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Rescued Pit Bulls Find Shelter

Discussion in 'Pit Bull News' started by jawbones, Oct 12, 2005.

  1. jawbones

    jawbones Top Dog

    Rescued Pit Bulls Find Shelter


    10/12/2005
    Tracey La Monica Signal Staff Writer


    No. 19 doesn’t have a name and her real owner is thousands of miles away. But her liquid brown eyes, black muzzle and a cinnamon-colored coat belie her survival of a hurricane.
    “I like her,” said three-year volunteer Louise Crane. “She’s a tough little bitch.”
    With her dainty ribs showing, No. 19 is one of 35 pit bulls taken from the humane society in Gonzales, La., and flown to the City of Angels to be rescued and given a good home.
    The 35 dogs braved Hurricane Katrina to find shelter and love at the Villalobos Rescue Center in Agua Dulce.
    “We went to LAX at 4 p.m. (Monday),” Crane said. “There were tons of volunteers.”
    The dogs arrived in large plastic carriers marked “CAUTION” in red ink.
    As soon as the volunteers entered the aircraft hangar, the sound of friendly tails thumping inside the carriers greeted them.
    Crane spent her 30th birthday watering, walking and loving the pit bull dogs who had spent four hours on an airplane to find a new start.
    Volunteer Andrea Taylor came from Torrance to help the rescue effort.
    “I stay home with my child,” Taylor said. “I got a baby sitter this whole week.”
    Taylor, an English mastiff rescuer, said she would spend the whole week with the pit bull dogs.
    “The dogs need help finding their owners. I couldn’t imagine this happening to my English mastiff. I’d want someone to do this for me,” Taylor said.
    Ellen Calebotta of Rosemead, also an English mastiff rescuer, felt the need to help her animal rescue brethren in Agua Dulce.
    The dogs remained in their respective carriers as bowls of food and water were refilled by volunteers.
    Tia Torres-Cardello, who runs Villalobos, had been asked since the first day of the hurricane’s aftermath to take in the pit bulls.
    “My feeling was there were so many dogs in the L.A. shelters, why take them,” Torres-Cardello said.
    Other animal organizations had descended upon Louisiana and had taken the “cute-sy dogs,” however, the “ugly ones and the pits and been left behind,” she said.
    The dogs — varying in age, size and in an array of colors — were shipped to Los Angeles by David Meyer of Saveapet.com.
    “People don’t realize pit bulls are the most resilient dogs,” Torres-Cardello said.
    After the dogs were taken from LAX, some were found to be starving with ribs showing, a few were pregnant and some had skin problems.
    Torres-Cardello said she is not optimistic on finding good homes for the animals.
    “I don’t want the bleeding hearts. These are pit bulls. I want people that love pit bulls and want pit bulls,” she said.
    Torres-Cardello said she still has two pit bulls that she took in after Hurricane Charley hit in 2004.
    She wants to try and reunite the pit bulls with their owners, but some dogs were suspected of being used for fighting. Torres-Cardello intends to put owners through the ringer before she will release them to anyone’s care.
    All prospective owners will be screened carefully.
    “I love their feistiness,” she said of the breed. “I love their spicy personality.”
    Torres-Cardello has been rescuing pit bulls since 1993 when she saved a pit bull named Tatonka from the Lancaster Animal Shelter.
    The pit bulls requiring veterinary assistance will be taken to the doctor while those available for adoption will be placed on Petfinder.com in the upcoming weeks.

    For more information regarding the pit bulls or Villalobos call 268-0555, or visit www.VRCPitbull.com.[​IMG]
     

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