog has a nice temperament and is "attractive" they gave him a chance.

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"Saving just one dog won't change the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog." - Richard C. Call